Japanese food can feel intimidating when you’re travelling with kids , especially if you imagine raw fish, bold flavours, or menus you can’t read. But the reality is far friendlier than it seems. Japan is actually one of the easiest countries in the world to eat as a family . Even picky eaters usually find plenty to enjoy. From noodles and rice bowls to mild fried foods and sweet treats, many dishes are familiar, comforting, and approachable. Kids can start with simple, gentl

If you’re travelling with kids, Ueno is one of the easiest areas to explore in Tokyo. There’s of course the famous Ueno Park, but you’ve also got great museums, a zoo, temples, and lively market streets all within a short walk of each other. It’s the kind of place where you can mix “grown‑up sightseeing” with kid‑friendly stops without having to rethink your whole day. This guide shares what we personally did in Ueno , along with practical advice, family‑friendly tips, and ou

Arashiyama sits on the western edge of Kyoto and is one of the city’s most popular districts for visitors. People come for the famous bamboo forest, historically preserved streets, Zen temples, the monkey park, and the iconic Togetsukyo Bridge that crosses the Katsura River. Although there is more than enough to fill two full days, most travellers visit on a single‑day trip since Arashiyama is a little removed from central Kyoto. That makes a focused one‑day itinerary a smar

If you enjoy a mix of ancient temples, futuristic technology, and world-class food, Tokyo is one of the most kid-friendly cities in the world and an exciting place to explore as a family. So, is 5 days enough time in Tokyo? It's one of the world's largest cities, and while there's more than enough to fill a few weeks, or even months, you can still cover a lot in five days  and come away feeling like you've really experienced it. We spent five days exploring Tokyo as part of

Sitting down to eat Sushi at our Japanese Cooking Class Finding a Japanese cooking class in Tokyo that actually works for families can be infuriatingly difficult. Trust us - we’ve been there. We spent hours trawling the internet , scrolling through Reddit threads, comparing reviews, and bookmarking options that looked promising… only to come up disappointed time and time again. So many classes looked great on the surface, especially when we were specifically hunting for a ki

If you’re heading to Tokyo and wondering whether Shibuya Sky is worth adding to your itinerary , and if Shibuya Crossing lives up to the hype, we’ve been there ourselves – and for us, the answer is a resounding yes . We visited Shibuya during our 100-day sabbatical , and the experience ended up being one of our favourite Tokyo memories. Taking in the city from above, watching Shibuya Crossing unfold beneath us , and then heading down to experience the chaos firsthand, felt li

Placing incense sticks by the graves of the 47 Ronin Sengaku-ji is a lesser‑known temple in Tokyo  that often gets overlooked by first‑time visitors, who tend to focus on the more central and popular temples like Sensō‑ji , Meiji Jingū  or Zojo‑ji . In fact, we only ended up visiting because it was an easy walk from the Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo Hotel where we were staying, and on our first full day in Tokyo we wanted to stay fairly close to our base. What we expected to be

Discover the charm of Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo with our in-depth review. Experience first-class service and serene Japanese gardens at Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo.

Have you seen those beautiful calligraphy stamps on Instagram and wondered where people get them? Or maybe you’ve heard about goshuin  but aren’t quite sure what makes them so special, or even whether tourists can collect them. We’d heard of them too, but it wasn’t until the Japan leg of our 100‑day family sabbatical that we truly understood how meaningful (and fun!) they can be. What started as a small curiosity quickly became one of the girls’ favourite traditions as we c

Explore Daigo-ji Temple on Day 10 of our RTW trip! Discover Kyoto's serene Daigo-ji, enjoy fluffy pancakes, and savor delicious curry!

Explore Daigo-ji Temple on Day 10 of our RTW trip! Discover Kyoto's serene Daigo-ji, enjoy fluffy pancakes, and savor delicious curry!

Explore Daigo-ji Temple on Day 10 of our RTW trip! Discover Kyoto's serene Daigo-ji, enjoy fluffy pancakes, and savor delicious curry!

7 October 2025 Steps: 24,187 Today was our biggest day yet (almost 25,000 steps), and while it was great to see so many amazing sights, we are all absolutely exhausted . Tomorrow we are just going to do a half day of sightseeing to try and recharge a bit, before heading down to Nara and Osaka, and then on to Hong Kong. Hokan-ji Temple (Yasaka Pagoda) We decided to walk straight to the famous Yasaka Pagoda viewpoint from our hotel, as we got a Google alert telling it was 'les

6 October 2025 Steps: 21,590 We had to check out of Ben's Guesthouse by 11am, so we got out quite early to visit one of the most famous temples in Kyoto - the Golden Palace, as it was quite near to our hotel, and we had enough time to fit it in before check out. Kinkaku-ji (Golden Palace) We got to Kinkaku-ji Golden Palace , just after it opened at 9am, but there was already a steady stream of tourists walking up the path to the entrance. The viewpoints were quite busy, bu

5 October 2025 Steps: 19,803 From Ben’s Guesthouse, getting to Arashiyama would have required several bus changes, so it wasn’t much more expensive to take a taxi directly there instead. We were planning on getting a taxi up to our first stop anyway (Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple) since it’s quite a bit north of town and involves a walk uphill from the train station. Read Next: The Best Things to Do in Arashiyama, Kyoto: A Perfect One‑Day Itinerary Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple Otagi Ne

Welcome to our Round‑the‑World Family Sabbatical diary ! We’re a Calgary‑based family travelling for 100 days , documenting each step so other families can get an honest, real‑life look at long‑term travel with kids - the highs, the chaos, and everything in between . This is Day 6 of our journey, where we wrapped up our time in Tokyo with an incredible cooking, calligraphy and origami class called 'Homecoming TAKA', before catching the famous Shinkansen to Kyoto. You can bro

Welcome to our Round‑the‑World Family Sabbatical diary ! We’re a Calgary‑based family travelling for 100 days , documenting each step so other families can get an honest, real‑life look at long‑term travel with kids - the highs, the chaos, and everything in between . This is Day 5 of our Japan adventure, where we crammed as much as we could into our final full day in Tokyo - exploring temples, markets, and museums while making the most of every moment in this incredible part

Explore Shinjuku Tokyo on Day 4 of our RTW trip. Discover Shibuya, Meiji Jingu & Shinjuku Tokyo with us. Join our travel adventure!

Follow our third day on our 100 day family sabbatical RTW trip. We spent time exploring Ginza, Zojo-ji Temples and the Tokyo Tower

Follow our second day on our 100 day family sabbatical RTW trip. We spent time exploring Tokyo and visited TeamLab Planets with the kids