Oct 25, 2019
Autumn spots outside of Tokyo with baby
Any recommendation for nice autumn spots around the neighboring prefectures of Tokyo? Easy access by car (up to 2 hours are fine) and by babycar are preferred. Looking for some new spots, which are less popular and crowded.
I´m a german girl living in the center of Tokyo, but my true love belongs to the countryside of Japan (especially Chiba and Hokkaido). I love traveling in Japan and explore hidden areas.
I want to help people with my articles to get in touch with the Japanese culture and all the beautiful places you can explore.
Follow me on IG https://www.instagram.com/nihonbluebutterfly/?hl=de
Besides traveling around, I love trains, handcraft and my little rabbits.
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on Oct 25
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on Oct 26
Most of my favourite spots to date have become inundated with tourists. :-( For example, I really loved Mt Takao with kids, but the last time we visited in Autumn (four years ago) it was ridiculously busy and I believe its got worse. What about a park? Shinrin Park aka Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park (the very first govt park in Japan) is beautiful all year round and if your baby is old enough to sit up s/he can use the ball pool in the Musashi Dome playground. Most of the park is stroller friendly and they have diaper changing areas and nurseries within the park. They have autumn leaves light up too, which is pretty magical: http://insaitama.com/event/autumn-leaves-illumination-shinrin-park-namegawa/
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on Oct 26
How about farms that are geared towards families? Chiba has Mother Bokujo, Funabashi Andersen Park, or Boso no Mura? In Saitama, Kato Farm looks good for families. Teganuma between Kashiwa and Abiko Cities has walking paths all around the marsh, the Museum of Birds and miniature steam locomotive on the Abiko side. The Kashiwa side has an adventure playground, grassy field, and two cafes.
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on Oct 28
I think the hardest part of this is finding undiscovered spots that are still relatively stroller friendly. It's something we found difficult too when our youngest wasn't walking yet. We did like Showa Park in the autumn months when we lived nearby, the Gingko trees there are lovely, and it's all paved so strollers are fine. However it's definitely not undiscovered and like @saitama said about many places, it seems like the crowds have just increased more and more over recent years :( We have a lot of nice autumn spots here in Niigata but it would take more than 2 hours to drive here from Tokyo, and many places are still quite un-touristy here so not paved/stroller friendly.
4 Answers