Travel Family Spotlight: The Points Mom

One of my favorite things about social media is meeting other families that love to travel and adventure. I like to dig in and find out what works for them and what draws their family to want to be "on the go" so we started a little series here on the blog where we spotlight other families who love to travel. We hope you will enjoy the next installment of the "Travel Family Spotlight" series.

Cindy Greenstein is the face behind @thepointsmom_. She is a mom of three and an expert travel hacker. Cindy is a former lawyer and CPA and now runs a consulting company to help people learn how to use points/miles to travel. She is currently based in New York and you can learn more about her business and how she helps people learn to use points/miles at www.thepointsmom.com. We hope you'll enjoy our interview with The Points Mom!

Tell us about your family.

I have been married for 23 years (huh!) and have three young adult children. I have a 20 year old, Daniel, who goes to school at Cornell. He is a rising Junior. He is heading to study abroad in Copenhagen in the Spring semester of 2023 (yay!). I also have almost 19 year old twins. Boy/Girl. The girl, Jessie, is a rising sophomore at Cornell (with her big brother) and the boy, Mason, is a rising sophomore at USC in LA.

Where are you currently based? Has your family moved around at all? Where is your favorite place you’ve lived?

We are currently in Westchester NY. We only moved when the kids were babies from our apartment in NYC to our current home in Westchester. My favorite place I lived was definitely NYC and Rob and I will likely go back there at some point over the next 10 years now that we are empty nesters.

How often do you travel with your family? Is it primarily domestic or international travel? How would you categorize the type of traveler you are?

We travel about 3 times a year with my whole family, usually a trip at Christmas and a ski trip over the winter and a trip in the summer. Rob and I also travel a bunch by ourselves, definitely a trip in the fall when they go to school and usually a spring trip too. We travel internationally a bunch, probably more than domestic as a family. I would categorize us all as eager and easy travelers!

Tell us how you got started travel hacking with points/miles and one piece of advice you might give someone who is just getting started traveling with their family and wants to learn how to travel hack?

I was an accountant back in 1990-1993 (I'm old). I traveled about 20 weeks a year as an auditor, often going to remote places in Michigan that required 2 flights. I started earning lots of frequent flier miles by flying all those segments and hotel points on all my stays. My first major redemption were first class flights on Delta from NY to Honolulu for my honeymoon in 1998 from all of the points/miles I had accumulated over the years. Once the credit cards got on board with the banks issuing cards where you could earn rewards, I was all over that and now have about 25 cards (yup).

The advice I would give, is AS LONG AS U CAN PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME AND IN FULL, don’t be shy about applying for cards and scoring big sign-up bonuses. It is not true that the more cards you have, the worse your credit score. In the long term, it is actually opposite and the more cards you have (so the more credit you have available) will actually help your score. When you apply for a card, your score may take a little ding, but as long as you demonstrate good behavior, your score will come back even stronger.

Why do you like to travel with your family? Did you travel with your own family when you were growing up?

I like traveling with my family because we all enjoy a mix of everything. We like adventure and love to walk everywhere (my husband complains sometimes :-) ). We all like trying different foods and restaurants and learning about the destination that we are in. We are also all pretty good sleepers, no one is tired on the trip because we are all pretty comfortable sleeping in various hotels. I only really went on driving vacations with my family growing up. We once went to see my uncle in Tucson and tacked on California, but that is the only big trip I remember.

What's a memorable travel experience you've had with your family?

One October in Philly, we went to Terror Behind The Walls at the Eastern State Penitentiary. This is a Halloween gigantic haunted attraction where you walk through various sections of the prison. During your tour, people are jumping out at you and even come so close to you that they whisper in your ear. They are only allowed to touch you (AND TAKE YOU!) if you are wearing a glow necklace. We opted for NO NECKLACE! But this was still such a great bonding experience for my family. Each time we were startled, we followed it up with a bout of hysterical laughter together. The actors singled out my daughter, Jessie, as she was the easiest to scare and they sensed that!

What are the easiest and hardest parts about traveling at the stage you are in?

The easiest is having older kids who now have very little issues traveling, so no more meltdowns, whining, fights (ok, still some fights). And the hardest part is the same, having older kids who have their own lives and schedules so it is much harder to nail down time to travel as a family.

What are your favorite travel resources for travel hacking (besides your IG)?

I get a ton of newsletters each day from various travel hacker bloggers. I also read all of the emails that I get from all of the loyalty programs. I actually also have my own website, thepointsmom.com. Although, as I get busier, I am finding it harder to keep it updated with all the latest offers and changes related to travel hacking.

What are three items you never leave home without?

Magnesium (to help me go, I have trouble when I travel, especially when I fly :-) ), my ear buds (I am often up way past Rob and watch tv using my ear buds), a pair of slippers ( I am up always up really early and headed to the lobby for coffee, it is so nice not having to put on a pair of real shoes for my coffee run).

What's your next travel adventure? What are you looking forward to doing on that trip?

Rob and I are headed to Greece in September. We are spending 1/2 the time in Crete and 1/2 the time in Santorini. I am most looking forward to doing the 10 mile hike of the Samaria Gorge in Crete (although I can’t say the same for Rob).

What advice do you wish someone had given you when you first started traveling with your family? (i.e. Any tips from an experienced travel mom you would give them).

Take more videos!! I have tons and tons of pictures from all of our trips but no videos. Now that I am starting to take more for IG, I realize how much I missed over the years in all my kids’ stages by not taking video!

Anything else you think we should know about you or your family?

All of my kids have their own credit cards too. It is a good idea for them once they turn 18 to apply for their own cards so that they can start building their credit history and score. Before they were 18, they were also additional cardholders on some of mine and Rob’s cards which helps them too. My 20 year old has 3 cards and he is basically set up for the rest of his life if he wants to stop there. :-)

They all got the travel bug from me. I am excited for all of them to go abroad over the next 2 years, travel about, and have us visit them!

Don’t forget to follow Cindy on Instagram at @thepointsmom_ and on her website thepointsmom.com

South Dakota + Kids: 4 Day Itinerary

The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down and cancelled most our travel last year, but as our state (Utah) opened up, along with other states nearby, we decided to dip our toes back into traveling and take a road trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We picked South Dakota because we wanted to go somewhere we knew wouldn’t be very crowded (we went in May, which is still off-season in South Dakota) and we wanted to go somewhere with a lot of outdoor activities. We knew that South Dakota has a lot of state and national parks that were open for visitors, so it seemed like the perfect spot. We thought we’d share our general itinerary for anyone planning spring or summer travel to South Dakota, particularly the Black Hills and Badlands.

