Who has been to Japan/Osaka?

[Deleted]

I'm going to Osaka in May with my dad to visit my cousin. Since I'm going with my dad, I want to have a tentative plan of places to go. My dad has been to Japan several times and was in Tokyo last year, so I'm guessing he's not going to want to go to Tokyo, which is fine with me. We'll be there for 8 days and I've never been to Japan.

So any suggestions? I'm mostly thinking about day trips since I know there are a lot of different regions that we could also travel to, but I really don't know much about the area, so would love some input. Thanks!

[sunnysally]

I loved Kyoto and it's a quick trip from Osaka. Depending on your interests, you could spend several days there.

If you can, go to Hiroshima. The museum and all of the monuments are so well done.

I haven't been there since the late 90s, so I don't have any specific hotel or restaurant recommendations.

Enjoy your trip!

[phillyrunner]

Definitely Kyoto! There's so many amazing temples and shrines there. I also recommend Nara.

[GilliC]

Definitely Kyoto (especially Fushimi Inari Taisha and Kinkakuji) and Nara are both good options. Himeji castle is under construction, but it's scheduled to be done next month, so I'd check the status of the work before your trip and consider a visit.

[Deleted]

Ok great! Definitely looking in to Kyoto and Nara. Thanks

[mdgirl]

Piling on votes for Kyoto and Nara!

[sakura]

If you're looking for something off the beaten path and quirky you could stay in a yurt on a beach on the small island of Naoshima. The island is dedicated to art and outdoor art sculptures. We stayed there in 2005 and it was a little quiet but unique and interesting.
The castles in the Osaka and surrounding area are interesting to see too.

[marsh127]

As others have suggested, Kyoto and Nara are great options. Kyoto deserves more than just one day though. It's an amazing city. Nara is okay as a day trip and has some great temples. I took a Japanese Art History course in college and basically geeked out in Kyoto and Nara. Osaka is a fun city and the aquarium there is pretty awesome if you like that sort of thing.

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2015 7:11:57 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

I've never been to Osaka but we did enjoy exploring Kyoto and Nara.

If you can make the trip to Hiroshima, I also highly recommend it. From there we went on to Miyajima Island which was fun to check out.

Do you think Hiroshima would be a good day trip? Looks like a 2 hour train ride from Osaka.

From my brief looks and what has been recommended here we could do 5 days Osaka, 2 days Kyoto and then 1 day trip, so I was thinking Hiroshima over Nara. Thoughts?

[Deleted]

Mar 4, 2015 9:48:53 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Mar 4, 2015 9:12:53 GMT -5 @wandering said:

Do you think Hiroshima would be a good day trip? Looks like a 2 hour train ride from Osaka.

From my brief looks and what has been recommended here we could do 5 days Osaka, 2 days Kyoto and then 1 day trip, so I was thinking Hiroshima over Nara. Thoughts?

Personally I would probably choose Hiroshima over Nara, but I can't imagine being that close to such a historic site and not visiting it.  I felt a sense of obligation to go and understand what was done there.  It's not a feel-good thing to do on vacation, obviously, but completely worthwhile IMO.

Ok great, I think that's what we're going to do!

5 nights Osaka, 2 nights Kyoto, 1 night Hiroshima.

Thanks everyone for the help!

[mdgirl]

With such limited time in Kyoto, I'd highly recommend staying at the train station hotel. We had looked into it and it's quite nice, and it would have made so much more sense to just stay there. We took the bus everywhere and the station is the main transfer point, so we were always going through it anyway.

www.granviakyoto.com/

[marsh127]

I stayed at the Hotel Granvia in 2006 and it was a great hotel. The location is amazing, but it's not cheap if I remember correctly. I did feel like it was worth it though and would stay there again in a heartbeat.

[GilliC]

If you can't find an option close to the station that's in your price range (we couldn't), find a place close (just a few minutes' walk) to one of the major bus lines (the 100 or most of the 20x lines are pretty good). Nearly all of the highlights are on the east and west edges of the city (mostly on the east edge).

We ended up splitting our stay between two places, and while the first was closer to the station (about 10-15 minutes' walk), the second was actually much more convenient, because we could catch a bus right there to go where we wanted, and we didn't need to walk down to the station.

[Deleted]

Mar 4, 2015 13:46:23 GMT -5 mdgirl said:

With such limited time in Kyoto, I'd highly recommend staying at the train station hotel. We had looked into it and it's quite nice, and it would have made so much more sense to just stay there. We took the bus everywhere and the station is the main transfer point, so we were always going through it anyway.

www.granviakyoto.com/

I wanted to update and say thanks for the rec. We ended up being able to book at this hotel. It looks nice, I'm excited! 

[iammalcolmx]

I loved Kyoto like everyone else. Next year when I visit origami in Korea. We are going to take the ferry to Japan and I plan on visiting Osaka. Why? Cause I saw a Bourdain episode and that place looked like a food town!!

[Brit]

Definitely visit Koyasan! It is not far from Osaka and is one of my favorite places in Japan. It is basically a collection of Buddhist monasteries at the top of a mountain. You take a funicular up to the top, then you can walk around wooded trails nearby and stay overnight at a monastery where the monks will cook you all vegan meals. It was super cool.

[Deleted]

May 20, 2015 12:22:26 GMT -5 Brit said:

Definitely visit Koyasan! It is not far from Osaka and is one of my favorite places in Japan. It is basically a collection of Buddhist monasteries at the top of a mountain. You take a funicular up to the top, then you can walk around wooded trails nearby and stay overnight at a monastery where the monks will cook you all vegan meals. It was super cool.

This looks really cool!

We have all our hotels picked out, so I don't think we'll do the overnight thing, but is it worth it for a day trip? It looks like it's 1.5 hours from Osaka? Did you go on any guided tours? The website seems to give a lot of info, but I can't seem to figure out exactly what we'd do while there. 

[Brit]

May 23, 2015 10:47:52 GMT -5 @wandering said:

May 20, 2015 12:22:26 GMT -5 Brit said:

Definitely visit Koyasan! It is not far from Osaka and is one of my favorite places in Japan. It is basically a collection of Buddhist monasteries at the top of a mountain. You take a funicular up to the top, then you can walk around wooded trails nearby and stay overnight at a monastery where the monks will cook you all vegan meals. It was super cool.

This looks really cool!

We have all our hotels picked out, so I don't think we'll do the overnight thing, but is it worth it for a day trip? It looks like it's 1.5 hours from Osaka? Did you go on any guided tours? The website seems to give a lot of info, but I can't seem to figure out exactly what we'd do while there. 

We did not do any guided tours, but I feel like they would have been available. On a day trip you would probably walk through the trails visiting temples along the way and maybe eat lunch at a monastery? I'm not sure if they will make lunch for someone who isn't staying with them, but the meals were elaborate, each meal was an experience.

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2015 6:16:48 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Definitely Kyoto (especially Fushimi Inari Taisha and Kinkakuji) and Nara are both good options. Himeji castle is under construction, but it's scheduled to be done next month, so I'd check the status of the work before your trip and consider a visit.

I've basically done no planning for this trip, so just taking it day by day. But thanks for the rec for Himeji castle, we're going to go tomorrow. You made my life a lite easier It looks beautiful!!