Where to start

[kk20]

we did japan 2019 as a 4 for close to 3 weeks for under 8k (i never truly did a final budget, we spent under 5000 in the uk for flights, airport parking, hotels, disney tickets and jr passes - we timed a 7 day pass to cover the expensive trains - and some other bookings such as tea ceremony and yucata)

we used airbnb and went in July (which is off season really). 16 and 13 means adults in Japan though. my two were 13 an 12. we got a junior suica card for the kids for cheap subway tickets.

flights were air france, i checked DAILY from end of june until i got them for just over 2k, the flights were via holland. from edinburgh.

we did 5 nights tokyo which included 4 days in disney, 6 days in kyoto and a final 5 days in tokyo again.

travel is really easy. we used jr passes and suica card for the subway and buses, otherwise we walked.

we mainly fed ourselves from 711 lunches, diy breakfasts and casual noodle bars etc. we didnt do any fine dining or really expensive restaurants.

hotels were Okura bay, kyoto airbnb and tokyo airbnb. kyoto airbnb wasa a 2up 2 down japanese house, tokyo was a large apartment. we paid an average of £100 per night for all legs.

jr passes from the UK, disney tickets from the UK. didnt take much money, drew from ATMs as we needed with clarity card. did robot restaurant, ninja restaurant, tea ceremony in nara and a day in yukata as other biggies. we disnt do osaka nor universal. kyoto was temples and sightseeing ,we were there at guin festival so there was a massive street parade which was good. tokyo (2nd time) was shopping and a bit more sightseeing. disney was awesome.

i learnt enough japanese to count, apologise, order food, ask basic questions etc. i cannot read a word of japanese.

weather was hot but nowhere near as bad as people make out. it is just as hot in menorca at that time of year. kyoto was hotter than tokyo but we simply took it slow and rested at lunch. kyoto is best to get up early 5/6am) to beat the crowds at popular temples, then relax at midday heat and go again in the afternoon. we had zero issues with the heat, bearing in mind we walked around a lot.

we are in the planning stage now for japan july 2022 as we loved it that much. we too had Maldives and WDW as alternatives but the family vote was unanimous!

i did have a big trippie that i had to take down due to an ex partner/father of child reasons. however i can post individual pictures if you need info for anything.