We found a cabin on Airbnb in the Black Hills on 21 acres and from the cabin we took day trips around the Black Hills. When we booked our cabin it was $250 per night, but the price fluctuates over the summer season. Our overall trip, including driving there, lasted 7 days (3 days were travel days). To start off, we drove from Salt Lake City, UT to Rawlins, WY (4 hours) and stayed the night at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Rawlins ($117 per night). The next day we drove from Rawlins, WY to Custer, SD (4.5 hours) and our cabin was located near Custer in the Black Hills. We settled into our cabin and explored the local area when we arrived. Below is a detailed look at what we managed to fit into four days in the Black Hills. There is a lot to see, and we could’ve definitely stayed longer. Also, keep in mind, because of COVID-19 closures a lot of things were limited or closed during our visit but many things have since opened.

Day 1: Custer and Hot Springs Area
During our visit, the first day was rainy and cold, so we didn’t fit in as many things as we had planned. Also, we were still trying to figure out what was open and not open with the COVID-19 closures and Google didn’t have everything updated. However, we still managed to have a lot of fun! Here are some of the places we visited:

Wind Cave National Park (hiking trails and animal watching). It rained for our visit to Wind Cave, but we planned to check out the Elk Mountain trail (1 mile), Prairie Vista trail (1 mile), and Rankin Ridge trails (1 mile). Utah Adventure Family has some good tips for hiking and exploring in Wind Cave National Park that we thought were helpful. The visitor center and cave were closed but we hiked in the grasslands and forest.

Hot Springs, SD. We drove around the town of Hot Springs (it was pretty quaint) and got lunch (it’s near Wind Cave National Park) at Red Shed Smokehouse. Not a lot was open when we were there, but some things we want to visit next time are the Mammoth Site (world’s largest mammoth research site) and Evans Plunge (oldest tourist attraction in the Black Hills, hot springs).

Crazy Horse Memorial (near Custer, SD). Crazy Horse is the world’s largest mountain carving and considered the 8th wonder of the world. At the memorial there is a well-done Native American art museum and a hands-on educational/cultural center and a Legends Light Show in the evenings. This is a fun place for kids to learn more about South Dakota’s Native American History. This memorial was closed when we visited, so we just drove by and watched some YouTube videos on our own about the memorial. It has since reopened for visitors.

Custer, SD. We finished off our day wandering around town, getting ice cream (we tried both Horatio’s Homemade Ice Cream and Bobkat’s Old Fashion Purple Pie Place, we liked Horatio’s ice cream better). There were souvenir shops open, murals to look at, and colorful bison around town. We mostly just stretched our legs and explored town. If you are looking for somewhere to eat in Custer, we’d recommend the Black Hills Burger & Bun, Co. for dinner.

Day 2: Mount Rushmore, Keystone, and Custer State Park
Our second day was jam packed with fun activities. We could’ve stretched these activities into several days. In fact, we’d definitely suggest your use a whole day (or more) to explore Custer State Park. Here are some of the places we visited:

Mount Rushmore. This iconic site is a must-see in the Black Hills! The visitor center was closed, and some construction was going on at the site, but we could still get a glimpse of Mount Rushmore from several areas at the site. There is also an easy hike along the Presidential Trail where you can read about the four presidents and get closer to the monument. We spent about an hour at the monument exploring and walking around.

Keystone, SD. We wandered around the town of Keystone and looked in souvenir shops, looked at wood carvings, and ate lunch at Cruizzer’s Pizza. We also got ice cream at Turtle Town and taffy at Rushmore Mountain Taffy. There were other fun activities in Keystone – mini golf, zip lines, tramway adventure, gold mine tours, National Presidential Wax Museum, Borglum Story.

Bear Country USA. This drive-thru experience to visit bears, bison, elk, etc. was probably one of the highlights for our kids. They love animals, especially bears! At Bear Country there are a lot of animals to see and you are able to drive slowly and take it at your own pace and stop and take pictures. We especially loved the baby bears! Some areas were closed when we went because of COVID-19, but mostly everything was accessible. Entrance fees per car were $40 or less if you had a smaller group with you. We loved this place!

Custer State Park. You could spend an entire day here or more. We just were in the park for a few hours. There are lots of places to hike, animals roaming (bison, elk, mountain goats, etc), lots of campgrounds and cool spots to see. We would’ve loved to spend more time at Sylvan Lake (it was beautiful). We just stopped the car anywhere that looked cool and got out and hiked around. Also, we’ve heard you can usually rent water toys in Custer State Park and there are four lakes, some with sandy beaches and playgrounds. We’ve heard Center Lake is fun for kids (it was too cold when we were there to swim). There are also a ton of great hikes in Custer State Park. There is an easy trail around Sylvan Lake (1 mile). Definitely spend some time at Sylvan Lake. Our favorite part of the park was the number of animals we saw!

Needles Highway. We drove the Needles Highway at sunset and it was beautiful. Usually we might not recommend a scenic drive with kids, but this drive was worth it for us. The Needles Eye Tunnel was exciting (and very tight). The drive along the highway takes about an hour and there are scenic places to stop and take pictures.

Day 3: Deadwood and Sturgis
Some of the fun of South Dakota is its gold rush history, so we headed out to Deadwood to check out this western town. We had been there about 12 years ago and thought it was cool, and wanted to take our kids back.

Deadwood. This is a city known to have a gold rush history. It still wasn’t very open when we were there, but we still had fun. A few restaurants were open and some shops. The drive out to Deadwood is pretty and there is a big reservoir on the way that is popular for fishing and boating (Pactola Lake). We got ice cream in town and lunch at Eagle Bar on Main Street. Usually in Deadwood there are old west gunfights on Main Street, re-creation of the shooting of Wild Billy Hickok, gold mine tours, and a fun park.

Hill City. We drove through this town on the way to Deadwood. It is a charming town with a busy Main Street. Teddy Bear Town there has the world’s largest collection of Teddy Bears. There is also a popular beef jerky outlet. We didn’t stop, but this might be a fun place to get out an explore if you have extra time.

Sturgis. We stopped by Sturgis because my husband is a big motorcycle fan and wanted to go. Not much was open. It has a cute little main street. There is a motorcycle museum, but it wasn’t open yet. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is in August, so it is extra crowded then (you might want to avoid it in August). Sturgis was relatively close to Deadwood and was a fun, curvy drive from Deadwood.

Day 4: The Badlands and Wall Drug
Our last day was a trip out to the Badlands. We accidentally drove the wrong way to the Badlands from Hot Springs (thanks Google) and ended up on closed roads on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (oops). We found a great spot to see the Badlands from within the Indian Reservation, but then left through the COVID-19 reservation checkpoints and drove the regular way to the Badlands out to Wall and to the main entrance.

Badlands. Our kids loved the Badlands. There were bison and bighorn sheep and baby goats to see on the sides of the road. We got out and climbed around in different areas where the topography looked cool. There are some good scenic overlooks to take in the views. The visitor center wasn’t open when we were, but it has a theater and is newly remodeled with some good exhibits. The Badlands is also a hotbed for dinosaur fossils and a great place for hiking with kids. The Fossil Exhibit trail wasn’t open when we were there, but that would be a good place to start if it is open. The Door Trail is an easy 0.75 mile trail with a boardwalk. Window Trail is an easy 0.25 mile trail. There are progressively harder trails for older kids. You can check out this blog post from Big Brave Nomad about some hikes for kids in the Badlands. 

