I received an email from a reader about traveling to Osaka and Kyoto with a baby. I haven’t experienced Kansai with children, so I asked Fran Ishido who has a wonderful blog called “Fran-Japani” about living in Osaka with her baby boy. Here is Fran’s answer below! Thanks Fran!

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Hi Kate,
I’m planning to travel to Osaka & Kyoto in between Apr/May and planning to bring along my 6 months old baby as I’m a exclusive breastfeeding.

While browsing on the internet, I found your page. I’m very impressed with all the useful information & sharing for mummies about traveling in Tokyo with little one.

Not sure if you have experience traveling to Osaka/Kyoto with your baby and mind to share with me? I couldn’t find much info about traveling in other parts of Japan with baby on the internet. I will be very grateful if you or other mummies in this page could share with me more info about traveling with my 6 months old in Osaka/Kyoto. I’m really concern about the airport transfer (from Osaka to Kyoto), accommodation, subway and the city tour (is it convenience to use a stroller? breastfeeding/ nursing room?)

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Answer from Fran:

• Airport transfer – Travelling from KIX (Kansai international airport) to Osaka city is very easy. You can take a bus (called limousine bus) or a train (Nankai line). Information including timetables and prices for the limousine bus can be found here and the trains here
• Airport facilities – In the airport there are various facilities for mothers and children including nursing rooms and places to play. You can read about the facilities here
• Breastfeeding – In Osaka city there are lots of places to nurse baby and get things you need. I wrote about that on my blog here. Most train stations have large toilets for disabled persons where you can change baby and possibly feed him/her if there are no other options available. But some mothers use breastfeeding covers and feed their babies in restaurants or parks too!
• Stroller – Travelling around Osaka/Kyoto with a large stroller could be difficult if you plan to use trains and buses, so if you have a portable fold-up stroller that would be easier. If you want to buy one here, you can find one at Toys R Us (located in Namba) or Akachan Honpo (in Honmachi) for around 3000yen for a very cheap one. Ideally if you have a baby carrier/sling like an Ergo, you will find getting around much easier I think.
• Buying train tickets – Here is the official transportation website with lots of information on how to buy train tickets etc.

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Thanks so much Fran! Hope we can meet soon!

Fran Ishido’s blog about living in Osaka with her baby www.fran-japani.blogspot.jp