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Travelling with a Toddler Tokyo > Osaka and around

Suanlee
Suanlee
3 months ago
1 answer

Hello!

Me and my husband are travelling with our daughter (<2 years old) in November and are hoping to get some information on what our best options are.

We are spending a few days in Tokyo then heading to Osaka. For Planning purposes, we have the rough outline:
Day 1: Arrive in Tokyo
Day 6: Tokyo > Osaka Day 7 : Nara day trip Day 9: Ferry overnight Osaka to Beppu (already paid)
Day 11: Ferry overnight Beppu to Osaka (already paid)
Day 12: Osaka > Tokyo Day 13: Leave Tokyo
JR Pass to be used

The calculator says the JR pass would be worth it for the parts of the itinerary with ** so we are thinking that a JR pass would be our best bet.

The questions I would love your help with are:
- Do we need to get a ticket for our Toddler? - Har far ahead do we need to book the shinkansen trains? - Do we need to book the other trains (i.e. to and from Nara) or can we just get on a train on the day? - Would it be worth getting the premium tickets? It looks appealing as it seems to have more privacy and space if we are sharing our seat with our little girl.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

Alexis
Alexis
1110 posts
3 months ago
Expert

Hi there,

You don't need to book any tickets for your child - anyone under 5 years old can travel for free but bear in mind this does mean that you'll have to carry her if there aren't any free seats next to you as you cannot reserve seats for anyone under 5 years old (hence why it's free).

I'd recommend making Shinkansen reservations as soon as you activate your JR Passes, but a lot of people choose to buy them right before departure although this does come with the small risk of there not being any seats left, which would, however, be highly unlikely.

For the rest of the trains you can book on the day. A Green Premium JR Pass would be an option worth considering because of your younger daughter, as it will definitely be a more quiet and comfortable experience but ultimately the choice is yours.

Kind regards,

Alexis

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