I am traveling to Japan in April and was planning to visit Himeji Castle but discovered that they are doing major renovations to the castle. I was wondering if anyone has gone there recently and if it's still worth a trip over there.

Thank you.

By April the castle keep will be partially open to visitors but it is all up to you if it is worth the side trip or not. Hard to tell not knowing where you are coming from or your interests. Keep up with the Himeji renovation progress here at this site while noting the alternate castle destinations if castles fascinate you as much as they do me:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3501.html

Aloha!

Thanks for the info...
This is my second trip to Japan. We are planning to hopefully see the cherry blossoms..We're staying a total of 4 days in Tokyo and 4 days in Kyoto. I thought it might be cool to go to Himeji Castle and/or Osaka Castle. I'm also not sure if getting a 7 day rail pass would be worth it or if it would be better to buy train tickets individually..

If you go to Himeji then you need a pass if not then probably not worth it. See www.hyperdia.com to figure out your train schedules and fares. A 7 day regular JR pass is running ¥28,300 these days.

Aloha!

Access to the part of the interior of the main keep (donjon) will start from March 26th, but the outside of the keep is now completely covered in steel cladding, as the following recent photos show:
http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s60/285...kly-photo.html

That's a shame. We visited Himeji castle during cherry-blossom season just a couple years ago, and I thought it was one of the top 10 highlights of our trip.

Here's a few pix:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p40368702