Wall Drug. We stopped for an obligatory picture at Wall Drug and to wander around to the few stores that were open. Wall Drug is a fun cowboy-themed drug store, gift shop, and roadside attraction near the Badlands. It wasn’t open when we were there, but we’ve been before a loved exploring it! You will want to stop because you’ll see so many signs about it. It’s probably overrated, but we liked walking around. It opened during the Great Depression. People like to take pictures riding the Jackalope in front. It’s a great place to stop for food or a treat before or after you visit the Badlands.

So that was our South Dakota itinerary! We obviously didn’t fit in everything we could’ve, and things were closed because of COVID-19, but we still had a great time just getting outside and exploring. Here is a list of some other activities that we were told might be fun in this area of South Dakota if you are looking for more ideas:

WaTiki Indoor Waterpark

Jewel Cave National Monument

Reptile Gardens

Old MacDonald’s Farm

Fort Hayes Old West Town

Dinosaur Museum

Black Hills Central Railroad - 1880 Train

Rush Mountain Adventure Park

Four Mile Old West Town

Storybook Island

Black Hills Caverns

We hope you enjoy this extra info about our visit to the Black Hills of South Dakota. For more information, videos, and photos from our trip visit our @3KidsTravel page on Instagram and our “South Dakota” Instagram highlights.

You can also download and buy our full itinerary here!

Free Printable: Ancient Greece Coloring Pages

Here’s a fun little freebie for all of our followers who are joining us as we “travel from home” to Greece this week. If your kids (or you!) like coloring pages, these are for you! We have two Ancient Greece coloring pages for you. The first page is a general coloring page with popular images from the time period (that our kids helped design) and on the second page kids can design their own Ancient Greek Pottery. Let us know what you think!

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COLORING PAGES HERE

Family Travel + Coronavirus 2020

If you are a family that likes to travel, like us, then the recent coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) has probably left you wondering what to do about upcoming travel plans. Lots of families we talk to are wondering how to handle spring break plans or if they should keep their upcoming plans or reschedule. We have been looking forward to spending our spring break in Thailand, Singapore, and Bali and every day are wondering if we should cancel. But, we haven’t — yet.

We thought it would be helpful if we put together some suggestions for other families to think through as they assess what to do about upcoming plans. If you are planning to travel, or just making future travel plans, and the coronavirus is still around you need to make an informed decision. We think every family needs to decide what is best for their situation, and all situations aren’t the same, but maybe some of these ideas will help you come to some conclusions for your family.

1. Assess you family’s risk level. We think the first thing you need to think about is YOUR family. Some things to think about are your health, employment, financial risk levels, and children’s ages. First, you will want to think about how healthy your family is —including your extended family that you could put at risk. If you have health conditions that could make you more susceptible to or be exacerbated by a coronavirus diagnosis, you may need to be more cautious with travel. We visited with our local travel clinic last week and the travel nurse looked at our overall health records and said that with our current health and kid’s ages we were only likely to have mild symptoms if we got the coronavirus. In addition, he shared information about a JAMA report that indicated most people infected with coronavirus were between 49-56 years old and most had underlying illnesses. Children don’t seem to be as affected by the coronavirus at this point, although that could definitely change. You will also want to think about your employment. If you were to get quarantined or were unable to work for health reasons, what are your options? Can you work remotely? If you got stuck in a foreign country, how would your employer respond? Because my husband is an entrepreneur he is able to work remotely, but probably wouldn’t want to have to do that for an extended period of time. Lastly, think about the financial risks your family is willing to take. If you are booking travel, are you making sure to book refundable hotels and flights? When do you have to cancel by? Are you willing to just lose money? If you get stuck somewhere and have to spend extra money on flights and hotels, how does that fit into your budget? Do you have extra savings or insurance for health care needs that could pop up? Could you handle not being paid for two weeks if you had to be quarantined and couldn’t work? In terms of your children, you would want to consider how they might handle being quarantined or being separated from family members. Families with teenagers might have a different risk profile than families with small children. Before you make the decision to travel, think through some scenarios and make sure you are comfortable with any problems that could arise.

2. Get informed about any travel restrictions/advisories. Travel restrictions/advisories are changing daily as governments try to get the coronavirus under control. You need to know the latest information as you make decisions to travel. Because we live in the U.S. we are constantly monitoring the Center for Disease Control (CDC website) for travel recommendations as well as the U.S. State Department travel advisories. We are also monitoring airline websites and cancellations as they all put out different policies regarding travel to various countries. Additionally, in the U.S. the government continues to announce new screening procedures and we are trying to keep up on any advisories through monitoring several news channels. If you still choose to travel when your government advises against it, make sure you understand the consequences and are okay with any quarantines and restrictions that might be put on you. In particular, if you are traveling with children you will want to read any fine print and clarify any government travel policies to avoid major travel hiccups that could leave you in an uncomfortable situation.

3. Consider the country/destination you are traveling to. Not all travel is created equal right now. Some countries haven’t gotten the coronavirus yet and travel seems relatively safe, while other countries are in lockdown. For example, if you are going to Japan or Italy, you will want to read up on how these countries are handling the coronavirus. You will want to look at the restrictions they are putting on travelers from various countries, their screening processes, their healthcare options, etc. Given how quickly the coronavirus seemed to surge in Italy and South Korea, it is important to continue to check news about your destination regularly. Since we are hoping to travel to South East Asia in another month, I have been monitoring each country’s local papers, their government advisories, and the number of coronavirus cases. We have been reassured by how Singapore has been handling the coronavirus spread, but have also been concerned by the lack of coronavirus cases reported in Indonesia (both are countries we are planning to go on our trip). As we were writing this article Thailand decided to potentially quarantine passengers from South Korea and Singapore so that may affect our trip. You will also want to get a sense of the daily affects of the coronavirus outbreak in your planned country — for example, how often you might need to get temperature checks, extra screenings, hotel policies, potential quarantines, and how you might be treated should you get infected. The more information you can get about how your destination is handling the coronavirus (or how they plan to handle it) the better.

4. Are you traveling domestic or international? If you are still in the midst of travel planning, you are probably trying to decide whether to stay domestic or travel internationally? We have been discussing several alternative spring break plans if we our plans get changed and we have ideas for both domestic and international destinations. It’s almost like a game of whack-a-mole right now to see where the coronavirus might pop up next. If you are planning to travel domestically you will probably see less disruptions unless you are traveling to a current hot bed area, but that continues to change. You will still want to keep in mind crowds and activities (more on that later) but if you are living in the U.S. you are still generally safe to travel, according to the CDC, and the CDC still provides some suggestions for precautions to take when traveling in low risk areas. You will want to keep abreast of all of the latest updates. If you are considering international travel, you will want to consider locations carefully and assess the risks in those countries as mentioned above. In addition, you will probably need to be prepared potentially for extra screening and trip delays. However, just because there are some travel advisories doesn’t mean you need to cancel all international travel. For example, as noted in a recent Town & Country article, the CDC has not broadly advised against European travel because for healthy people there is no reason to cancel trips. Of course, this may change.

