When planning our three-week Japan itinerary I knew I wanted to get into nature and explore. While Japan is home to some amazing mega cities, when it comes to traveling with toddlers (our sons were 3 and 1 when we visited), spending quality time outdoors is key.
The instant I saw a picture of the Shinkyō Bridge with a backdrop of firey red leaves I knew I had to see it in real life! We were visiting Japan in October after all, so I was feeling all of the sweater vibes not realizing that peak fall foliage doesn’t usually hit Nikko until November.
Nevertheless, to be only a couple hours away from Tokyo, Nikko has a great mountain town feel and I was blown away by the colors starting to show in the trees. Regardless of when you visit, when you drive down Cedar Avenue, you’ll know you made a good call.
Getting to Nikko with Toddlers
We considered taking the train from Tokyo but decided we would want wheels when we got there so we rented a tiny Japanese rental car, basically a green skittle, and hit the road to Nikko! If traveling with kids, the car is a great call!
The drive is about 2 hours and was pretty easy especially once you get out of the chaos of Tokyo. Of course, we stopped for one last ramen at our fav dive spot in Asuksa before leaving Tokyo.
Where to stay in Nikko with Toddlers
We stayed in an Airbnb near the Toshogu Shrine and I totally recommend that location. It’s in between Lake Chuzenji and downtown Nikko. The Airbnb itself however was underwhelming. It felt like we were staying in a grandma’s house, a little cluttered and not pristine feeling.
What to do in Nikko with Toddlers
Nikko National Park & Toshogu Shrine
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the first thing you’ll see when researching about the area. Containing the Toshogu Shrine and other significant temples, it is pretty awesome but also pretty busy! The shrine grounds are huge and it is such a beautiful place, but man did it have a queue. I think my favorite part was the stories-tall pagoda amidst the even taller cedar trees.
We definitely did not devote enough time to visiting the Toshogu Shrine. We thought we could check it out on our travel day back to Tokyo, which would have been fine if we didn’t need to return our rental car by a certain time and have a reservation at teamLab Planets. We called the rental company to let them know we’d be late and then were still late on top of that! Fortunately, they were gracious but it was stressful cruising double-decker highways on the left side of the road!
Shinkyo Bridge
As I mentioned, this bridge is iconic and you’ve likely seen it on a wall calendar! It is a beautiful spot.
Lake Chuzenji
This was my favorite day in Nikko. We went from Lake Chuzenji to Yumoto Onsen Town and stopped at all the amazing waterfalls and vistas in between! The road to the lake is a super curvy road. This is not for the carsick or faint of heart! Aside from a roadside viewpoint, there’s not too much to do on Lake Chuzenji in the fall/winter, but it’s gorgeous nonetheless!
Funny story: On our way back down the mountain from Yumoto Onsen Town, the boys fell asleep so Grant and I got drinks and snacks and had a little car picnic staring at the lake while they snoozed! Hey, when traveling with toddlers you have to sneak a date in when you can!
Ryuzu Falls
We then headed up to Ryuzu Falls which is two small waterfalls that look like a dragon (especially when fiery red, darn!) It’s free to visit the falls and there are beautiful hiking trails surrounding the area. Be sure to stop for a hot chocolate in the restaurant after exploring the falls!
Senjogahara Marshland Hiking Trails
It was too cold for our crew to do this. We simply didn’t have the right cold weather gear (Give us a break, we live in Costa Rica!), so we skipped this hike. But it seemed super kid-friendly and fun!
Yumoto Onsen Town
The drive up to Yumoto was the best part! It was so scenic and we could see the snow-capped mountains getting closer as we felt the temperature drop! After walking around Lake Yunoko we dipped our feet in the nearby public hot springs to warm up. This was unexpected! I saw the “hot springs” symbol on Google Maps and noticed it was public so we had to check it out. For 200 yen, you can relax in a thermal water foot bath! We were lucky to see a family of deer at the nearby Buddhist shrine, Onsenji.
Akechidaira Ropeway
The Akechidaira Ropeway is super cool and the boys loved it. This scenic cable car takes you to the top of a viewing platform where you can watch Lake Chuzenji cascade into Kegon Falls below.
Kegon Falls
Once seeing Kegon Falls from the viewing platform, drive down and then take an elevator even further down (100 meters to be exact!) to see it up close. This was pretty touristy (especially in comparison to Ryuzu Falls, but still a really cool experience to see this 97 meters tall waterfall up close!
Sake Brewery
The Wantanabe Sahei Shoten Sake Brewery was one of the first things we did in Nikko. I had read about it somewhere online so we showed up nonchalantly and the staff seemed like they weren’t expecting visitors. They were shocked and delighted that we wanted to try their sake! It seems like this was a real deal producer rather than a tasting room. The sake was great, and although the language barrier was nearly impassable, they showered the boys with affection and snacks! We bought some sake and beautiful shot glasses. Check it out on your way into town!
Where to Eat in Nikko with Toddlers
Guruman’s Wagyu
We had the best experience at Guruman’s Wagyu restaurant. We had to try Wagyu in Japan! They seemed to cater to clients from the larger hotels and they were surprised when we showed up in our neon green rental car from our Airbnb…with kids. (Are you sensing a theme? The Davis family is coming in hot!) The service and food were great! The kids even got to wear cute aprons. Highly recommend this experience while in Nikko.
Fun Fact: In Japan, they are extremely strict about drinking and driving and the restaurant insisted on calling us a driving service after Grant ordered one glass of wine. (Before he had even had a sip!) We didn’t really have a choice in the matter so we rose to the occasion and had two glasses (ha!) and then let the gentlemen drive our car home while his coworker followed us in his car. He even wore driving gloves!
Ramen Bonte
This spot was more our speed. We sat on the floor (the kids loved this!) alongside patrons from hostels drinking Kirin and slurping ramen. It was delicious and exactly the warm and cozy meal we needed after a brisk fall day!
Nikko is a great place to bring toddlers! They’ll love seeing the huge waterfalls and riding the cable car. The hot chocolate is pretty memorable too!
Fun without Foliage,
-Ray