Japan: Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Kyoto and Osaka for three generations

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Tokyo

   Tokyo Haneda or Narita airport to your hotel in central Tokyo

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Early welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Tokyo
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Tokyo Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT). A driver meets your family in the arrivals hall and takes you to the hotel in a vehicle with room for everyone's suitcases: about 30 to 45 minutes from Haneda, about 90 minutes from Narita. The hotel is central, within a short walk of a metro or JR station, and we ask it for family or connecting rooms. Land by about 2 pm if you can, so there is time to nap or shower before the evening; the exact meeting time comes with your final itinerary. At 5:30 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the lobby for a short briefing: how the week is paced, how suitcases are forwarded on day 3, what to pack for Hakone, and onsen manners for children and grandparents alike. Every guest gets a loaded IC card for the metro. Then a short walk to an early welcome dinner of shared plates at about 6 pm, back in time for children to sleep off the flight.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Tokyo Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • IC transit card for every guest
   • Early welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the 5:30 pm briefing

   Activité : From Narita the transfer is about 70 km and 90 minutes. Jet lag tends to wake children early on day 2; breakfast opens at about 6:30 am.

2. Jour 2 : Senso-ji, the river boat and Tsukiji

   Asakusa and Senso-ji, then by boat down the Sumida River to Hama-rikyu and the Tsukiji Outer Market

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Tokyo
   Détail du jour 2

   Our vehicle collects the group at about 8:15, so nobody rides the rush-hour metro, and we reach Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple, by about 8:45, before the late-morning crowds. Walk under the giant red lantern of the Kaminarimon gate, wave incense smoke over yourselves at the great burner, and let the children draw an omikuji fortune slip. Nakamise street's snack stalls open as we leave. From the Asakusa pier a water bus takes us down the Sumida River, seated all the way, and lands inside Hama-rikyu. Only a few sailings a day stop there, so if none fits, our vehicle takes us instead to Hama-rikyu, a former shogun's garden on Tokyo Bay. At the teahouse on its island in the tidal pond we stop for matcha and a seasonal sweet, with a milder drink for the young. It is a short, flat walk to the Tsukiji Outer Market, where your guide leads a tasting lunch through the stalls: rolled omelette on a stick, grilled scallops, fresh strawberries and a sushi counter. The vehicle has us back at the hotel by about 2 pm. The afternoon and evening are free.

   Compris

   • Senso-ji, the Kaminarimon gate and Nakamise street with your guide
   • Our vehicle from the hotel to Asakusa and from Tsukiji back to the hotel
   • Sumida River water bus from Asakusa to Hama-rikyu (or our vehicle if no sailing fits)
   • Hama-rikyu garden with matcha and a sweet at the island teahouse
   • Tasting lunch in the Tsukiji Outer Market

   Activités en option

   • A rickshaw ride around Asakusa (on your own)

   Option plus facile : Take a taxi with your guide's help from Hama-rikyu to Tsukiji, about 5 minutes, and sit at the sushi counter while the others walk the stalls.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free; your guide suggests parks, playgrounds and early dinner spots near the hotel

   Activité : About 5 km on foot, flat apart from station stairs. About an hour at Senso-ji, 40 minutes on the boat, an hour at Hama-rikyu and 90 minutes in Tsukiji. The water bus runs only a few sailings a day that stop at Hama-rikyu (drop-off only) and the timetable changes by season; if no sailing fits, our vehicle drives from Asakusa to Hama-rikyu, about 20 minutes, and the day is otherwise the same. Many Tsukiji shops close on Sundays, public holidays and some Wednesdays, so this day avoids them.

3. Jour 3 : Meiji Jingu, teamLab and Shibuya Sky

   Meiji Jingu and Harajuku, then by road to teamLab Planets in Toyosu, then Shibuya Sky

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Tokyo
   Détail du jour 3

   A later start. At about 9 am we walk the wide gravel path through the forest of Meiji Jingu, the shrine to Emperor Meiji, where the children can write a wish on a wooden ema plaque and families often pass a wedding procession at weekends. Our vehicle then takes us across the city to teamLab Planets in Toyosu, timed tickets booked. Shoes and socks come off: you wade through a warm, knee-deep pool lit with koi that scatter as you move, lie under a dome of drifting colour and walk through a garden of floating orchids. Grandparents who would rather keep their feet dry can stay in the garden and the dry rooms. Lunch is on your own in Toyosu, and the vehicle takes everyone back to the hotel to rest. In the late afternoon we ride up to Shibuya Sky, the open rooftop about 230 m above the scramble crossing, in the last of the daylight. Before dinner, hand your suitcase to the front desk for forwarding to Kyoto.