5. Are you road tripping or flying? As you are finalizing your plans there are things to think about depending on how you are traveling. If you are planning to road trip to your destination you probably have a lot more control over your virus exposure. Things to consider might be: where to stop and keeping safe at gas stations/restaurants and in public restrooms along the way. Generally speaking, road tripping should be a way to minimize risk of coronavirus while still getting to travel if you follow all of the usual CDC recommendations for staying healthy (hand washing, etc.). The full risk assessment of your road trip will also depend on where you are ending up (For example, visiting Disneyland might put you more at risk than a secluded beach house). If you are choosing to travel by airplane, you will have a few extra things to think about including protecting yourself and kids’ health, possible additional screenings, and potential delays. Aside from a lot of people wearing masks, domestic airplane travel in the U.S. hasn’t been affected much by the coronavirus — yet. That could change in the near future if restrictions and additional screenings are put into place. As mentioned above, if you choose to fly internationally you will want to stay aware of any airline restrictions or screenings. National Geographic suggests some ways to stay safe from the coronavirus while traveling including how to pick the best seat on the airplane. In addition, if you are flying you will want to consider other potential areas of exposure like waiting in lines at the airport, transportation to and from the airport, exposure on the airplane, public transportation to your destination, etc. Whether you fly or drive, you can minimize your risk for the coronavirus if you take precautions!

6. Consider what activities you want to do. When assessing whether to cancel our latest trip we’ve talked a lot about whether activities we want to do could become limited at our destination. If we are spending a lot of money on a vacation (or even a small amount) and a lot of the activities we plan to do are being cancelled, we think that is a good reason to reconsider travel. This part of the decision comes down to what your expectations are for your trip. If you plan to spend a lot of time wandering museums and markets and festivals and your destination decides to close and cancel them all will you be disappointed? We have started looking through our tentative itinerary for our trip to see what activities are our highest priorities and what the likelihood is that they will be cancelled. Since we are visiting South East Asia and a lot of our trip involves hanging out on a beach, we haven’t noticed too much that would be affected. We have heard that many restaurants and hotels will check your temperature upon arrival, but aside from that our trip doesn’t involve a lot of touristy activities that could get cancelled. If we had planned to visit Japan for the cherry blossom festivals, like we did last year, we might be disappointed to arrive and find out many festivals have been cancelled and large gathering have been discouraged. So, as you assess whether to cancel or keep your travel plans you will want to look closely at your itinerary and also check with any tour operators or checkout the websites for any sites you plan to visit. Alternatively, because the coronavirus is scaring a lot of people away from traveling right now, if you do decide to travel you may end up taking advantage of some less crowded destinations.

7. What about lodging and airfare? One of the reasons we haven’t cancelled our trip yet is because our hotels can all be cancelled up until 24 hours before we arrive AND our airfare will be refunded if we need it to be. It isn’t always cost-effective to book refundable travel, but since we’ve had enough experiences at this point where we have needed to cancel at the last minute, we almost always at least book refundable hotels. In this particular case, Delta is refunding or rebooking our airline travel because we were originally scheduled through China. If you are currently planning travel for the summer or are reconsidering your spring travel and making new plans, you will want to keep your bookings very flexible. That might mean paying a little bit more for flights and lodging. Many people we talk to in our Instagram community have just lost money because their travel plans are not refundable. This shouldn’t scare you from continuing to plan travel right now, in fact now might be a good time to capitalize on some good travel deals, but we suggest you make sure to consider whether you can get a refund if needed or get travel insurance to cover your situation (more on that next).

8. Deciding on Travel Insurance. Do you have travel insurance or are you wishing you had gotten some? Well, not all travel insurance will help you in a coronavirus situation. In fact, very few travel insurance policies will cover cancellations related to the coronavirus. We purchased our travel insurance through Delta’s partnership with Allianz but most Allianz policies do not cover losses covered directly or indirectly by this epidemic. In addition, because the coronavirus became a “known event” on January 22, 2020 any Allianz policies purchased after this time exclude any losses caused because it was a foreseeable event. Whether or not you agree with this type of policy, you will want to read the fine print on any travel insurance policy you buy. The only travel insurance policy that seems to cover the coronavirus going forward is a “cancel-for-any-reason” insurance policy and you can read more about these policies and others in this USA Today article. Our friend Evie Farrell wrote about why she is still going on her trip to Japan, despite the coronavirus warnings, but she also got insurance from Cover-More before she left to just cover any health problems related to the coronavirus while she is traveling. So, before you go on your next trip, consider whether or not travel insurance would be helpful.

9. General precautions to take. So if you’ve decided to still go on your trip, you are going to want to make sure to take any necessary precautions to stay safe on your trip. This will mean practicing good hand washing hygiene, staying away from large crowds (the WHO calls this practicing social distancing), avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, practicing respiratory hygiene (to avoid spreading droplets), and seeking medical advice early if necessary. These precautions are important whether you are traveling just within your community or across the world. We’d also suggest carrying hand sanitizer (a lot of places are out of stock worldwide) and also carrying basic medicines for colds/flu/fevers. In particular, if you have small children you will want to carry any children’s medicines as those can be hard to obtain. You will also want to consider healthcare options at your destination and make a family plan should anyone get sick and how to handle any other issues that arise.

10. Stay flexible. One of the most important things you can do if you are still planning to travel during the coronavirus outbreak is to stay flexible. The coronavirus outbreak seems to change from day to day and new hot spots keep popping up. You can check out these maps from Johns Hopkins that track the virus spread. Flexibility is already important when traveling because things often go wrong, especially when traveling with children. You will want to build in extra time for delays and prepare to improvise as necessary. A recent Washington Post article also suggests having backups for everything, “Have backups for your backups for everything from your communication devices, batteries, food/water, medication/eyeglasses, financial tools, transportation, lodging, airfare, etc.”

Our family is currently re-assessing our plans to visit Thailand, Singapore, and Bali in April because our flights to South East Asia go through South Korea. Originally our flights were booked through China and we re-routed through South Korea when the China flights got cancelled. Our South Korea flights haven’t been cancelled by Delta yet, so we are still assessing our options and hope to make a decision in the next two weeks. Like most of you, we need to stay flexible.

Hopefully this gives you a lot to think about. Travel during the coronavirus, especially travel with kids, should be carefully considered. We keep reminding ourselves that eventually the coronavirus will die down and we can get back to our regular travel lifestyle, but for now we might need to slow down a little and be more deliberate about the travel choices we are making for the sake of our family’s health and safety.

