Four perfect days in Tokyo

What I love the most is discovering little stores and cafes while wandering the low-rise neighbourhoods.
Four perfect days in Tokyo

Taking my daughter on a 5-course ice cream dinner date.
Four perfect days in Tokyo

Staying in Azabu feels like you're living here not just visiting.
Four perfect days in Tokyo

Tell me you're in Japan without telling me you're in Japan...

"One of my favourite finds this time was a graphic design studio-turned-rice shop in Azabu. Select your preferred texture and sweetness from rice sourced across Japan and it will be freshly de-husked in a rickety vintage machine ready to take home."
4 days

Four perfect days in Tokyo

Four perfect days in Tokyo

By Lucy, founder of Souvenir

I've visited Tokyo several times, but last year - for the first time - we took our kids. My eldest picked out her own notebook to fill with Eki stamps (intricate rubber stamps you can collect at train stations, temples, museums and some restaurants). My one-year-old was the best blossom-spotter, and was happy to be pushed around while snaffling snacks from the 7/11 store.

We swerved obvious tourist spots in favour of low-rise neighbourhoods, small shops and cosy cafes that feel truly Japanese, so you can get a feel for the city without adding pressure to a city suffering an unsustainable concentration of visitors. Expect to fall in love.

WHAT THE KIDS WILL LOVE

  • Order a milkshake from a furry green bear paw that reaches out of a hole in the wall
  • One-on-one time with mum or dad over a 5-course ice cream dinner
  • Excellent playgrounds with particularly good slides
  • Trying new ingredients and flavours
  • Spotting cherry blossoms (season depending) and collecting Eki stamps

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE

  • Feeling like you're a local not a visitor
  • Independent stores and vintage shopping
  • Spotting one of the loos from 'Perfect Days'
  • A range of different Japanese foods
  • The perfect mix of old and new, shrines and shopping, small moments and big experiences

The Essentials

Trip length: This trip is for 4 full days + travel days.

Stay: We based ourselves in a 2-bed apartment in Azabu (details in the Trip Kit), a buzzy and fairly central neighbourhood but with a local vibe, with a spider of zebra crossings to give you that famed Shibuya moment immortalised in ‘Lost in Translation’. This trip kit will work with any accommodation in this area. And if you choose to stay in another area you’ll still be able to use most of the recommendations.

Getting around: We used the metro and sometimes taxi at the end of the day when the kids were tired

Best for: kids 1 - 12 years old.

When to go: We went in April and it was similar weather and temperature to the UK. This Trip Kit will work for trips at any time of year.

HOW WE DID IT

The 2-bed apartment in Higashiazabu (all details in the trip kit) was about £140 per night.

We ate out at lunchtime and made dinners at the apartment when the kids were worn out. You can choose to eat cheaply or expensively in Tokyo.

Most activities are free / low cost except for teamLabs which was about £60 for a family of 4.

We spent about £10-£15 per day on the metro.

You are likely to land at Haneda airport. Taxi transfers will cost about £60, or you can get the metro or monorail into several central stations.

WHAT YOU'LL GET

You’ll receive:

  • our recommended plan for each day, built with the realities of travelling with young kids in mind
  • where we stayed, how we got around and what you shouldn't miss
  • what we spent
  • a pre-pinned Google map with a layer for each day
  • feeding little eaters in Japan
  • Japan etiquette notes to help this trip go smoothly
  • rainy day ideas

Every family has different preferences and requirements. The Trip Kit allows you to recreate our exact trip or you can easily adapt it for your family's needs. See here for FAQs.

Saves hours of research, no AI, designed by parents.

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