I’ve been explaining this lots and lots lately in my DMs so I thought I would just explain it here so it’s all in one spot.
Many Japan travellers fly in and out of Tokyo and want to use their last day to travel back from Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima etc in time for their night flight out of Narita or Haneda Airports.
I strongly advise that you DON’T do this and here are my reasons why.
Please don’t travel back to Tokyo on the day of your flight out of Japan with kids for the following reasons:
If there is an earthquake or train delays you may not make your flight and it will add so much stress to the end of your holiday in Japan.
It’s adding SOOOO much travel time to your travel day as a family.
For example: if you are travelling from Kyoto to Tokyo? That’s 3 hours.
Then you need to get out to Narita airport from Tokyo central – that’s another 1.5 hours.
Then you will need 2-3 hours hanging out in the airport before your international flight.
So…before you’ve even gotten on the plane with kids? That’s already 6.5-7 hours of travel. That’s just so much for little kids (and adults too.)
So what to do instead?
I recommend staying in Tokyo the night before your flight. If I were you I’d splurge on a nice hotel in Shibuya for the last night and be right in the middle of things OR I would stay near Tokyo Station.
Alternatively, I would stay out near Narita Airport and we have done this a few times – Narita is actually a beautiful and quaint little town for sightseeing (I have pictures and details of some of our favourite spots) and most hotels have a shuttle to the big shopping centre near the airport too – it’s really fun to do a final shop for Japanese treats before you fly out.