We hope you will make the best decision for your family, whatever it is. We’d love to hear your thoughts and how your family is adjusting your travel plans (or keeping them) because of the coronavirus. You can find us on Instragram at @3KidsTravel or on our blog for more of our travel tips, itineraries, and the ups and downs of family travel with our three girls.

Disclaimer: Any decisions you make about your family’s travel should be made using a wide range of resources and expert opinions. We are not health experts and the information we have shared above only gives suggestions to consider as you make your decision. The responsibility for making an informed decision for the health and safety of your family is yours.

Japan + Kids: Two Week Itinerary

If you followed along on our Japan trip last year on Instagram you know what a soft spot I have in my heart for Japan! I lived there when I was in middle school for three years and I’ve been dreaming about taking my family back. We finally had the chance to go in 2019 for Spring Break and we timed it perfectly for the cherry blossom season! We even met up with some of our friends (who are currently living in Singapore) at the beginning of the trip and all of the kids had the best time playing together and exploring. This is a look at our itinerary. It was not a perfectly planned trip, and we definitely missed a lot of what Japan has to offer. But, even though in two weeks you can barely scratch the surface of Japan, we managed to fit in a lot of amazing experiences! Our goal was to get a mix of big city (Tokyo), smaller town (Hakone), history (Kyoto and Hiroshima), and to get a wide variety of unique cultural experiences. We even managed to fit in a very last minute three hour visit to Tokyo Disneyland our last day! Here’s our itinerary:

Day 1 : Arrival in Tokyo and Roppongi
We flew from Salt Lake City to Seattle to Tokyo (Narita Airport). After we landed at the airport and went through passport control we went to activate our Japan Rail passes. We had to order them ahead of our arrival in Japan and then activate them on arrival. We got the 14-day pass, but you can also get a 7-Day pass. These passes are great if you are going to be doing a lot of travel outside of Tokyo using the train system. You can read more about the pros and cons here. We heard they may change the JR Pass activation process before the 2020 Olympics, so make sure you check into that.

After we activated our passes we got tickets for the Airport Limousine Bus into Tokyo. We like these buses because they are inexpensive and a good resource if you are staying at or near one of the hotels where they drop-off. We were staying in Roppongi near the Ana Intercontinental Hotel, so this bus was an easy way to get to our Roppongi apartment. The buses are spacious, have a lot of luggage space below the bus, and have free Wifi. On our route, tickets were 3200 yen for adults and 1600 yen for children. It was supposed to take us about an hour and half to get into Tokyo (but it took us longer because we went during rush hour).

After we arrived at the Ana Intercontinental Hotel, we looked up the address for our Roppongi apartment that we booked on Booking.com and went to meet the apartment manager. He showed us the place and how to use everything in the apartment and how to gain access to the building as well as nearby 7-Elevens and the subway lines. It was a great spot for getting on the subway and navigating Tokyo, even though the apartment was tiny for our family of five (like most in Tokyo). Here is a link to the apartment on Agoda (it isn’t listed anymore on Booking.com). We liked it for the location, but it is definitely small. P.S. 7-Eleven is the best spot in Japan to get cash at the ATM and to get any essentials and is the largest convenience store chain in Japan (Lawson and Family Mart are also always useful to have nearby).

After we arrived and got checked in, we headed out to explore Roppongi and get dinner. We found some fun playgrounds on our walk around and we ended up eating dinner at Shake Shack our first night because everyone was too tired to find some good real Japanese food. We headed to bed early so we could get out and explore the next day.

Day 2: Ueno Park, Shinjuku, and Shibuya
One of our main goals in Tokyo was to see some of the best cherry blossom (sakura) spots. First stop, we took the train on the Yamanote Line to Ueno Park since it is one of the prime cherry blossom viewing spots and it did not disappoint. We wandered along the main street of the park to see the cherry blossoms and stopped to eat at the some of the food stalls (our favorites were yakisoba and yakitori). We’ve heard the nighttime viewing of the sakura is spectacular and if you go you might want to look out for the Hanami parties that happen as the sun is setting and after dark. We didn’t have time this trip. While there is a lot to do in Ueno Park (Ueno Zoo, Shinobazu Pond, Kaneiji Temple, etc.) we mostly just wandered the cherry blossoms rows and stopped at the Kaneiji Temple and the five-story pagoda. Anytime our kids saw playground equipment we also stopped to let them play and get out some energy.

After our visit to Ueno Park we headed to another cherry blossom spot, Shinjuku Chuo Park. The park is smaller than Ueno Park, but beautiful and the cherry blossoms were scattered throughout the park and there was a wide variety. We also loved this park because of the playground — our kids loved it. There were two playground areas near each other (and there is a splash pad in the summer). Our kids loved the giant slide (but it could be considered dangerous). The adults loved the shade and the public restrooms. You can read more about this park in The Tokyo Chapter’s Shinjuku guide.

After a lot of running around at the park and cherry blossoms, we were ready for lunch. We wandered around the area near Shinjuku Station and found some yummy ramen in a local restaurant. We mostly just pointed at things we wanted on the menu and everything tasted great. We always get extra rice for our kids, just in case they don’t like what we’ve picked for them. We also stopped into a few of the arcades in the area and let the kids try playing some of the Japanese games (which was a bad idea, because then they wanted to do them anytime they saw them on our trip!)

From Shinjuku we took the train to Shibuya to see the famous Shibuya Crossing (we may have gone across several times). Definitely hold onto your kids’ hands, there are a lot of people, but the whole experience was fun. We also stopped in Loft (one of Tokyo’s premier department stores) in Shibuya to check out their expansive stationary department and to get some souvenirs. Lastly, in Shibuya we stopped at a hedge hog cafe. Our kids begged us to go to one of Tokyo’s speciality animal cafes and hedge hogs were the only option with our allergy-prone husband and friends in tow. The kids were in heaven at the ChikuChiku Cafe. It was not my thing. To get a reservation you have to pay for 60 minutes, or you can walk in for a 30 min visit. We didn’t want to have to wait in line with five kids (ours plus our friend’s) so we paid more for a reservation (2,400 yen per person). You definitely don’t need a whole hour with hedge hogs though. But the cafe was cute.

We finished our night at a restaurant recommended by our apartment manager, called Sakura Tei. It was an Okonomiyaki restaurant (think savory Japanese pancake) and was a little over our head because you had to make your own dinner. It was fun to be able to grill all of our own food at our table, but we had a bit of a hard time following the directions without anyone who spoke good English and being jet lagged. It ended up being a really fun experience, but we recommend if you are going to eat Okonomiyaki in Japan for the first time (which we loved by the end of our trip!!), have someone else make it!

