Kyoto Station Area with a toddler (2–3) 4 spots
Kyoto Station makes the simplest base, since buses and trains start here and luggage never travels far.
One of the few railway museums in Japan that runs a steam locomotive every day.
Stroller OK · Nursing room · Changing table · checked Aug ’26
An aquarium that recreates a Kyoto river and the sea, with a rice paddy indoors.
Stroller OK · Nursing room · Changing table · checked Aug ’26
Ten ramen shops from Hokkaido to Fukuoka, on the 10th floor of Kyoto Station.
Stroller OK · Elevator · checked Aug ’26
A shopping complex connected to Kyoto Station, filled with Kyoto sweet and tea shops.
Changing table · Family restroom · checked Aug ’26
You ride the SL Steam, carriages pulled by a real steam locomotive, on a 1 km round trip (100 yen for children aged 3 and over). At the roundhouse, steam locomotives turn on the turntable to change which way they face. The railway diorama on the 2nd floor of the main building is about 1/80 scale, and on the Promenade there is a photo session with a 0 series Shinkansen every day, free to join with the photo itself sold separately.Admission is 200 yen for children aged 3 and over; the fee table starts at 3, and the museum says nothing at all about children aged 2 and under. SL Steam tickets go on sale the same day at the vending machine by the SL platform, from opening time, and cannot be refunded or changed once bought. The roundhouse and the SL platform are outdoors, and since June 1, 2026, the restroom in that area (the SL rest house) has been closed — the outdoor restrooms are now the two at the entrance building and beside the old Nijo Station building. You may bring your own food and drink, but not into the exhibition rooms.
In the Penguin area you watch about 50 Cape penguins right in front of you, and if the timing works out you catch "feeding time", when each penguin is called by name as it is fed. On the 1st floor, Satoyama of Kyoto is an area with a rice paddy inside the aquarium.The standard fare for a preschooler aged 3 and over is 900 yen. During the summer break and other long holiday runs, buying a ticket can take a while, so an advance ticket lets you skip the queue. There are three cafes inside, and Kaiju Cafe on the 1st floor lets you sit with the seals and fur seals in view. A home-made packed lunch can be spread out on the lawn of Umekoji Park, where the aquarium stands.
Every shop has children's tableware and a children's chair, so a small child can share out of an adult's bowl. UNO RAMEN, born in Kyoto's Gion, is a gluten-free and vegan ramen specialist whose broth is soy-milk based. From July 1 to August 31 there is a "Summer-only Chilled Noodle Festival."Seats cannot be reserved; each ramen shop has its own seating inside, eat-in style. You can use and enter them with a stroller or a wheelchair. A bowl runs from 880 to 2,130 yen. The facility and the shops are non-smoking.
Every Saturday there is a live bluefin tuna cutting show. The B1F FOOD HALL lines up shops for gyoza, udon and tempura, pancakes, crepes, and Japanese sweets. The 1F MARKET lines up Kyoto sweet and tea shops such as Yatsuhashi, Otabe Kyo Baum, Malebranche, and Tsujiri.Opening hours differ by floor: B1F 11:00-23:00, 1F 10:00-21:00, 2F 10:00-19:00, and individual shops may differ. The building is open every day of the year. The whole building is non-smoking, with a smoking room on B1F. There are no coin lockers.