Snow monkeys with kids

Children can come, the day is the issue

All four main tours admit children, and a reviewer who took a family of four with teenagers on Luxurious Travel Master's car called the forest walk easy. The park charges about ¥400 for a child ticket. What tests a family is the length of the day, about 13 hours on the coach and 10–12 in a private car; the Shinkansen tour runs 12 hours 40 minutes. Then comes a 25–40-minute walk each way on an unpaved trail, and a pool where the rules are strict and the monkeys are wild.

The trail on small legs

From the parking and bus stop at Kanbayashi Onsen the path runs about 1 mile (1.6 km) through cedar forest to the park gate, with stairs, mud in the thaw and ice from December to March. Adults take 25–40 minutes; a child who stops for every icicle takes longer, and the tours allow about 2 hours at the park including the walk both ways. Strollers do not work on it. Carry babies and toddlers in a front or back carrier, and give a child of five or six a hand on the icy stretches.

In winter, children need the same grip as adults. Buy waterproof boots with tread and child-size ice cleats in Tokyo rather than counting on the crampons sold on the coach fitting a small boot. What to wear and bring has the full list, and our park guide walks the trail step by step. JTB's groups walk in from the Roman Museum, nearer 50 minutes a leg, on what its listing calls a hard walking tour, so it suits teenagers better than preschoolers.

Rules the kids need to hear first

The macaques are wild and used to people, a mix that calls for calm. Go through these before the trail, not at the pool.

• No touching, no feeding. Not a fingertip, not a crumb. Park staff feed the troop; visitors never do;
• Keep a few feet away. The monkeys set the distance. A reviewer describes them walking straight through the crowd, so a child should stand still and let them pass rather than step back into another monkey;
• No staring. Eye contact is a threat to a macaque. Watch them, but do not lock eyes;
• Food stays in the bag. Snacks out of sight, nothing in a plastic bag in a small hand. Eat at the lunch stop or in the cafe by the entrance;
• No running, no shouting, no selfie sticks. The pool is small and the crowd is close.

Babies in the troop arrive from about late April to June and cling to their mothers through the summer, which children often enjoy more than the winter bath. Japanese macaques: why the snow monkeys bathe gives you answers for the questions on the way home. Bathing is never guaranteed in any season; in warm months the troop sits around the pool and rarely gets in.

Tour by tour for families

The H.I.S. coach, from ~$150, is the simplest family booking. It runs from one participant, children are welcome, the park entry and a sukiyaki lunch are included, and the kitchen swaps the beef for pork or for a vegetarian or vegan plate if you message ahead. The catch is the clock: about 13 hours from Shinjuku I-Land and back, with 2–3 service-area stops each way and 4–5 hours for the return in weekend traffic per recent reviewers. It is not open to pregnant travelers or wheelchair users.

The JTB Shinkansen tour, from ~$293, trades the coach for reserved train seats, which young children handle better than a bus, and gives 2.5 hours at the park with a licensed guide. The uphill walk is the longest of the four, and the tickets have to be collected at Tokyo City i in the KITTE building the day before or earlier, one more errand with kids in tow.

The private cars suit families with small children or odd nap times. The per-person car, from ~$127, takes up to 6 and leaves when you say, but the listing does not mention car seats, so ask before you book and expect to pay entry (about ¥800 per adult, ¥400 per child) and lunch yourselves. Luxurious Travel Master, from ~$535 per group of up to 5, is priced for a family of four or five rather than per head, carries water and hot drinks and waits up to 60 minutes at pickup. Its listing says wheelchair accessible and, a line later, not for people with mobility impairments; message the operator through the booking site before relying on either. Private snow monkey tours compares the cars in detail.

Two extras families ask about

Cultural Tour Japan's private van, from ~$64 per person, is the one listing here that spells out child seats among its inclusions, next to WiFi and help with photos, and its driver Daud speaks eight languages. Its catch is the review count, only a couple of dozen, and entry and meals are extra. The Shinjuku coach with a lunch buffet, from ~$130, feeds picky eaters from about 130 dishes at Suzaka, which solves the sukiyaki problem for a child who will only eat rice. Its catch is the park time, about 40–60 minutes; it also runs with an audio guide rather than a live one and needs 15 guests or it is cancelled about a week ahead.

Surviving the long day

• Leave early, nap late. On the coach the return leg is dark in winter and most passengers sleep; one private-car reviewer did the same. Bring a travel pillow and a blanket layer for each child;
• Service-area stops. The coach makes 2–3 each way, and they are the only breaks, so use every one;
• Screens and chargers. Tour 4 has a WiFi hotspot and tour 3 offers WiFi on request. Download in Tokyo anyway;
• Motion sickness. The climb to the park is on mountain roads. Sit children facing forward and keep a bag handy;
• Snacks. For the vehicle, not the trail. Zip them away before you leave the parking lot.

What a family of four pays

Take two adults and two children. On the H.I.S. coach the bill is four times ~$150 with entry and lunch in; GetYourGuide often shows the price reduced, so check both sites. Four seats in the per-person car come to four times ~$127, then ¥2,400 at the gate (¥800 for each adult, ¥400 for each child) and whatever lunch costs. Luxurious Travel Master charges ~$535 per group whatever the ages, plus the same gate fee and meals, so compare it per family rather than per seat. What a snow monkey tour costs prices all ten tours, and the best time to see the snow monkeys helps you pick a date that is not Golden Week. For the practical side of reaching the valley, read coach, Shinkansen or car.