Day 3: Tokyo Tower and Harajuku
We started off our day walking from our hotel in Roppongi to the Tokyo Tower. We chose the Tokyo Tower over the Sky Tree because the Tokyo Tower was somewhere that I grew up visiting when I lived in Japan, and I wanted to take my kids back. It has been a famous landmark in Tokyo for decades. The kids loved riding the elevators to the various floors in the Tokyo Tower and looking out across Tokyo at the top. We skipped some of the other stores and amusement park activities inside the tower. We took the advice of The Tokyo Chapter blog after our visit to the tower and stopped at the playground at its based. We’ve found that when traveling with kids in big cities it is nice to let them have a chance to run and explore every time we see a playground.

We stopped at a few other parks in the area as well as we wandered around the Azabu-Juban and Hiroo (a popular area with expats and the area I lived as a teenager). Our favorite spot was Arisugawa Park — it feels like a jungle in the middle of busy Tokyo — and it has a playground, pond, walking paths, and waterfalls. You can also peek into the library in the park. We forgot to feed the kids until 2pm so they were starving and we ended up at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Hiroo (the hungry kids wanted some American food) even though there are a lot of better options in the area that you can find in The Tokyo Chapter’s guide above.

Our last stop for the day was Harajuku. You definitely want to make sure you keep your kids close to you in Harajuku or they can get separated from you — it is pretty crowded but it is great for people watching. Getting off the train in Harajuku we were stuck in one of the craziest crowds we’ve ever seen. Luckily we didn’t have a stroller and our kids stayed close to us. We walked along Takeshita Street and stopped to taste anything yummy we could find — crepes, cotton candy, etc. and looked into all of the unique stores. The kids especially liked the store Long! Longer! Longest! We tried the Tornado Potato and Cotton Candy. We skipped the Meiji Shrine (in the Harajuku area) because our kids were done for the day. But if you can, add it into your visit. We finished our night with dinner at a nearby nameless restaurant (it was not our finest day in terms of picking meals!) that wasn’t crowded and had an English menu.

Day 4: Asakusa, Tsukiji, and Ginza
Our last full day in Tokyo we tried to fit in a lot of different activities. I fit in a morning run around the Imperial Palace to check out the cherry blossoms before the kids woke up. Then, we headed out to Asakusa to the Senso-ji Temple. It is Tokyo’s oldest and most significant temple. The kids enjoyed receiving their “omikuji,” or fortune, at the temple. You pay a 100 yen offering in exchange for your fortune. The temple also had an awesome shopping street and food stalls with traditional local snacks. The best time to visit the temple is in the early morning (it was pretty crowded when we were there on a Sunday). The kids did a great job learning about the history of the temple, but then were ready to play so we found a local playground (Kinryu Park) to run out some energy before lunch. We stopped by the Panda Cafe for lunch, since it looked kid-friendly. There were toys for the kids to play with and they had a cute kid’s menu. It seemed to be more of a place for younger babies and toddlers, but our kids had fun. It looks like it might have closed since our visit, but there were lots of food options in Asakusa.

After lunch we had set-up a Sushi Making class in Tsukiji at the Tokyo Sushi Academy. This was a great family sushi making class and it was hands-on and the teachers really adjusted it to our kids’ skill level. Even though our kids don’t love sushi, they loved trying the various elements that go into making sushi and loved creating different types of sushi. The class lasted 90 minutes and they said kids 3 years old and up were welcome to participate (even younger kids can attend as long as they are supervised). They had a cute photo booth area where kids could dress up and take pictures with their sushi. It was a highlight of our time in Tokyo.

From Tsukiji we walked to Ginza. We love to walk when we can in cities to really get a feel of the city. It took about 15 minutes. When we got to the main area of Ginza the stores were all lit up and we loved checking out the various displays and windows. The kids loved the concept cars and the Hello Kitty store. We explored a few department stores and were on the lookout for a late dinner, and of course we waited too long and everyone was famished and it started raining so our dinner was lackluster and very touristy. Next time we are in Ginza we want to stop in Yakitori Alley, tucked under the Ginza train station tracks where you can grab a stool and get some good skewers at the food stalls.

Day 5: Tokyo to Hakone
It was a sad day when it was time to leave Tokyo and our friends and head to Hakone, but we were excited to get out of the city and into the country a bit. We took a taxi from the Ana Intercontinental Hotel by our apartment (it helps to have English-speaking bell hops order taxis for you) to Shinjuku Station. At the station we figured out how to buy bus tickets on the Odakyu Hakone Highway Bus (everyone is so helpful in Japan). The bus cost about 2000 yen per person and stopped at various hotels in the Hakone area, including ours. We decided the two hour bus would be easier with kids and luggage rather than taking the Shinkansen and then switching to the train/bus/ropeway. The JR Pass did cover the trains but it involved more logistics than we wanted for this part of the trip. We enjoyed a pleasant bus ride through the mountains, got to see Mt Fuji and the landscape of Japan, and the kids just played on their iPads and slept. The bus dropped us off right at our hotel and was very convenient. For the Hakone part of our trip we decided to stay in a resort hotel that had access to a Japanese onsen. We wanted our kids to get an onsen experience. We stayed at the Odakyu Hotel de Yama and it was wonderful. It was right on Lake Ashi, had wonderful views and a beautiful garden to explore. After we got settled we walked along the path from the hotel toward the Hakone Shrine and floating torii gate and the nearby town. The walk was beautiful and we could see boats out on the lake. We didn’t get a chance to ride the boats and fully explore Hakone, but plan to go back. We ate dinner in a little Italian restaurant in town called La Terrazza, which was kid-friendly, and also stopped by Bakery & Table Hakone for some treats.

After dinner we wandered back to the hotel and got ready for our onsen experience. Since the onsens are separated by gender, all of the girls went together and my husband went by himself. We loved our hotel’s onsen because there was a beautiful bath area inside and then a very relaxing bath outside in nature. We think we scared away all of the other guests, because when we entered they all left, so we got to enjoy the onsen together and in private. Our hotel provided us with yukatas to wear from the hotel room to the bath and it was fun to get the girls all dressed in their yukatas. Between hiking around the lake and an onsen bath, we were ready for an early bedtime and felt so relaxed in nature. We could’ve stayed in Hakone for several more days. We wished we’d had time to visit the Hakone Open Air museum, ride the Hakone ropeway and the Hakone Tozan Railway, enjoy the hot springs, or enjoy a boat cruise across Lake Ashi. Next time!

