Here is our review on visiting Tokyo with kids.
For our trip to Japan, we flew in from Manchester to Tokyo via Paris with Air France. We flew premium economy, giving us extra leg room and more chance to sleep given it was a night flight. Overall it was a very smooth and pleasant flight. It was a night flight which I find great when travelling with little ones. By the time the meal had been served we quite quickly got Teddy off to sleep which made the flight fly by!
Upon arriving at Tokyo Haneda airport, we took the monorail and JR rail combo. We pre purchased these online before we travelled with https://klook.tp.st/iborr0rJ
The fastest and most convenient way to get to Tokyo Central is by taking the train. The Tokyo Monorail connects Haneda Airport to Hamamatsucho Station, which is a transportation hub in Tokyo. From there, you can transfer to other train lines to get to your final destination.
This was very smooth and we had booked an apartment close to Tokyo’s main station to make life easier for us when arriving with what felt like 1000s of suitcases.
Our first morning in Tokyo, we headed back to the main station in order to collect our JR rail passes. These were not cheap but they proved completely invaluable as we pretty much used them everywhere during our two weeks travelling round japan. I would absolutely recommend using them for your trip to Tokyo with kids (kids under 6 do not require one) but just be warned, having your passports with you is necessary to redeem the tickets……. We did not realise this which meant an unscheduled trip back to the apartment to collect them.
For our first trip we headed to Meiji Shrine. This is located very centrally, making it easy for us to travel with a jet legged little one. Note Tokyo is absolutely ENORMOUS, which, even though knowing this before going, it is impossible to understand until you are there and trying to get around the city, and especially when trying to navigate round Tokyo with kids.
The shrine has a wonderful long walk (perfect for stretching little legs) from the JR line. It starts through a large torii gate and continues through a shaded path until reaching the centre. The shrine is free to visit whilst there is a ¥500 admission fee for the inner garden. This was also a nice little walk for Teddy and our first experience of a Japanese garden.
Little ones are usually free for most activities and gardens in Japan.
It was a great first trip and wasn’t busy at all meaning Teddy could have a good run through the forest trails before crashing later on. Which was perfect timing for us to carry on to one of the most famous parks in Tokyo, Yoyogi park.
Yoyogi park is a free park located next to Meiji Shrine and also very close to the busy Harajuku station. Whilst the park was pretty quiet when we were there, probably due to the weather, it was another really great place for kids to have a run with plenty of nice benches for the adults to relax at the same time. A fantastic thing visiting about the parks in Tokyo with kids is the proximity to the Tokyo International Airport, meaning you get amazing views of the planes taking off over head whilst enjoying the open spaces such as Yoyogi park, It makes for a great game with little ones.
One of Teddys favourite things was collecting sticks and wandering through the park with them. We had a pram full by the end of the day but it was definitely a welcome break from having him stuck in his pram before we navigated the very busy Harajuku.
The centre of Harajuku is fascinating. They have a very interesting range of food and snack options in Harajuku. The crepes and waffles were amazing and the range was insane! Also we passed some very interesting cafes including a man with a huge ferret trying to get people to go inside!
In the heart of Harajuku is Takeshita Street,a pedestrian-only street. It is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike, known for its fashion boutiques, street food, and quirky shops. The street is particularly popular with teenagers and young adults. For that reason we had to keep Teddy in his pram to ensure he did not get lost in the crowds.
From Harajuku we headed to one of the most famous sights in the whole of Japan, the Shibuya crossing. We spent the afternoon by the popular Shibuya area especially the crossing! The Shibuya Crossing is one of the busiest intersections in the world and is an iconic Tokyo landmark.
It was really cool and there were plenty of dining options but was so busy we had no choice but to keep Teddy in the pram whilst we had a look round. The Disney store was particularly impressive, probably the best I’ve ever seen from the outside.
For our first evening in Tokyo, we headed to the Tokyo Metropoliton Government Building for the free observation decks! This was great as it was such a large space and had significantly less people than the more touristy Skytower but we got amazing views of Tokyo and it was nice to see it at night and then have the views from the Skytower during the day later on in our trip. It really was amazing and the fact that it was free is great for families. We turned up and headed straight up the elevator with no wait at all.
There are maps located all around the windows to point out the different buildings that you can see, including Tokyo Tower and the Skytower, I would highly recommend a visit.
The next morning we headed to one of our most anticipated activities, Team lab planets. Team Lab Planets is a crazy immersive experience in Tokyo with kids. We took Teddy and whilst it’s brilliant for kids I would equally recommend it for adults as well, it’s so unique and very well done. You experience two sides, garden and water. I think the water side was my favourite but both were outstanding. https://getyourguide.tp.st/QzigNPGz
We payed around £20 per person and Teddy was free. A lot of it is done barefoot so lockers are provided for all your things and towels to dry your feet are on hand at the end of every room.
This was easily one of the most incredible and different experiences we did and is absolutely worth a visit.
We headed to Odaiba from Teamlab Planets. It was a long walk, and there was public transport available, but the views were fantastic. It is a man made island and the views across to Tokyo are well worth walking rather than taking public transport. There was a great outdoor kids play area we stopped off at for a break and then carried on over to the main attractions at Odaiba.
