Japan with a toddler: Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka at a gentle pace

How to split the trip

Fewer hotel changes means fewer packed bags and fewer bedtime resets. For a first trip with a toddler, two bases is plenty: Tokyo for five or six nights, then Kyoto or Osaka for four or five. Osaka and Kyoto are close by train, so you can stay in one and visit the other as a day trip. Nara is an easy half day from either.

Plan one area per day and keep the afternoon light. A typical good day is one main outing in the morning, lunch, a nap, and a short walk or playground before an early dinner.

The shinkansen with a toddler

• Children under 6 ride free when accompanied by a paying adult and sharing a seat or lap, up to a limited number per adult. If you want a reserved seat for your child, you buy a child ticket.
• For a long ride like Tokyo to Kyoto, many families buy the extra seat anyway. A toddler who has their own seat can nap, color and snack without being on a lap for hours.
• On the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines, very large suitcases need a seat with an oversized baggage area reserved in advance. A folded stroller usually fits by your legs or in the overhead rack, but check the current rules on the JR site.
• Trains have toilets with changing tables, and some cars have a multipurpose room you can ask the conductor to use for nursing.
• Avoid traveling at the start or end of big holidays such as Golden Week, Obon and New Year, when trains are full.

Send your luggage ahead

Luggage forwarding (takkyubin) lets you send suitcases from one hotel to the next, usually arriving the next day. Hotel front desks and convenience stores can arrange it. Pack a small overnight bag for the gap and travel between cities with only the stroller, a day bag and your toddler.

This is one of the most useful things you can do on a family trip to Japan. Stations involve long walks and escalators, and juggling a suitcase plus a child is hard.

Kyoto with a toddler: stairs, gravel and crowds

• Many temples and shrines have long staircases, gravel paths and shoe removal. Bring a carrier and leave the stroller at the hotel on temple days.
• Go to the famous sights early in the morning. Fushimi Inari and Kiyomizu-dera get very crowded by mid morning.
• The lower part of Fushimi Inari is a fun short walk under the gates. You do not need to climb the mountain.
• Easier options with a stroller: the Kamo River paths, the Kyoto Aquarium and the Kyoto Railway Museum, both in Umekoji Park, and the big parks around the Imperial Palace.
• Buses in Kyoto are often crowded. Trains and taxis are easier with a small child.

Nara and the deer

Nara Park is famous for deer that wander freely and bow for crackers. They can also push, nip and head butt, especially when they smell food, and they are taller than a toddler. Keep your child in a carrier or holding your hand, let an adult handle the crackers, and step away if deer crowd you.

Hotels, rooms and food

Standard rooms are small, often with a double bed that is narrower than in the US. Look for family rooms, apartment hotels or a Japanese style room with futons on tatami, which removes the worry of a toddler rolling off a bed. Ask early for a crib if you need one.

Food is easy. Convenience stores sell onigiri, bananas, yogurt and baby food. Family restaurants and department store food halls have kids' plates and high chairs. Eat early to beat the dinner lines.

When to go

Spring and fall have mild weather and lovely scenery, which also makes them busy. Book hotels early for cherry blossom and autumn leaf seasons. Early summer brings a rainy season, and midsummer is hot and humid enough to limit outdoor time to mornings. Winter is cold but clear and quieter in Kyoto.