Day 6: Hakone to Kyoto
We didn’t plan very well with the transportation from Hakone to Odawara to catch the Shinkansen and ended up taking a long taxi ride instead of the bus. Next time we will plan better, but everything seemed complicated to me and a taxi seemed easier (albeit more expensive). Let’s just say that Japan wasn’t an overall inexpensive trip, but we did cut costs in other ways. We arrived at Odawara and booked our Shinkansen tickets for our next several trips (between Odawara and Kyoto and between Kyoto and Hiroshima) because it was a busy travel season with the cherry blossoms and trains were getting full. We took two Shinkansens from Odawara to Kyoto and we love these trains. Getting on and off the trains is easy, the whole Japanese train system is just so nice, and we had plenty of space to store our luggage on the trains. When we arrived in Kyoto it was very busy and the concierge at our apartment recommended we go directly to the MK Taxi VIP stand, rather than wait in the long taxi stand lines at the Kyoto station. We managed to get a taxi rather quickly (and we all fit in one taxi) to our apartment hotel. We used Booking.com to find a wonderful apartment/house (Kiyomizu Garden) in the older area of Kyoto by the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. The apartment was on the ground floor and had two bedrooms, a large living room, kitchen, washer/dyer, and a small garden outside. It felt like a very authentic old Japanese home and was surrounded by other beautiful Kyoto homes. After we arrived and got settled we wandered around the neighborhood near the Kiyomizu-dera Temple and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. Between the cherry blossoms and the women dressed in traditional kimonos and the sunset, the impression Kyoto left us with our first night was magical. We stopped at a local Indian restaurant near our apartment, Chakra, for dinner.

Day 7: Historic Kyoto
We arranged for a tour with Cityunscripted for our first full day in Kyoto. Our guide was nice, but in the end we think we might have enjoyed exploring the city without a guide. Some of the guides we’ve have over the years fit right in with our family, but this one wasn’t as comfortable. He did help us use the bus system to get around the city, so that was helpful. Kyoto is very big and it took a long time to get between locations, which is why we wanted a guide, but our guide didn’t make it much easier unfortunately. It was nice to have him to take family pictures of us though. The first stop on our tour was the Kyoto Railway Museum. It was very fun and hands on, but not something we needed to do on a tour (or as early in the morning when the kids were fresh). We would’ve loved to have gone to this museum on a rainy day, but since it was nice outside we didn’t stay too long. The museum had a lot of great interactive exhibits for kids and trains you could explore and also gave a history of trains in Japan. Our kids loved the area where they could use the train ticket machine and pretend to be riding the subway. If you are traveling with kids who love trains, this would be the place for you!

Our next stop was the Golden Temple (Kinkaku-ji) and it was beautiful and very crowded. It is a Zen Buddhist temple whose top floors are completely covered with gold leaf and it gleams in the sunlight. We did find some areas where there weren’t as many people and the temple looked beautiful with the cherry blossoms around it, but we only stayed for a short visit because of the crowds. Next we took the bus to the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The Palace was the residence of Japan’s Imperial Family until 1868 when the capital moved to Tokyo. The landscaping at the palace was beautiful and you could peek into some of the palace buildings. We enjoyed getting a glimpse into Kyoto’s history and it was very peaceful and uncrowded. Right outside the palace walls we found a playground for the girls to enjoy. Lastly, our guide took us to the Gion District to the Yasaka-jinja Shrine. This area was where we saw some of the best cherry blossoms in Kyoto and it was a wonderful place to people watch and finish the day. We sent our guide home and stayed to explored the Gion District, mostly on the lookout for some geishas. The streets of the Gion neighborhood came alive at night with lantern lights and people looking for bars, restaurants, and teahouses. We walked back to our apartment from Gion (it was about a 15 minute walk) and stopped on the way for some ramen for the kids. We quite enjoyed getting a historic overview of Kyoto in one day, although I think we could’ve done it on our own!

Day 8: Fushimi Inari Shrine, Nishiki Market, Kiyomizu-dera Temple
This day was probably one of our favorites in Kyoto, despite some questionable children’s attitudes. We took the train from our neighborhood using the JR pass to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It took about 30 minutes from where we were staying. Once we got off the train we were in a quaint, slightly touristy neighborhood of shops and made our way to the temple grounds. There were food stalls all around the shrine and we stopped when needed for a few treats and snacks. The most iconic part of the Fushimi Inari Shrine is the thousands of red torii gates and we wanted to hike to the top of the shrine. When we first started climbing the stairs to the shrine it was very crowded, but as we kept climbing the crowds thinned out and it was much more enjoyable. We took a wrong path to the top of the shrine and it was a wonderful detour. We saw bamboo forests, small temples, and it felt like we were wandering in an untouched jungle. Eventually we got to the top of the shrine and enjoyed some ice cream at the summit — a bribe for all of the hiking and minimal complaining. The hike to the summit probably took about 2.5 hours. Then it was time to climb down, the right way, among the torii gates. It was much faster on our way down and we enjoyed the views as we descended. The Fushimi Inari Shrine was probably one of our highlights of Kyoto.

After our long hike, we found a small playground near the train station and our kids enjoyed playing and then we took the train back to central Kyoto. We were close to the Nishiki Market when we got off the train, so we decided to go explore and see what was there. The market is renowned for being the place to get many of Kyoto’s famous foods and goods. We stopped to try things as we wandered the market and explored. We finished our last night in Kyoto at sunset exploring the Kiyomizu-dera Temple grounds again. We finally entered the temple and explored around and also wandered the touristy shops surrounding the temple. It was one of our very favorite places to watch the sunset in Kyoto. Our kids were exhausted after a long day of hiking and walking, so my husband and I split up and he took the older girls to dinner while I headed back to the apartment with my youngest to eat some ramen and get to bed early.

Day 9: Kyoto to Hiroshima
Honestly, when were planning our trip to Japan I wasn’t sure what to think or expect about Hiroshima and I wasn’t that excited to visit. Hiroshima ended up being a beautiful and peaceful city, and the cherry blossoms were at their perfect bloom, and I’m so glad we were able to visit. We left our Kyoto apartment and took a taxi to the Kyoto Station to wait for our Shinkansen. We took the train directly to Hiroshima and it took about 3 hours. The kids enjoyed the comfort of the train and having a relaxing day on the train after a few days of non-stop exploring. When we arrived in Hiroshima we took a taxi to our Airbnb. We didn’t use Airbnbs in Japan other than in Hiroshima, but we had a great experience in Hiroshima. We followed the directions from the Airbnb host and were able to find our apartment easily and it was in a great location right near the river, Peace Park, and a great playground. We got settled and took the kids right over to the playground to run out some energy. Once the girls got out enough energy, we headed over to walk along the river to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. We just wandered the grounds and got a taste of what we planned to see the following day. We finished the night at another playground and a delicious and award winning pizza place that we found, Pizza Riva.

Day 10: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima Castle, and Team Lab Hiroshima
We started our first full day in Hiroshima off with a visit to the Children’s Peace Monument where we talked to our kids about what happened in Hiroshima. Of course, they were devastated by the loss of lives and destruction and we talked about wars and tried our best to give them our perspectives. They also rang the peace bell and stopped to get a book about a girl that had been in the bombings and got sick as a result. We took the girls through the Hiroshima Memorial Museum but carefully controlled what they could see. The museum had several interactive activities to distract our kids while my husband and I wandered and looked at the more disturbing parts of the exhibits. We felt like they were able to appreciate the museum and what we were telling them, but we spared them anything too graphic. We left the museum in search of lunch and came across the Honduri shopping street. We found the restaurant chain Gusto, it came recommended by friends, and our kids enjoyed the children’s meals they offered. After we were energized again we headed to Hiroshima Castle.

