In May 2013 I obtained a passport.
14 days later I left Australia. It wasn’t Italy, but I was on my way!
Tokyo was nothing like I had expected but so much more.
Beautiful.
Busy.
Quiet.
Exciting.
Calm.
Tasty.
Sensational.
With the trip so quickly arranged and a full schedule leading up to the departure there was no time to research my guts out (like I normally do).
And this was no small feat. Three adults (one 70 year old) Four teenagers/preteens and one toddler all to Tokyo for five nights!
Ginza was stunning
The Hotel Spa. The Peninsula Hotel. With wonderful lounging chairs, a pool with underwater music and the most wonderful mineral spa… every night was spent there.
Harajuku Crepes!
Japanese Lovers in the Gardens
Baby Louie and his fans.
Just a spot of shopping.
Tokyo DisneySea
Gardens
Tokyo Disneyland
The best thing was having a loose plan of what we wanted to do, have accommodation and airport transfers booked and for the rest – wing it!
To keep track of the itinerary I used Tripit. Which is both web based and has an app for your phone. You provide Tripit with your email and it searches through your inbox for travel bookings and populates the itinerary online for you. Just a little tweaking and its complete, ready to forward to family and friends to keep track of your adventures. Best of all, it’s easy to use and free!
Accommodation = The peninsula
Transfers = Limousine bus
Activities to make the kids as happy as a kid at, er, well, Disneyland!
In short.
Tokyo changed my life.
To read more about Japanese Culture from a local Japangasm is brilliant.
If you are thinking of a family holiday to Tokyo, send me an email and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. It is the most brilliant family holiday experience. Extremely safe, very clean and so much to see and do. Most young people speak English and we didn’t find one problem with communication while we were there. And we had a few drama filled situations due to lost items and kids issues, all of which were resolved by wonderful staff. One of the best points to note is that there is barely any time difference, so no jet lag, just hit the ground running!
I have to resist all temptation of doing it all over again too soon, but as they say ‘if you’re onto a good thing, stick to it’.
Read and learn more: Ski Japan with children. A guide to skiing, activities and food over on Sensible Spice
Have you been to Tokyo with or without children? Did you love it?
To Italy With Love 