A FAMILY-FRIENDLY TOUR OF NARITA SURPRISED ME.... IN THE BEST WAY

( This is the second of two tour days I’ve participated in with this program. For the first day details, please see here. )
As much as it makes me giggle, my ‘half-asleep parent’ blog posts, where I literally tell parents where to go, where to eat and when to go to the restroom, are some of my most clicked on articles.

But, at the same time? I totally understand why!
It is really, really stressful to ‘manage’ the family everyday stuff and then also try to be the tour guide, the logistics guru, the restaurant and reservation coordinator. It’s so rough. And, if you’re like me, you also travel with that little voice in your head that has FOMO and am worried that you are actually missing the really good spots that only the locals know about. …

Which is why ‘Narita Airport Transit & Stay’ program is such a brilliant initiative as it means that a volunteer will help with all of the logistics, itinerary and, at the same time, talk you through all of the cultural history and answer all of your questions as you go.
Because the tour guides speak English but are Japanese nationals, their assistance also takes away the language barrier when getting out and about – something else that can just make your day out in Japan just that bit easier.

I was lucky enough to participate in several of the volunteer-operated tours last weekend and, personally, I know maybe the idea was, at first, to serve those in transit at the airport or on their final day in Japan, I will happily be going out of my way to Narita again just to see more of the countryside and quaint little towns in that area.

I feel bad about it now, but I honestly had written Narita off as ‘just that place with the airport.’
But it is soooo beautiful and there are just so many quintessentially Japanese places to visit. Some of the little streets around the station area felt a bit like I was in Nikko or Kamakura – gorgeous little winding shop-lined streets with so much character.
I want to rave about the city and surroundings already.. but… just wait a second and I’ll show you my pictures below.

I would go ahead and recommend this program for the following kinds of people:

Business travellers
My husband travels to many cities around the world for work but he rarely ever gets a chance to actually “see” the cities that he visits.
This kind of program would mean that someone like him could take one of these tours the morning of his afternoon or evening flight and actually learn more about Japanese culture and see more than the inside of a hotel room and an office.

Families
This is part that leaps out of the page to me as a Mum.
Someone else to just help co-ordinate all the tricky elements of the day for me? Yes please!
Then I can just focus on taking in the city, spending quality time with my kiddies and snapping happy touristy pictures.

Those needing a bit of a ‘green change’ after several days in the middle of busy Tokyo
It’s amazing just how much farmland there is in Narita. And I love how local supermarkets even have labels as to which local farm produced which fresh produce. I had no idea that Narita is covered in carrot farms and even greenhouses for strawberries.
I really loved how the tours I was a part of included meals with lots of veggies and the farm-to-table options or the opportunity to actually meet the families who run these small businesses. I definitely would have no idea how to really meet and chat with these people if I was just wandering around on my own.

Those watching their cash
The volunteers are … just that… so, even though they are taking you around, you only need to be concerned about paying for your own food, entry tickets and public transport costs. You are also able to let the guides know what kind of budget you had in mind for meals … or how to get the most for your money you have set aside for the day (best to talk about all of this before the tour begins, of course, so everyone heads out with the same expectations.)
Next to each of the tours on the website here is a minimum budget. I would start with that amount and make sure that you have at least that amount again for incidentals as you go.

Those who like to really know the backstory & history or simply want to be able to ask questions about what is culturally appropriate or why things are done in a certain way in Japan
I’m definitely one of those people who would hate to think that I offended someone from a different culture so it’s just so lovely to have a little ‘rent-a-friend’ to quickly whisper to ‘Am I doing this right?’ ‘How should I go about eating this?’ ‘Shoes on or off in here?’ ‘Am I offending anyone right now if I take a photo of this?’
And even if you don’t ask the questions, there is a local person on your ‘team’ to copy along the way and see how they get about.
It really is so so so so special to have that extra metaphorical hand to hold as you go.

Those who have Japan travel boxes still un-checked before they leave
I hate that last day of a holiday where I get a bit antsy. It’s a lot of pressure if you are thinking …’Well I still never got to do a tea ceremony… or wear a kimono… or something that you still really wanted to eat before you leave.”

Those who love finding the little unknown treasures, seeing a city from a local’s point of view and those who do not want their holiday to be straight out of a guidebook
I hate the idea that I finish a holiday, get on my plane home and, at the same time, someone else gets off a plane and replicated the exact same holiday that I just had. I want my holiday to be unique – a real once-off adventure.
If I’d done a trip to Narita with just me and my family, I would have also found some lovely spots, but I would have missed SOOOOO much. To have my own little English-speaking ‘friend’ with meant that I was shown down little alleyways to cool spots that I would have never found on my own – and I also got to ask questions.
I’m actually really sad that I didn’t know about this tour option sooner.