Hiroshima Castle was surrounded by beautiful cherry blossoms and we enjoyed exploring the grounds. We also went inside the castle (370 yen for adults and 180 yen for kids) and there were multiple floors of exhibits detailing the history and culture of Japanese samurai families. The girls enjoyed several hands-on exhibits and dressing up like samurai. After exploring the castle we decided to try out the Sightseeing Loop Bus (Hiroshima Meipuru-pu) that was included with our JR Pass. Unfortunately the bus got so crowded that we could barely see anything out the windows. However, if we had taken it on our first day in Hiroshima to get an overview of the city I think we would’ve appreciated the experience more. Some of the buses have informational videos about the locations we were seeing playing in the background. During the cherry blossom season the buses get more crowded than normal, so you may want to avoid them then. After dinner at McDonalds (the kids begged) we went back to Hiroshima Castle to see the temporary nighttime interactive art exhibit by Team Lab Hiroshima on the castle grounds. After a long day, we walked back to our apartment exhausted.

Day 11: Miyajima Island
One of the parts of our Japan trip that we were most looking forward to was visiting Miyajima Island, and it lived up to our expectations. Miyajima is a small island near Hiroshima that is famous for its giant torii gate that looks like it is floating on water during high tide. The Itsukushima Shrine located on the island is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. We used our JR passes to take the train from Hiroshima Station to Miyajimaguchi and then we walked two minutes to the ferry terminal to get on the ferry to Miyajima (all included in the JR Pass). The ferry took about 10 minutes and it was cool to see the giant torii gates at high tide as we arrived. The island is known for wandering deer, which our kids enjoyed spotting. We wandered the streets and stopped to get some of the treats that Miyajima is known for (the steamed buns were our favorite!) like momiji treats and beef steamed buns. The only thing we didn’t try was the oysters. After exploring the streets and stores for a while, we headed to the Miyajima Ropeway. The ropeway is a cable car up to the top of Mount Misen. The views were spectacular from the cable car, even though it was a little smoggy on the day we were there. After our cable car ride, we explored Momijidani Park (there were more deer) and enjoyed being in nature (it kind of felt like a jungle). Near the end of our visit on Miyajima the tide went out and we were able to go out onto the sand and see the giant torii gates at low tide. The girls looked for shells and little mollusks, while we watched the sun set over the shrine. It was a beautiful way to end our day on Miyajima. We took the ferry back to Miyajimaguchi and stopped at a local Okonomiyaki spot for dinner. The okonomiyaki in Hiroshima is a known speciality and our dinner was amazing, probably because this time someone else cooked it for us. The place we stopped was right by the JR Miyajima Ferry but I can’t find the name anywhere. You must try the okonomiyaki in Hiroshima!

Day 12: Hiroshima
We probably didn’t need another full day in Hiroshima, but it was nice to have a relaxing day and it really was such an easy city to visit. Also, the cherry blossoms were the best in Hiroshima out of everywhere in Japan we visited and there were playgrounds all over and it was very kid-friendly. Our last day in Hiroshima was a lazy day. My husband and I switched off watching the kids and I took them to some playgrounds, arcades, and the Hiroshima Children’s Museum (it’s free) and library. The museum has two floors of a variety of activities and a planetarium. The planetarium was the only part that was not free, so we didn’t go. There was a library on the first floor and our kids enjoyed looking at the Japanese book and the small selection of English children’s books. We spent the rest of our day just exploring and doing last minute shopping and errands. We ate dinner at Pizzeria Parco della Pace and the staff was wonderful with kids and the food was delicious.

Day 13: Hiroshima to Tokyo
It was time to leave Hiroshima, and our Airbnb host called us two taxis (some areas were stricter about that rule than others in Japan) to get us to Hiroshima Station and we took the Shinkansen to Tokyo. The ride to Tokyo was about five hours because we had to transfer at Osaka, but it went very smoothly and our kids loved having some down time after a non-stop packed schedule. I could go on and on about the trains in Japan — they are so wonderful. We arrived at Tokyo Station and took a taxi to our last hotel, the Hilton Tokyo Bay. We booked this hotel for our last night in Japan because it was less expensive and a fun hotel for kids (themed rooms, pool, kids eat free for HHonors members, etc.). We hadn’t planned on visiting Tokyo Disneyland, but at the last minute we decided to surprise our kids with a few hours at Tokyo Disneyland. We dropped our bags and headed over to Tokyo Disneyland! Since we haven’t really taken our kids to Disneyland before (other than a one day visit when our oldest daughters were 2 and 4) they were in awe of everything. We mostly just went on any rides that didn’t have long lines, since they didn’t know what to expect. The highlights were taking them on Pirates of the Caribbean and It’s a Small World. We got caught in a pretty bad rainstorm after we’d been at Disneyland for a few hours, so our kids decided it was time to head back to the hotel pool. We swam in the hotel pool and enjoyed the amazing kid-friendly dinner buffet and got in a good night’s sleep before our long haul flight the next day.

Day 14 - Tokyo to Salt Lake City
Sadly, our time in Japan had come to an end. We took the Airport Limousine Bus again to the airport (we flew out of Haneda Airport). We had the best time in Japan and were pretty sad to leave — it is such a great country to visit. When we landed at LAX after our 10 hour flight it was a rude awakening to the fact we were not in Japan still — everything in Japan runs so smoothly and LAX was kind of a nightmare and mass chaos. We can’t wait to visit Japan again and explore more of the beautiful country. Check out our Instagram account @3KidsTravel for more pictures and videos from our trip (we have IG story highlights for each city we visited!)

General Tips:
Even if you don’t understand Japanese, you can still get around really easily in Japan. Google Translate is a great resource for communicating and Google Maps is helpful in getting around.

We thought the JR Pass was great for our trip, but it did require some pre-planning. You’ll want to carefully assess if it is the right fit for your trip and really depends on how much train travel you will be doing.

Use the Hyperdia App to help you navigate trains in Japan, especially when you are using the JR Pass.

Leading up to the 2020 Olympics, many important monuments and torii gates in Japan are getting renovated. Make sure you check their status before you go to any of these sights we’ve recommended.

We thought our time in Tokyo was perfect. You can always stay longer — but we thought it was just right for us. We’d definitely add another day in Hakone on our next visit and another day in Kyoto. We stayed in Hiroshima for four days, but you probably only need three full days to fit in everything we did — although at the end of our trip it was nice to just have a relaxing day in Hiroshima before heading back to Tokyo.