   Compris

   • Meiji Jingu and its forest approach with your guide
   • Our vehicle from Meiji Jingu to Toyosu and back to the hotel
   • teamLab Planets (timed entry booked for you)
   • Shibuya Sky in the late afternoon (timed entry booked for you)
   • Suitcase forwarding from your Tokyo hotel to your Kyoto hotel

   Option plus facile : Stay at the hotel after lunch and skip Shibuya Sky; your guide sends the family a photo from the top.

   Option plus active : Walk from Meiji Jingu through Harajuku's Takeshita Street with your guide before the vehicle collects the group.

   Temps libre : Lunch on your own; a rest at the hotel in the early afternoon; dinner on your own

   Activité : About 4 km on foot. About an hour at Meiji Jingu, 90 minutes at teamLab Planets (barefoot, some water up to the knee; shorts or rolled trousers help) and 45 minutes on Shibuya Sky, which is open to the wind; hats and loose items are stored in lockers.

   

4. Jour 4 : Bullet train, ropeway and pirate ship

   Tokyo to Odawara by Shinkansen, then the Hakone Tozan Railway, cable car, ropeway and Lake Ashi cruise

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Hakone
   Détail du jour 4

   For many in the group, a first bullet train, and with only a small bag each it is an easy one. We leave the hotel at about 9:30 and the Tokaido Shinkansen reaches Odawara in about 35 minutes. From there the Hakone Free Pass takes us round the Hakone loop, seated nearly all the way. The little Hakone Tozan Railway climbs the mountain on switchbacks, reversing direction as it goes, to Gora, about an hour with a change at Hakone-Yumoto. A steep cable car rises to Sounzan, and the Hakone Ropeway swings over Owakudani, a volcanic valley of steam vents and yellow sulphur. Lunch is at the top, with black eggs boiled in the hot springs. If a volcanic alert closes the ropeway, a bus covers the same ground. From Togendai a sightseeing boat built like a pirate ship crosses Lake Ashi, with Mount Fuji over the far shore on clear days. By about 4 pm we are at the ryokan: yukata on, a soak in the onsen, and a kaiseki dinner at about 6 pm, with a children's menu.

   Compris

   • Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Odawara
   • Hakone Free Pass: Hakone Tozan Railway, cable car, Hakone Ropeway and the Lake Ashi pirate-ship cruise
   • Owakudani, with lunch and black eggs
   • Two nights in a ryokan with onsen, family rooms requested
   • Kaiseki dinner at the ryokan, with a children's menu

   Option plus facile : Anyone wary of heights can ride the bus from Sounzan to Togendai instead of the ropeway, with the guide's help, and meet the group at the boat.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening at the ryokan

   Activité : Mostly seated on trains, the ropeway and the boat, with short walks between them and about 2 km on foot all day. About an hour at Owakudani with lunch.

   

5. Jour 5 : A slow Hakone day: shrine, sculpture and onsen

   Hakone Shrine and Onshi-Hakone Park on Lake Ashi, then the Hakone Open-Air Museum, back to the ryokan

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Hakone
   Détail du jour 5

   No suitcases to pack and no train to catch. After a Japanese breakfast, or a Western one for those who prefer it, our vehicle leaves at about 9 am for the lakeshore. Hakone Shrine's red torii stands in the waters of Lake Ashi, and cedar-lined steps lead up to the shrine; the queue for a photo at the torii can be long, so your guide finds a better angle from the shore. A few minutes away, Onshi-Hakone Park, the grounds of a former imperial villa on a headland, has the widest view down the lake towards Fuji. Lunch is near the lake. In the afternoon we drive to the Hakone Open-Air Museum, where large sculptures stand on lawns under the mountains: children aged 12 and under climb inside the giant knitted net of the Woods of Net while adults watch from the lawn, there is a warm foot bath fed by a hot spring, and a pavilion of Picasso's work for the grandparents. We are back at the ryokan by about 3:30 for a long soak, and dinner is at 6 pm.

