4 TRAVELLING FAMILIES

We explored fascinating Japan in the summer of 2023. Our itinerary? A round trip Tokyo – Tokyo with stops in all major cities, combined with the Japanese Alps and Mount Fuji. In this blog, you find our itinerary.

You can find the Duch version of this blogpost here.

Brussels-Tokyo-Brussels

We flew with LOT, a Polish airline, with a stopover in Warshaw. Easy and smooth flight with a good price-quality.

My original ideal was a Brussels – Tokyo – Osaka – Brussels trip but that flight was extremely expensive. In the end, it didn’t make any difference, since it was pretty easy to make a circular trip with the places I wanted to visit and, of course, the bullet trains bringing you superfast to the major cities.

Getting around in Japan-the JR Pass

In general

Japan is know for its bullet trains, the Shinkansen, fast trains connecting all major cities, complemented by an intricate and vast network of other regional trains between smaller cities and subway in the cities itself. On top, there are bus services, which are more popular in some areas such as Takayama. Lastly, car rental seems an option, at least in the more rural areas.

Trains are in the easiest way of exploring the country, complemengted in cities by the subway. All trains we took, Shinkansen or smaller, are super convenient, easy, comfortable, clean and always exactly in time.

We bought, as most tourists, a Japan Rail Pass, a multi-use rail ticket giving tourists unlimited access to all Japan Rail National trains, bus services, ferry services, and airport transfers in a specific period of time, in our case 21 days.

There’s quite some things to take into account when reserving such a Pass and travel around. You can read my tips here.

Interesting websites

There is a variety of websites on Shinkansen, trains and train routes. Below some of the ones I found interesting to start with.

Shinkansen

JR pass website with types and prices and online purchase options:

JR Railway East

JR Pass (general information, with information on destinations)

Narita express on the JR pass

Compare the full price of train tickets in Japan with the price of the JR pass on the JR pass website or the Japan Rail Pass Calculator.

Tokyo subway

Hida Limited Express, a scenic regional train to Takayama

Japanese Alps: Nagoya lines

Magone – Tsumago

Itinerary

We traveled from Tokyo to Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Osaka, after which we headed, via Takayama and Matsumoto in the Japanese Alps, to the Kiso Valley. We then stayed for a few days in Fujikawagachiko at the foot of Mt. Fuji before traveling back to Tokyo.

So, we combined several major cities with a stay in the Japanese Alps, the Kiso Valley, and at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Which in reality meant smaller … cities.

I opted for a variety of accommodations:

• standard tourist hotel (Matsumoto)
• business hotel (Tokyo)
• apartments (Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Osaka)
• ryokan (Nakatsugawa)
• youth hostel (Takayama)
• Japanese houses (Kyoto and Fujikawaguchiko …)

You can find detailed suggestions on accommodations here.

	CITY	VISITS	ACCOMODATION
1.	Tokyo	Flight Brussels – Warsaw – Tokyo	Aima aparthotel
2.	Tokyo	Shinjuku Metropolitan Government Building  Shinjuku  Harajuku wijk  Meiji Jingu Shrine Subayu crossing Ameya-Yokocho,	Aima aparthotel
3.	Tokyo	Tsukiji Fish Market team LabPlanets  Sensoji Temple Ueno park	Aima aparthotel
4.	Hiroshima	Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park	FAV HOTEL Hiroshima Heiwa Odori
5.	Hiroshima	Miyajima island Itsukushima Shrine Hike on the island with visit other temples & pagode	FAV HOTEL Hiroshima Heiwa Odori
6.	Hiroshima	Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Hiroshima castle	FAV HOTEL Hiroshima Heiwa Odori
7.	Kyoto	Fushimi Inari Taisha	Rinn Fushimini Inari townhouse
8.	Kyoto	Tenryu-ji Temple Arashiyama Bamboo Grove Kinkaku-ji temple Ginkaku-ji temple	Rinn Fushimini Inari townhouse
9.	Kyoto	Kijomizu-dera temple Gion District Motomiya Festival Fushimi Inari Taisha	Rinn Fushimini Inari townhouse
10	Kyoto – Nara	Visit Nara Todai-ji temple stroll around & visit smaller temples	Rinn Fushimini Inari townhouse
11	Osaka	Universal Studios Japan	RakutenSTAY x Shamaison Osaka Dekijima – 304
12	Takayama	Visit Takayama town Tenryo no Yu onsen	K’s House
13	Takayama	Shirakawago and Ainokura Bus Tour	K’s House
14	Matsumoto	Hirayu no mori:	Tabino hotel
15	Nakatsugawa	Matsumoto castle	Ryokan O
16	Nakatsugawa	Magome- Tsumago hike	Ryokan O
17	Fujikawaguchiko	Stroll around the lake	Fuji Travel House
18	Tokyo	Fujikawaguchiko Ropeway Shinjuku by night	Apa Hotel Akihabara Ekihigashi
19	Tokyo	Cafe capybara Pokémon Center Tokyo Flight Tokyo – Warsaw	Sleep on flight
20	Brussels	Flight Warsaw – Brussels

Interested in more Japanese adventures? Go hiking from Magone to Tsumago or enjoy a Japanese onsen!