smrt2

Hello all,

I will arrive Osaka Kansai at 6:30 am and depart at 5:15 pm. I've made arrangements for a hotel room at the Nikko at the airport, but I'm trying to figure out how to get a little flavor in my short time there. I understand the bus goes into the city in about an hour's time.

Any suggestions for must see, must eat, must do would be appreciated.

Thanks!

smrt2

You guys have always been so helpful...

Nothing at all??

lcuy

We had a similar layover last May, but it was from 4:30 pm to 6 am.

The train is right there between the airport and the Nikko - maybe 20 yards away. We went into town, had dinner, then went to Spa World. Great fun, way over the top Japanese public baths!


I didn't write this, but it will give you a good idea:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel...xing-BR-1.html

mrwunrfl

When are you going?

smrt2

June 6.

smrt2

Can I provide any more information to help with suggestions?

november_moon

I had a similar length stopover there several years ago - had been working in another part of Japan and had an overnight stopover on the way home.

My coworkers and I took the train into the city and went to the Osaka Castle. That was really neat.

We also went to an electronics district and wandered around there. I wasn't particularly interested in that part, but my coworkers thought it was fun.

mrwunrfl

Osaka castle is probably where I would go or maybe Spa World. Both great suggestions.

Kansai airport is something of an engineering marvel itself, so I would probably spend some time there (there is a documentary about the construction, and you should be able to find a lot written about it if you were interested). I've read about a boat to Awaji Island which sounds interesting but not sure where I would go once there. Maybe down to see the Naruto whirlpool. One fodorite was very interested in visiting the bridge at the north end of the island.

You'd have time to go to Kyoto by train and then get around by taxi to see a few sites - Kyomizudera, Nijo Castle, Silver Pavillion, ...

TokachiM

Hotel Nikko is wonderful, and as someone already said, it's RIGHT next to the train line. You can easily visit parts of Osaka, and make it back in time for a short rest and your flight. IIRC, it's about an hour into the city.

The airport is quite nice, too, and there's a wonderful infomation center (on the ground floor, IIRC) -- they can help you plan a short hop.

smrt2

Thanks everyone. I've contacted a few companies I found online to try to arrange a private tour around and someone to help me find some lunch since Osaka seems to be a place to eat, and I'm all about that. I like the idea of trying to get to Kyoto since it seems there's more of "old" Japan to see there, so I'll explore that further.

november_moon

I have not been to Kyoto, but I definitely recommend seeing rural and older parts of Japan. I used to work for a company that had manufacturing on Shikoku island in a fairly rural area. I went a couple of times and it was really neat to see the smaller towns, agricultural areas, and just Japanese life outside the crazy urban areas.