Beyond Osaka

Osaka is one of my favorite cities in Japan. It doesn’t have as many tourist attractions as Tokyo or Kyoto but I love its energy and amazing food.

For some, Osaka doesn’t warrant as long a stay but its central location and many transportation options make it an ideal base to explore the Kansai region and beyond.

If you’ve already been to its top tourist attractions and want to go beyond the city, here are some of the most interesting destinations you can visit on a day trip from Osaka.

AWESOME DAY TRIPS FROM OSAKA

Japan’s rail system is so expansive and efficient that seemingly impossible distances can be covered in a few hours. To help you decide which destinations work best for your schedule, I’ve arranged them by travel time from Shin-Osaka Station.

Tap on the links to jump to any section of the guide. Estimated times are for one-way travel. The Self-drive category features destinations best visited by rental car or guided tour.

UNDER 1 HR FROM OSAKA

Kyoto

Estimated travel time: 30 mins

Kyoto is less than half an hour away by JR train from Osaka. It’s one of the easiest day trips you can make, even though it shouldn’t be.

A center for arts, culture, and cuisine, Kyoto is one of the most fascinating destinations in Japan and deserves more than just a day on your itinerary. You’ll need several days to do it justice but people pressed for time can visit its top attractions on a day trip.

If you only have a day to spend in Kyoto, then I recommend booking a guided tour through Get Your Guide or Klook so you don’t have to worry about getting from one attraction to the next. Transportation will be taken care of for you so all you need to do is show up and snap your selfies.

If you have more time to explore both Kyoto and Osaka, then you may be interested in getting a Kyoto-Osaka Sightseeing Pass.

Minoo Park

Estimated travel time: 45 mins

Located about 15 km (9.3 miles) north of central Osaka, Minoo Park (or Minoh Park) is a forested valley that’s home to an easy 3-kilometer (1.8 miles) hiking trail leading to a waterfall. It’s a beautiful park and one of the best places in Osaka prefecture to enjoy the colors of autumn.

Aside from its natural beauty, Minoo Park is famous for momiji or maple leaf tempura. It’s said to be the only place in the world where you can enjoy this crunchy sweet treat.

Minoh Park is easy to visit on your own but if you’d like to go with a guide, then you may be interested in this full-day hiking tour.

Okayama

Estimated travel time: 1 hr

Okayama is the second largest city in the Chugoku region, after Hiroshima. It’s an Edo-period castle town famous for its landscaped garden – Koraku-en. Together with Kanazawa’s Kenroku-en and Mito’s Kairaku-en, Koraku-en is considered one of the three most beautiful landscaped gardens in Japan.

Located just across the river from Koraku-en, Okayama is also famous for its castle – Okayamajo. It’s often referred to as Crow Castle thanks to its striking black exterior.

Okayama is located over 160 km (99.4 miles) west of either city but thanks to the Sanyo Shinkansen (included in the JR West Kansai Wide Area Pass), it can be reached in under an hour from Osaka.

1-2 HRS FROM OSAKA

Nara

Estimated travel time: 1 hr 15 mins

Like Kyoto, the former ancient capital of Nara is one of the most popular day trip destinations from Osaka. It’s a historic city famous for its free-roaming sika deer and many traditional temples and shrines.

Nara is second only to Kyoto in its abundance of cultural attractions. It’s home to the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara – a group of eight historical sites collectively inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Of these eight attractions, none are more important than Todai-ji Temple (pictured below), a large Buddhist complex housing the world’s biggest bronze Buddha statue.

Nara’s top attractions are clustered together so it’s easier to do on a day trip. If you’d rather go on a guided tour, then you can book one through Get Your Guide or Klook. Both options will take you to Nara and Kyoto from Osaka.

If you’d rather visit Nara yourself and go on a guided tour from there, then you can book one through Magical Trip.

Himeji Castle

Estimated travel time: 1 hr 30 mins

I’ve visited my share of castles in Japan over the years. A few can look fairly “same same” but two are strikingly different from the others – Matsumoto Castle and Himeji Castle. They’re two of the most beautiful castles I’ve seen thus far in Japan.

Known as the White Heron Castle, Himeji Castle stands out because of its brilliant white exterior and imposing hilltop location. One of Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Sites, it’s revered as perhaps the single most spectacular castle in the country thanks to its size, beauty, and remarkable state of preservation.

On top of being its largest and most visited, Himeji Castle is also one of Japan’s twelve remaining original castles (Matsumoto Castle is another). Unlike many castles in Japan, it was never destroyed by fire, earthquake, or war.

Located in Hyogo prefecture, a trip to Himeji Castle is covered by the JR West Kansai Area Pass. If you plan to visit on your own and join a guided tour from there, then you may be interested in this Himeji bike tour. If you’d rather join a guided tour from Osaka, then you can book one through Get Your Guide or Klook.

