We had an amazing trip to Japan. This was the first time we had visited and coming up with an itinerary was a bit overwhelming at first. I didn’t want to set a schedule that would leave everyone exhausted but hoped to see as much as we possibly could. What I came up with felt like a perfect balance for us.

Our first stop was Tokyo, as it is for most travelers to Japan. Tokyo is generally divided up between the east and west sides, with the east side being the more traditional side and the west being known as more modern. Many of the sites you will see have been rebuilt mainly as a result of earthquakes and the devastation of Allied bombing during World War II.

Our AirBnb was in a cool little neighborhood called Shimokitazawa, within easy walking distance to a subway station. The area is often described as a Japanese Williamsburg, and it definitely felt that way. There were lots of cool restaurants and shops down little narrow streets that felt both modern and traditional at the same time.

We got an early start and soon found that most coffee shops in Japan don’t open until 10 a.m. As a result, most of our breakfasts were at our local Starbucks, which still had enough differences from the ones in the U.S. to make us not feel completely lame.

Our first stop was Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa neighborhood. In general, I would advise to getting to any major site as early as possible, as things tend to get quite crowded. With that said, we never felt like the crowds got in the way of our enjoyment but getting pictures without anyone in them was quite challenging. However, many of the temples are open late (or 24 hours a day), so you could also opt to visit the temple at night when there are fewer visitors and the buildings are beautifully illuminated. On your way into the temple, be sure to explore Nakamise Dori, the historic shopping street lined with souvenir stands on the way into the temple. There is everything from traditional tourist things like T-shirts and tchotchkes to Eco-style crafts and Japanese snacks like rice crackers and deep-fried bean paste buns.

Once you enter onto the grounds of the temple, don’t miss drawing your fortune, known as Omikuji. The kids loved doing this and it is a fun way to get them excited about visiting the temple. Drop Y100 into the slots by the wooden drawers at either side of the approach to the Main Hall, grab. silver canister and shake it. Extract a stick and note its number (in Japanese kanji). Replace the stick, find the matching drawer to your number and withdraw a paper fortune (printed in English on the back). If you fortune reads Great Curse, no problem. Just tie the paper on the nearby rack, ask the gods for better luck, and try again!

We were hungry after this and decided to try a local soba noodle restaurant down the street, Namiki Yabusoba. After a brief wait in line, we were escorted in and after removing our shoes, were sat at a traditional Japanese table, sitting on the floor on tatami mats. The restaurant has been in business since 1913 and specializes in ‘yabusoba’, which is a traditional soba made from buckwheat noodles where the dipping sauce is so strong and concentrated it is recommended to only dip the tip of your noodles into the sauce. After you have finished your meal, you can pour the soba-yu - the hot water used for cooking noodles - into the remaining dipping sauce, and drink as a nice broth to finish your meal.

We then took the subway a few stops to the Ueno neighborhood, the cultural heart of Tokyo. It’s central park, Ueno-koen, has many of the city’s best museums, including the Tokyo National Museum, where we chose to spend a few hours. Many sites recommended this museum as the one museum to visit in Tokyo, as it has the largest collection of Japanese art, including many of those things you think of when you think of Japan such as samurai swords, gorgeous kimonos, and woodblock prints. We toured the highlights of the collection and the kids really enjoyed the samurai armor and swords and the kimonos.

We walked through the park a bit, and luckily, a few of the cherry trees were in bloom. It gave us a feel of how beautiful it must be when they are all in full flower without the crowds! From there, we headed over to the Akihabara district, home to many of the cities electronic shops and video game parlors including Yodobashi Akiba, the world’s largest electronic store with 9-stories worth of hi-tech equipment. If you have a kid interested in technology, this is definitely the stop for you.

Unfortunately for us, we hadn’t planned ahead and many of the restaurants near our apartment required reservations to eat dinner. Both nights, we wound up at the convenience store around the corner from our rental grabbing a few snacks for dinner. Although this sounds dreadful, we soon found that these type of stores are not what they are in the U.S. They actually have delicious prepared foods such as sushi, rice balls and ponzu (a breaded pork cutlet) at very reasonable prices. In fact, if you are looking to travel on a budget and don’t want to cook your own food, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend grabbing a meal or two at one of these stores.

