Recommended attractions for family trips in Kansai

This is my second time to travel to Kansai with my kids (my kids are 5 years old now), so I’d like to share my experience with families with kids.

1. Accommodation
The hotels I choose are all close to the major stations. For example, in Osaka, I would choose to stay at Nankai Namba Station (I’ve stayed at Namba Hiyori and Citadines, both are highly recommended). You can take the Nankai Express from the airport to get there directly, and it’s about a 3-8 minute walk after exiting the station. In Kyoto, I would stay near Kyoto Station, where there are quite a lot of hotel options! ! With kids, there will be strollers and luggage. After several trips, it’s still best to choose a place close to the station to save time. Although the price of accommodation will be slightly higher, you can book a room in advance to save money when there is a discount.

2. Recommended parent-child attractions in Kansai

1) Hirakata Park
I’ve brought my kids here twice. It takes less than an hour to get there by car from Namba. The park is not crowded, and the facilities are very suitable for small children (it should be suitable for elementary school students and below). Only a few facilities require a height of more than 120 cm. I especially recommend the two mazes inside. The kids love it and must play every time I come.

2) Ikomayama Amusement Park
In Nara, it is a little farther to take a bus, and you can't use Suica cards for the cable car transfer, but it is very convenient to buy tickets and don't worry.
The facilities feel a little less than Hirakata Park. It is not open in winter. It was still a little cold when I went there in early June, but the scenery is good. There are many people checking in online now. There are fewer people than Hirakata Park. If children like to buy a pass, they can use the facilities unlimitedly.

3) Amanohashidate Cable Car, take a boat to feed seagulls (there are also eagles competing for food)
This attraction can be selected for a one-day tour online, but we drove by ourselves, which is also very convenient, and the stay time is more flexible. The shrimp flavor for feeding seagulls on the boat can be bought in the supermarket first, which is cheaper (a small bag on site is 100 yen). Children are afraid and want to feed again, but because there are eagles, you still have to pay attention to the safety of children and yourself!

4) Kobe Animal Kingdom
Reserve for rainy days. If you come to play, you can arrange a one-day tour in Kobe (or stay for two days is also good). Kobe has a slower pace and is a very comfortable port city.
The zoo is not big, but 80% of it is indoors. You can stay for 2-4 hours, and you don't need to stay all day. There are many places where you can interact with animals, and you can see animals up close. It doesn't matter if it rains. If it's a rainy day, it's recommended to go, it's very good!
We took a car from Namba to Kobe when it rained that day. The zoo stayed for about 3 hours (including lunch). In the afternoon, we went shopping and dining in Kobe Sannomiya Shopping Street. It was all sheltered from the rain, which was great!

I took my children abroad several times and did a lot of homework. For the plane, you can prepare appropriate toys according to the age of the children (or children's headphones for the children to watch videos), mainly to avoid affecting other people on the plane (everyone can be in a good mood only if they respect each other).

In addition, because you need to bring a stroller (children have a place to rest when they are physically weak or tired), it will be a little inconvenient to take the subway or go shopping, so it is recommended to bring a light and easy-to-store stroller, so that it will not affect others when taking the crowded subway (if the child is physically strong, it is of course more convenient not to carry it). To take the bus, you need to find the exit with the elevator and look for the road signs, so sometimes we will just carry the stroller for fear of trouble, but this will be more laborious, so you can evaluate it.

For travel with children, try to be flexible. Don't schedule too many points in one day, and you won't feel too rushed! Every time I come to Japan, I feel very happy to eat snacks in convenience stores, go shopping, grab dolls, and see the scenery. I also hope that everyone can have a good experience when traveling abroad!