OSAKA · JAPAN
Street food, neon nights, the whole of Kansai.
Dotonbori food crawls, Osaka Castle, takoyaki off the griddle and izakaya after dark, plus bullet-train day trips to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe and Hiroshima. Japan’s friendliest, hungriest city, and the best base in the west.
Only here
Three things that make Osaka, Osaka.
Plenty of cities have great food and an old castle. The kuidaore crawl through Dotonbori, the gold of Osaka Castle, and a basecamp an hour from Kyoto and Nara are this city’s own.
Kuidaore
The Dotonbori Food Crawl
Osaka is Japan’s kitchen, and Dotonbori is its main counter. Takoyaki was invented in this city in 1935; okonomiyaki and kushikatsu are close behind. The local word is kuidaore, eat yourself broke, and under the neon and the giant crab signs it reads less as a warning than an instruction.
- 1 Osaka: Shinsekai Food Tour with 13-15 Dishes at 5 Eateries
- 2 Osaka Food Tour: 13 Dishes at 5 Local Eateries
- 3 Hungry Osaka Street Food Tour:15 Tastings & 3 Drinks with a Local
Built 1583
Osaka Castle
Toyotomi Hideyoshi raised the first castle here in 1583 as the grandest in the land, gold leaf on the gables and a golden tea room within. The keep you climb today is a museum to all of it, ringed by a broad moat and the cherry trees that turn the park pink each April.
- 1 Osaka Castle: Museum and Tower Entry Ticket
- 2 Osaka Castle Walking Tour and Castle Tower Admission
- 3 5-Hour Osaka Bike Tour to the Neighborhood of Osaka Castle
Kansai basecamp
Kyoto and Nara in a Day
Half the reason to stay in Osaka is how easily you leave it. Kyoto’s temples and the torii tunnels of Fushimi Inari sit under an hour away; Nara’s great bronze Buddha and its bowing deer are closer still. One hotel, and the whole of Kansai within reach.
- 1 From Kyoto/Osaka: Kyoto Top Highlights 1-Day Guided Bus Tour
- 2 Ancient Capital Tour: Kyoto and Nara Highlights from Kyoto/Osaka
- 3 Osaka/Kyoto: Amanohashidate & Miyama Tour with Boat & Lunch
Start here
The one most people book first.
Of everything in Osaka, more travellers begin their trip with this than anything else on the list.
The classics
Osaka's Most Popular Tours
Dotonbori food crawls, Osaka Castle, the Kyoto and Nara day trips, and street go-karts in costume. What most people come to Osaka to do.
Where to begin
The days an Osaka trip is built around.
Food crawls through Dotonbori, the castle and its park, cooking classes, the bars of Namba, and the day trips out to Kyoto and Nara. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
The day-trip base
Where to go when you leave the city.
Osaka sits at the centre of the Kansai rail network, which is half the reason to stay here. Three day trips reach the region’s best from a single hotel, sorted by how far the train carries you.
Hands-on Osaka
Make something while you’re here.
Osaka is a maker’s city as much as an eater’s. Grind your own matcha at a tea ceremony, swing a real katana with a kendo master, roll sushi, fold gyoza, or shape wagashi sweets by hand. The kind of afternoon you remember longer than any view from a tower.
See the hands-on experiences →After dark
The city only really wakes up at night.
When the signs switch on, Dotonbori and Namba turn into a wall of neon over the canal, and the real Osaka spills into the backstreets. Standing bars, smoky kushikatsu counters, all-night ramen and the kind of pub crawl where the locals do the recommending. Come hungry, leave late.
Bars & nightlife →Japan’s kitchen
Takoyaki was invented three streets from here.
Osaka feeds itself harder than anywhere in Japan. Takoyaki was born in this city in 1935; okonomiyaki, kushikatsu and the seafood counters of Kuromon Market fill in the rest. A good food tour is the fastest way in — a local, a route through Dotonbori or Shinsekai, and a dozen stops you would never have found alone.
- 1 Osaka: Shinsekai Food Tour with 13-15 Dishes at 5 Eateries
- 2 Osaka Food Tour: 13 Dishes at 5 Local Eateries
- 3 Hungry Osaka Street Food Tour:15 Tastings & 3 Drinks with a Local
By place
Osaka and the day trips around it.
Dotonbori and Shinsekai for the neon and the food. Namba for the buzz. The castle for the history. Then the easy runs out: Kyoto and Nara for temples and deer, Kobe and Himeji for the castle and the beef, Hiroshima and Miyajima for the peace park and the floating torii.
By activity
Pick how to spend the day.
A food tour if you came to eat. A cooking class if you want to take it home. Walking tours for the backstreets, bars for the night, a tea ceremony or a katana for the culture, a costume go-kart if you want Osaka at speed.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
First time in Osaka? Here is a long weekend that hits the city, the day trips and the food without a wasted hour.
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