Hiroshima & Miyajima Island

Estimated travel time: 1 hr 30 mins

Located in the Chugoku region, about 326 km (202.6 miles) west of Osaka, you’d think Hiroshima would be too far away to visit on a day trip but it isn’t. Thanks to the Sanyo Shinkansen (covered by the JR Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass), you can get there in an hour and a half. Don’t you just love Japan’s trains?

Hiroshima’s top attractions are Peace Memorial Park & Museum and Itsukushima Shrine’s floating torii gate on Miyajima Island. Both are unmissable attractions so I suggest starting early to give you time for both.

Like its counterpart in Nagasaki, the Peace Memorial Museum is a gut punch of a museum that commemorates the victims of the atomic bomb. Powerful and unforgettable, it isn’t the easiest museum to get through but it’s a must-do.

Many people associate Hiroshima with the atomic bomb but not as many realize it’s home to some of the best regional food in Japan. Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki and oysters are specialties that can’t be missed. You can refer to this restaurant guide for suggestions on where to eat in Hiroshima.

If you’d prefer to visit Hiroshima on a guided tour with roundtrip transportation from Osaka, then you can book one through Get Your Guide or Klook. Both options take you to Hiroshima City and Miyajima Island.

Miyajima Island is located in Hiroshima Bay, less than an hour southwest of central Hiroshima. It’s home to Itsukushima Shrine and its giant “floating” torii gate, a UNESCO World Heritage Site designated as one of the three most celebrated views in Japan.

Itsukushima Shrine is Miyajima’s most famous attraction but there are plenty of other fun things to do on the island. It’s home to a thriving population of wild sika deer, scenic hiking trails that take you up Mt. Misen, and some of the best oysters in Hiroshima.

As described, I suggest leaving Osaka as early as possible to give you enough time to explore central Hiroshima and Miyajima Island, especially if you plan on doing some hiking. If you’d prefer to be taken to both destinations on a guided tour from Osaka, then you can book one through Get Your Guide or Klook.

Mt. Maya

Estimated travel time: 1 hr 30 mins

Japan is all about its top threes – three most scenic views, three most beautiful landscaped gardens, three best nighttime views.

As you can tell from this bird’s eye view of Kobe and Osaka, the Kikuseidai Observation Platform at the top of Mt Maya in Hyogo prefecture offers one of the most spectacular nighttime views in Japan.

To appreciate this evening view, it’s best to visit Mt Maya over the weekend (Fri-Sun) or in the summer, when the cable car and ropeway operating hours are extended. Otherwise, you’ll need to catch the last ropeway down at 5:30PM.

2-3 HRS FROM OSAKA

Mt. Koya

Estimated travel time: 2 hrs 15 mins

Located in Wakayama prefecture, Mt. Koya (or Koyasan) is one of Japan’s most sacred sites. It’s home to a large Buddhist settlement that serves as the center for Shingon Buddhism, an important Buddhist sect introduced to Japan in 805 by Kobo Daishi.

Revered as one of Japan’s most important religious figures, Kobo Daishi wandered the country for years in search of a suitable center for Shingon Buddhism. He ultimately settled upon Mt. Koya and began construction of the original Garan temple complex in 826.

Since then, Mt. Koya has become the site of over a hundred temples covering an area of about 18 sq km (6.9 sq mi). It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, serving as the first and final stop on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage.

Overnight temple stays where visitors can experience the lifestyle of a monk are highly recommended, but people short on time can join a guided walking tour from Osaka. If you’d prefer to visit on your own, then you can travel to Koyasan using the Kansai Railway Pass.

SELF-DRIVE

Tottori

Estimated travel time: At least 3 hrs (by car)

Located along the coast of the Sea of Japan, Tottori is famous for its large sand dunes measuring up to 50 meters (164 ft) high and 2 km (1.2 miles) wide.

These dunes have been sculpted for thousands of years by river sand washing out to sea and then being redeposited along the coast by the ocean’s currents. They span roughly 16 km (9.9 miles) of coastline and offer visitors the chance to go sandboarding or paragliding.

With this much sand to play with, it’s no surprise that the Sand Museum – a fun museum showcasing large sand sculptures created by different artists from around the world – is one of the area’s top tourist attactions.

Tottori is located around 200 km (124.3 miles) northwest of Osaka. Though covered by the JR West Kansai Wide Area Pass, it’s difficult to visit on a day trip using public transportation so it’s best to rent a car or book a guided tour.

THE FINAL SAY

Thanks to its central location, these recommendations are just a few of the many interesting destinations you can visit on a day trip from Osaka. For more suggestions, check out my list of day trips from Kyoto.

As described, Osaka and Kyoto are less than half an hour apart. It may take a little longer but pretty much any destination you can visit on a day trip from Kyoto can also be visited from Osaka, and vice versa.

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