   Compris

   • Our vehicle round Lake Ashi and to the museum
   • Hakone Shrine and its lakeside torii with your guide
   • Onshi-Hakone Park
   • Lunch near Lake Ashi
   • Hakone Open-Air Museum, with its foot bath and play sculptures
   • Second kaiseki dinner at the ryokan

   Activités en option

   • Hakone Kowakien Yunessun, a hot-spring park where you bathe in swimsuits, near the museum (on your own, ask your guide for a drop-off)

   Option plus facile : Skip the shrine steps and wait by the lake, or stay at the ryokan all morning and join the group for lunch.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening at the ryokan

   Activité : About 3 km on foot. About 45 minutes at Hakone Shrine, 30 minutes in Onshi-Hakone Park and 2 hours at the Open-Air Museum, which is on a slope with paths and some steps. The longest road leg is about 30 minutes.

   

6. Jour 6 : Bullet train to Kyoto and Gion before dinner

   Hakone to Odawara by road, then the Shinkansen to Kyoto and a short walk in Gion

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kyoto
   Détail du jour 6

   A gentle morning: a last soak and breakfast, then our vehicle leaves at about 10 am for Odawara station, about 40 minutes down the mountain. The Shinkansen to Kyoto takes two to three hours depending on the service. Nozomi trains never stop at Odawara, so ops books a Hikari that stops there where the timetable allows, otherwise a Kodama, sometimes with a change to a faster train at Nagoya. Lunch is an ekiben bento on board; the boxes come in many shapes, and your guide pre-orders each person's choice. We reach Kyoto between about 2 and 3 pm, and your suitcase is already waiting at the hotel. After check-in and a rest, we take taxis to Gion at about 4:30 for an easy hour on foot: the willow-lined Shirakawa canal, the wooden teahouses of Hanamikoji and the lanterns of Yasaka Shrine coming on at dusk. Dinner is on your own, early, with your guide's list of places that welcome children.

   Compris

   • Our vehicle from the ryokan to Odawara station
   • Reserved seats on the Shinkansen from Odawara to Kyoto, with a bento lunch on board
   • Gion, Shirakawa, Hanamikoji and Yasaka Shrine at dusk with your guide

   Option plus facile : Rest at the hotel and skip Gion tonight; Kyoto is three nights and there is time on day 8.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Kyoto

   Activité : About 2 km on foot. Taxis to and from Gion take about 10 to 15 minutes. Some private lanes in Gion ban photography; your guide shows where it is welcome.

7. Jour 7 : Fushimi Inari at 8 and the deer of Nara

   Fushimi Inari Taisha, then by road to Nara Park and Todai-ji, and back to Kyoto

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kyoto
   Détail du jour 7

   The trip's one early start. We leave at about 7:40 in our vehicle and are at Fushimi Inari Taisha by 8, before the tour coaches. The shrine is open day and night, and its tunnels of vermilion torii gates climb Mount Inari. Walk as far as each of you likes: the first tunnels take about 15 minutes, and the stronger walkers can carry on with the guide towards the Yotsutsuji crossroads. From Inari the vehicle drives on to Nara, about 50 minutes. Nara was Japan's capital in the 8th century, and around a thousand deer wander its park, bowing for the rice crackers the children can buy to feed them. Inside the vast wooden hall of Todai-ji sits the bronze Great Buddha, about 15 m tall, and children like to try squeezing through the hole in one of the hall's wooden pillars. Lunch is in Naramachi, the old merchant quarter. The vehicle has us back in Kyoto by about 2:30 pm for a rest, and the evening is free.

   Compris

   • Fushimi Inari Taisha at 8 am with your guide
   • Our vehicle from Kyoto to Inari, Nara and back
   • Nara Park and its deer
   • Todai-ji and the Great Buddha Hall
   • Lunch in Naramachi

   Option plus facile : At Fushimi Inari, walk only the first tunnels of gates and wait with a coffee at the foot of the shrine; in Nara, stay with the vehicle or a cafe between Todai-ji and lunch.

