Kyoto has long been regarded as Japan’s historical and cultural center. Unlike fast-paced Tokyo, it’s an atmospheric city with an even pace. It’s home to over a thousand temples and shrines and some of the most interesting and delicious food in Japan.
Unless you’re going for the food, then there isn’t as much to keep you busy in Fukuoka. You can see its top tourist attractions within a day but thankfully, there are many destinations you can visit within a couple of hours of the city.
Gion refers to Kyoto’s iconic geisha district. It’s one of the city’s most atmospheric neighborhoods, its traditional areas characterized by row upon row of wooden machiya houses with slatted sliding doors and bamboo inuyarai.
Osaka is Japan’s third largest city by population and the central metropolis of the Kansai region. Nicknamed tenka no daidokoro or “the nation’s kitchen”, it’s a food lover’s paradise that remains one of our favorite cities to visit in Japan.
Nagoya is a major port and transportation hub in Japan’s Chubu region. It’s an important industrial center that’s home to several Toyota-related museums, a railway park, and a science museum that houses one of the world’s biggest planetariums.
We love Kyoto. It’s our favorite city in Japan. Tokyo and Osaka are incredible cities but Kyoto has everything we love most about this country – culture, atmosphere, history, and of course, great Japanese food.
Sushi is my absolute favorite Japanese food in the world so I welcomed the opportunity to have sushi as much as I could in Kanazawa. It was fresh, available everywhere, and relatively cheap compared to other cities in Japan.
There’s so much you can do in Kyoto and Osaka. But if you’re staying long enough, then you may want to spend a few of those days making day trips. Listed in this article are 16 of the best day trips you can make from Kyoto or Osaka.
Before my first visit to Hiroshima, I associated the city with three things – the Peace Memorial Museum, okonomiyaki, and oysters. As expected, okonomiyaki and oysters were two of the best experiences I had in Hiroshima while the Peace Memorial Museum was the most impactful.
Osaka is known for having some of the best food in Japan and it offers plenty to do for first-time visitors. Whether you’re staying for three days or a week, you won’t run out of fun and interesting things to do in Osaka.