Please help me put an itinerary for 5 adults & 7 kids. We will be flying into Narita in July and staying 3 days in Tokyo, 3 days in Kyoto, and flying out of Osaka to Seoul for 4 days. What are the must do and best means of getting there? Family tours?
0
Comments
It all depends on your interests of course. If interested in things for the kids there are many good places, like the Edo Wonderland in Nikko:
http://edowonderland.net/en/
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3800.html
as well as the Ghibli Museum and running through Takaosan or Mt. Mitake.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3041.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3036.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3029.html
There are many places for city views too. The Sky Tree is best, but very crowded and pricey. You might try one of the free places and for 12 people save a LOT of money.
http://supermerlion.com/10-free-tokyo-city-views/
For getting around the city, there are good 2 and 3 day subway passes:
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/travel/index.html#anc03
For more ideas, try:
http://www.gotokyo.org/en/index.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html
For Kyoto, try:
http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/visitkyoto/en/
http://www.kyoto.travel/
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html
The kids might like the Toei Eigamura and new railway museum.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3934.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3972.html
You should not miss Nara either - it is worth at least half a day to see the Todaiji Temple, feed the deer, see Kofukuji and the Kasuga Shrine, etc.
You really don't need any tours - you can do it cheaper by yourself and nothing beats the freedom of going where you want, when you want, and for how long you want.
If you use a 7 day JR pass to go from Tokyo to Kansai and Hiroshima/Miyajima, you can more than break even and see a lot of Japan's best sights.