   Option plus active : Climb on from the first tunnels to the Yotsutsuji crossroads with your guide, about 45 minutes uphill on steps, for the view over southern Kyoto.

   Temps libre : Afternoon rest and evening free

   Activité : Breakfast from about 6:45 am. About 5 km on foot, more on the active option. About 75 minutes at Fushimi Inari, 2 hours in Nara Park and Todai-ji, with lunch. Three road legs of 20, 50 and about 60 minutes.

8. Jour 8 : The Golden Pavilion and a tea ceremony

   Kinkaku-ji and a tea ceremony with a sweets class in Kyoto, then a free afternoon and a farewell dinner

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Kyoto
   Détail du jour 8

   A late, easy morning. Our vehicle takes us to Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, for when the gates open at 9 am, so the view across the Mirror Pond is clear before the crowds build. The path round the garden is short and mostly level. Then to a traditional tea room, where the host explains the ceremony and everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, whisks their own bowl of matcha. The class that follows is the part children remember: shaping wagashi, the seasonal sweets served with tea, from coloured bean paste into a flower or a leaf, and then eating them. Lunch is on your own near the hotel. The afternoon is free: rest at the hotel, the Nishiki Market food street a short taxi ride away, the Kyoto Railway Museum for train-loving children, or the Philosopher's Path with your guide's map. At about 5:30 pm we meet for an early farewell dinner together, the last evening of the trip, and are back at the hotel by about 8.

   Compris

   • Kinkaku-ji at opening with your guide
   • Tea ceremony and a wagashi sweets class
   • Early farewell dinner

   Activités en option

   • Kyoto Railway Museum (on your own)

   Option plus facile : Sit out the walk round Kinkaku-ji's garden at the entrance rest area; the tea ceremony is seated, with chairs for anyone who cannot kneel.

   Temps libre : Lunch on your own; afternoon free

   Activité : About 2 km on foot. About 45 minutes at Kinkaku-ji, 90 minutes for the tea ceremony and wagashi class. Ask for chairs at the tea room when you book if anyone in your party cannot sit on the floor.

9. Jour 9 : Osaka's aquarium and home

   Kyoto to Osaka Kaiyukan by road, then Kansai International Airport

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 9

   Your suitcases go in the vehicle with you this morning. We leave Kyoto at about 8:45 and drive about an hour to Osaka Bay for Kaiyukan, one of Japan's largest aquariums, when it opens, between 9 and 10 am depending on the date; ops sets the departure time to match. The route spirals down round a huge central tank built to suggest the Pacific, where a whale shark and manta rays swim past at eye level, with otters, penguins and a touch pool for the children on the way. There are lifts and benches all the way down. Lunch is on your own in the Tempozan marketplace next door. At about 1 pm the vehicle takes you to Kansai International Airport (KIX), about 50 minutes over the bridge to the airport island. For an international flight, book one leaving after about 5 pm. If your flight is earlier, we drive straight from Kyoto to KIX, about 100 km and 90 minutes. If you fly from Osaka Itami (ITM) or stay on, tell us when you book. Your guide says goodbye at the airport.

   Compris

   • Our vehicle from Kyoto to Osaka with your suitcases
   • Kaiyukan aquarium
   • Drop-off at Kansai International Airport (KIX)

   Option plus facile : Sit with a coffee at the aquarium's exit cafe while the children finish the last floors.

   Temps libre : Lunch on your own at Tempozan

   Activité : About 1.5 km on foot, all of it indoors and step-free. About 2 hours at Kaiyukan. Book an international flight leaving after about 5 pm to keep the morning.

Faune et météo : Spring and autumn are mild and mostly dry; cherry blossom (late March to early April) and autumn colour (mid to late November) are crowded and pricier. Late July and August suit school holidays but are hot and humid, so outdoor sights are kept to the mornings and afternoons go to the onsen, the hotel and indoor visits; typhoons can delay trains from August to October. The rainy season, about early June to mid-July, is avoided. Mount Fuji is often hidden in cloud, most of all in summer.

• Tokyo3 nuits
• Hakone2 nuits
• Kyoto3 nuits