thewanderingquinn.com

Staying in Kyoto for a few nights was on my original Japan Itinerary however because I looked into accommodation late and was visiting Japan during Cherry Blossom Season which is the peak of tourism in Japan, once I had filtered out hostels in Kyoto in my budget range, only one option came up! I debated whether to make it work but in the end I decided to stay in Osaka where accommodation is much more plentiful and do a day trip to Kyoto instead. I didn’t know how much of Kyoto could be seen in one day but I managed to tick off 3 of my must see places in Kyoto – Fushimi Inari Shine, the Gion District and Arashiyama Bamboo Grove plus I saw a lot more of Kyoto and really enjoyed my day there, so I wanted to share with you how I spent my one day in Kyoto so you can follow this itinerary and get some pointers on where to start when planning your Kyoto day trip itinerary from Osaka, or maybe even Kobe as a day trip to Kyoto is possible from Kobe too! I have a JR Pass so I reserved a seat on a train leaving Osaka Station to Kyoto Station at 8:10am arriving at 8:39am

Himeji Castle is the iconic Castle in Japan (in my opinion it’s basically the Castle in Japan that looks like the real life Emoji Castle) and really should be on your Japan itinerary! But it’s one of the places that you’ve seen photos of but  probably aren’t quite sure where Himeji Castle is! Well, Himeji Castle is in the City of Himeji however there’s not many other things to do in Himeji which is why it isn’t as well known and often gets’ missed from travellers Japan trips as unless you know it’s there, you won’t just stumble upon it. Himeji is located not too far West from the popular Cities of Osaka, Kobe & Kyoto and it’s on the Shinkansen line from these Cities to Hiroshima so it’s very popular for travellers to Japan to visit Himeji Castle on the way to or from Hiroshima by jumping off the train at Himeji Station and leaving their bags at the train station for a few hours

Kobe City in Japan is definitely less visited by tourists than the popular Cities of Japan like Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima and doesn’t seem to make many travellers Japan Itinerary however with Kobe’s location on the Shinkansen Line just a few minutes away from Osaka on route to the famous Himeji Castle and Hiroshima, and only 20 minutes from Kyoto on a fast train it really should be a place you visit in Japan. If anything just to get away from the crowds and see somewhere a little different! I only spent 2 days and 2 nights in Kobe as part of my Japan backpacking trip but I got a really good feel for it and picked up on lots of things about Kobe to help you plan your visit to Kobe and stay in Kobe Japan! Whether you’re visiting Kobe for the Japan Rugby World Cup or because you want to visit a City in Japan that you haven’t seen many other people go to, here’s my Kobe Travel Guide for you: To SEE my time in Kobe, have a watch of my YouTube video here

Cherry Blossom Season or Sakura (the Japanese word for Cherry Blossom) is Japan’s most iconic and most popular time of year. I’d seen photos online of Cherry Blossom Season in Japan for years and after visiting Japan for 2