The next day was all about modern Tokyo, including Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku. Shibuya is known as Tokyo’s version of Times Square and is home to the world’s busiest pedestrian crosswalk. We were there in the early part of the day but the sight of all these people crossing in an orderly manner was truly impressive. To get the best view, we went to the Starbucks overlooking the crossing and took a seat by the window. This strategy is well known so you may have to wait a bit to find a spot by the window. My advice is to send part of your group to get drinks while the others head upstairs to find seats. We could only justify taking up two seats so we took turns watching the hypnotic flow of people.

From there, we joined the pedestrians and crossed over to pet the Hachiko Statue, erected to commemorate an Akita who came to the Shibuya train station every day to meet his master, a professor, when he returned from work. The professor died in 1925, but Hachiko kept coming to greet him every day until his death 10 years later.

Our next stop was a huge hit with both our kids. Purikura are photo booths that digitally enhance photos by automatically airbrushing away blemishes and adding doe eyes and long lashes. After choosing your background, a series of photos are taken and then you can decorate the images on screens with touch pens. The resulting photo stickers are a great souvenir! We chose to go to Purikura no Mecca as it has nothing but photo booths and numerous options to choose from. Each “photo shoot” was relatively inexpensive at $5 a piece and make great souvenirs. We spent at least an hour here and the kids were reluctant to leave.

Afterwards, we dropped into a couple of stores to do some shopping. Tokyu Hands is a DIY and zakke (miscellaneous goods) store that has eight fascinating floors of everything you didn’t know you needed. Items like reflexology slippers, bee-venom face masks and cartoon-character-shaped rice-ball molds are just a few things you will find. Most stuff is inexpensive, making it perfect for souvenir-shopping or gift-hunting. Be advised that you could lose hours in here! The same could also be said for Loft, an emporium of housewares, stationary and accessories, all very cute and covetable. The first floor, which stocks seasonal stuff and gifts, is particularly ripe for souvenir-hunting.

We were all hungry after shopping so we eaded over to Harajuku to explore and grab lunch. We headed straight to Harajuku Gyozaro, which has nothing on the menu but different types of gyoza. There will be probably be a line but it is well worth the wait. Once you are seated inside, you can choose from pan fried or steamed dumplings, each with or without garlic and chives and a few sides. I would save room as there are all sorts of sweet treats available in Harajuku and you definitely want to have room to try some.

The Meiji-jingu shrine is a short walk from lunch. Constructed in 1920, it is Tokyo’s grandest Shinto shrine and dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. It was completely rebuilt after its destruction in World War II but still has an authentic feel. The towering wooden torii gate was built from a 1500-year-old Taiwanese cypress and marks the transition from the ordinary to the sacred. We took part in the Shinto ritual of writing your wishes and/or prayers on one of the wooden ema plaques hanging on the walls, where it is believed the gods of the shrine will receive them. The plaques are beautiful and very unique and I picked one up to bring home as a souvenir of our time in Tokyo.

The kids had noticed all of the creperies located throughout Harajuku and were more than excited to try one after we left the shrine. They all have similar menus and dozens of sample crepes are displayed in the windows in lieu of a menu. We chose Sweet Box 2 and it go an enthusiastic thumbs up from the crepe eaters in our family.

One of the most unique things we did was take something I saw called the Tokyo by Night train. It is a nighttime ride on the Yurikamome line, from Shimbashi Station toward Toyusu. One thing to note is mass transit is very easy to use in Japan in general and in Tokyo, specifically. This particular train is remote-controlled, so stand right at the front and you get a perfect view of Tokyo’s “city of the future” vibe as it crosses Rainbow Bridge and continues on to young-people funplex Odaiba Island. There is tons to do on the island for kids and teens but we were still struggling with jet lag and so just chose to do the train ride. Be sure to sit on the right side of the train on the way over and look for the Odaiba Statue of Liberty, a replica of the one in New York City.

Overall, two days felt like a good amount of time to spend in Tokyo for a first visit. I felt that we got to see a lot of the important sites but left enough that we could easily fill another two days on a return visit.