We spent far more time here than we expected but it was brilliant! Teddy spotted a soft play centre near Aqua City, which we hadn’t planned on visiting but we went in and he had a great time and it ended up being a brill hour or so for him to burn off some energy.
We visited the Joyopolis indoor amusement centre, which was probably more fun for us adults but still so much to do for kids even if it was whacking moles without actually paying to play properly! For the slightly older people amongst us, there are some very cool retro games to be found.
For dinner we ate at TGIs at the Aqua City shopping mall. It featured amazing views over the waterfront whilst we ate. As nighttime came we got fantastic views of the Rainbow Bridge crossing the harbour and it probably made for one of the most fun family days we had during our time in Japan.
For our final day in central Tokyo we visited Senso-ji temple. This temple is quite unique in that you approach it via a busy, narrow shopping street with vendors selling traditional Japanese items. It was extremely busy so we had to keep tight hold of Teddy but a very cool experience and very interesting to walk through the rows of shops leading to the temple itself.
Close to Sensoji temple was the Tokyo SkyTower. We payed approx £12 per adult and Teddy was free. It was luckily a really clear day when we went up and we got some awesome views across Tokyo including the Sumida river. Similar to the Government viewing area, there were signs indicating which famous sights of Tokyo you were able to see. This ticket got us to the 1st observation deck, you can pay a little bit more and go every higher but this one was fine for us. This was far more touristy and featured a cafe and a photo booth where photos were available for purchase. I think I preferred the Government building viewing platform as it was far less crowded and much more centrally located. However both were very worthwhile experiences.
Saving my most anticipated experience until the last few days…….Disney! There is probably no better thing do to than visit Disney when visiting Tokyo with kids. We stayed at the Disney Celebration. Basically your value resort and very similar to the All Stars hotels at Walt Disney World. We stayed here for two nights and spent a day at each park. The hotel was really nice with very cool theming. There was a bus that took you to each of the parks which was around a 15-20 min trip each way. We really wanted the Toy Story hotel but there was no availability for the dates we were there but this one worked out brilliantly for us without breaking the bank as we barely spent any time there. The hotel had no restaurant except for serving breakfast and no bar area, just a small gift shop and store selling some food items. It did a job very well though.
For our first day at a Disney we headed to Disneyland. This is very, very similar to Magic Kingdom/ other Disneylands with the same layout and almost identical rides. It was nice to rediscover some of the old rides which are no longer at Magic Kingdom such as ‘Snow Whites Enchanted Wish’ this went down horribly with our 2.5 year old…. but he isn’t the bravest! And of course the original Splash Mountain. The kids play area had a very similar concept to the old Mickeys Toontown Fair which I’ve never done at Magic Kingdom with a child before. It has been demolished when we finally took Teddy to Florida, so this was very cool for him to explore. He especially loved the play area. We also got to meet Mickey in his house (had to high five rather than hug due to Japans covid restrictions) it was still a lot of fun and he especially loved the fact that we saw where Pluto sleeps.
Day 2 at Disney, we went to Tokyo DisneySea. Unfortunately the weather was awful but it was a truly spectacular theme park that absolutely blew Disneyland out of the water!
‘Mermaid Lagoon’ is a child friendly totally indoor area with 3 rides which are beautifully themed, with a fantastic indoor playground, a character meet and greet, gift shops and a counter service restaurant. The best bit being it’s all located under the same roof! We could have spent hours in here it never felt too crowded despite the bad weather. Absolutely hands down the best child friendly ‘land’ of any Disney park I have ever visited and a must do if visiting Tokyo with kids.
Mount Prometheus, the focal point of Mysterious Island at DisneySea is a huge mountain that can shoot flames in to the air, This made for spectacular pictures at night and even during the day when the weather was terrible!
Mysterious Island is located in the centre of the park and is home to two rides. The famous 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (formerly found at Magic Kingdom) and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Featuring a track similar to that used for TestTrack. Teddy was able to go on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea but said it was a bit scary.
Aside from the awful weather we had a fantastic day and found the dining options to be really good, even the quick service ones. Far better than Disneyland across the way. There is no Disney entertainment district as such here but there was an area close by with a number of restaurants and shops if you want to head out for a bit and some of the restaurants were fantastic with a huge choice.
Heading back to Tokyo for our final day, it was a lovely day so we headed to Shinjuku Gyoen. A fantastic park with huge open spaces, cafes, wonderful toilets (especially when travelling with children) a greenhouse and some stunning formal gardens. It’s a very short walk from the JR Shinjuku station and well worth a few hours to explore. Plenty of locals were just chilling in the spring sunshine as were many tourists aswell. It had a lovely laid back vibe to it and a fantastic place to explore when visiting Tokyo with kids.
The traditional Japanese gardens at Shinjuku Gyoen were the perfect way to finish off our time in Tokyo. We hadn’t actually realised this was here but what an amazing place to finish our trip off! The gardens were stunning and we also got to see some more of the blossom! Walking over the bridges round the lakes was so much fun and great for little legs to wander through. Perfect last day in Japan and a wonderful time visiting Tokyo with kids.
This page contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I May receive a commission at no extra cost to you