winter travel & skiing with kids

Hi there,

In general, travel in Japan gets progressively busier from just after Christmas until around the 5th of January. As Christmas falls on a sunday this year, you can expect to experience more people on the trains from monday the 26th onwards as they take their winter breaks.

If it's possible I recommend flipping your journey on it's head and aim to spend your first week travelling up to Tokyo & Nagano, and then settle down to enjoy the lead up to the new year in Kyoto. Here are some ideas for the other points you mention

Skiing and snowboarding near Nagano

By far the best recommendation I have for Skiing/snow park/Onsen near Nagano is [Shiga-kogen]. Based in a huge national park, this snowfield is the largest in all Japan and has all the items you list in addition to famous hot-spring bathing japanese monkeys at [Jigokudani Yaen Koen] There are [many ski-schools] for your youngsters to learn to ski, and a [huge ski/snowboard range for the adults].

It's also very [easy to get to with a JR Pass]. From Tokyo you can travel up to Nagano, and then transfer to Shiga kogen on the JR Snow Liner bus (approx 1 hr).

General tips

I also have some general tips on things to do/see/stay near your main stops that I'll list below:

Kyoto

• Kinosaki onsen
• Arashiyama, Takayama

Hakone / Mt Fuji

• blog post
• hakone advice

Tokyo

• day trips

Hope this helps!

Dear Mari,

Thank you so much for the tips and advice. It's really helpful and I appreciate the time you guys take out to help us in our travel needs...helps us plan better!

No problem - hope you have a great trip!