So… if you want to take a tour with this programme, they recommend making a reservation a day in advance ( although same-day bookings are not impossible so still worth a try…) You can reserve here.
(Please note: for same day bookings, visit the program reception counter directly. )

The tour begins from Narita International Airport’s Terminal 1 (in the Visitor Service Centre) or Terminal 2.
They are happy to store all of your luggage for a discounted price if you are participating in a tour on that day.
(Please note: cost for luggage storage depends on the size of your luggage.)

As mentioned above, the guides are volunteers so while traveling around, you just pay your own entrance fees, public transport tickets and food costs ( of course) and leave the rest up to your guide.

The majority of the guides are retired Japanese men and women who have studied English abroad and now just want to share the most delicious parts of their home country.
I loved our guides so much. It was like walking around with a little ‘rent-an-Aunt/Uncle’ – which I love because I always feel that you don’t really truly see a country until you meet and mesh with the locals. And, because this is not the tour guide’s first interaction with international beings… they are totally up for the funny questions ( coz that’s what my family is always all about) and are very open-minded.
Basically, these beautiful humans just want to share their local surroundings and culture with visitors from all over. Beautiful.

Questions I would want ask just before the tour begins... (or maybe I’m just a control freak?)
– What time will be back at the airport later? (I’m putting this in as I get really anxious about people being way too chilled about airport check-in times etc.)
– Does it matter than someone in my family can’t eat a certain kind of food?

I recommend taking the following things with you…

*Comfortable shoes and warm jackets. You will, hopefully, be outdoors more than not and doing more walking than you may be used to (for this reason, a stroller or baby carrier is best if you are travelling with little ones.)
*Cash. Narita is not far from Tokyo but is still a cute little country town. Most of the small shops, museums and restaurants will only accept cash.
*A well charged phone or camera for lots of pictures

For the details of the first tour, please see my blog post here.

Here I write about a mixture of Tour option 2 and 4.
The Chiba Prefectural Open Air Museum (Boso no Mura) was truly stunning. I need to take my kids back as soon as possible.
It is a little Japanese town and is often used as a movie set for period dramas (especially Samurai stories etc.). In fact, some of the recent AU (phone company) commercials were filmed here.

It would be so easy to spend a full day here. But I loved exploring with a guide as they showed me exactly where to go and made sure I didn’t miss any of the special crafts! We did so so much.
First off, I had the opportunity to dress in a kimono again and I was like ‘Hell No! This time I want to be a Samurai!’ So… I did! I was a Samurai for almost half the day!
And guess what? All while dressed as a Samurai, I played drums, walked through old Farmhouses, made my own chopsticks and even decorated a candle. I was the busiest Samurai in the village that day. For sure.

I also loved participating in the Japanese tea ceremony.

This place is also a photographers heaven. You’ll want to take pictures of absolutely everything.

And, to be honest, I just loved all the space. The museum is on a nice big chunk of green land. It was so refreshing.

And then for lunch we headed to the town of Shibayama, with the most delicious farm-to-table buffet restaurant.
The restaurant is called Fuwari.
Many of the vegetables are grown locally and I could see immediately why this restaurant is so popular with the locals. It was so yummy that I returned the next day with my two children!
I will forever be grateful to our tour guide for sharing this gem with us.

I also loved the beautiful grassy area out front, the supermarket overflowing with local and reasonably priced vegetables and even a play area for kids that has been made from one of the old Narita Airport Shuttle carriages. Such a creative and fun way to up-cycle.

And we were so close to the airport that the planes were so close at all times. It was very cool.

We finished the day at the Aeronautical Museum. The facilities were so cute that I did return the next day with the kids too. I felt guilty going there without them the first time as I knew it would totally be up their alley.

***Please take note: the Museum of Aeronautical Science in Shibayama is about to go under some major renovation construction. It will be closed for all of December 2018, and will also be closed section by section up until August 2019. ***

The attention to detail is what makes up the cutest parts of this museum, actually. Like the airport style entrance or the lunches set up like airplane food in the cafeteria ( which is also hilarious to me because … does anyone actually WANT to eat plane food when they are not on a plane?)

My favourite part , hands down , was the flight simulator. It was really fun and funny!!!
I managed to not take my passengers swimming either ! Beef or chicken, everyone?

And this plane is inside the museum. It is a model of the cockpit and cabin of a 747.
It was actually made for shooting a Japanese film called “Happy Flight! and “passengers” can see what it is like to sit in Economy, Business Class and First Class. My kids also loved visiting the mock plane kitchen/food prep area.

** Ooooh, and just as a side note***
Although it is not a part of the tour itinerary, I would like to highly recommend the yummiest little izakaya (Japanese style pub) in Narita. It is friendly and not flashy – but in all the right ways. The food was so so yummy and the vibe was casual and friendly.
The restaurant is called Sawaraya and is down a little back street so you might need google maps to get you in the right spot.
I especially recommend ordering the agedashi tofu and the sashimi. I also loved their Lemon Sours (they are alcoholic.)
Note that they are closed on Sundays. Open from 4pm – midnight ( oh and kids are welcome too.)
They have a simple menu in English and for more frequently changing options, its quite easy to make it work either way as the menu has pictures.