mpiotrow

Hi all...looking for a bit of recommendation of where to go/stay in Osaka (and how to get there). We'll be flying into KIX on Monday afternoon around 16:00, then flying out the following afternoon around 13:00. I was looking into staying at the Moxy Osaka Honmachi that evening. Is that an okay hotel/location? I'm not looking for anything fancy...I have Marriott status so I thought staying at a Marriott property might give me a few extra points.

I figured we could check in, drop off our bags, then go check out the city/lights, then we could get up early the next day, go see the castle, maybe walk around a park, etc, and then head back to the airport. Any other recommendations for this quick trip?

Also, how/where do we get public transportation from the airport to the city? Is it rather straightforward? It looks like one option is to take the Nankai-Limited Express bus to Tengachaya station, and then transfer to a metro and take that to Honmachi station. And then what about transportation in the city, as well as back to the airport?

Thanks! ^

acregal

I think it sounds like a reasonable plan for the day.

I live in Osaka (and my work is less than a 5 minute walk away from this hotel - I walked past it when it was being converted.... never realized it was going to be a Marriott. The area is a business area, so would be a bit quiet at night. For going from the airport, transfer to the Sakaisuji line at Tengachaya and get off at Sakaisuji Honmachi - for other trains you'll take it'd be perhaps easier to walk to Honmachi then get on there - that is what most people do.

mpiotrow

What about Kyoto? Is it worth it to take the extra time to go there instead? We won't arrive until after dark (no matter if we go to Osaka or Kyoto), leaving any sort of park visit out of the question until the morning, I'd assume. Or is it worth it to see the temples in Kyoto at night?

I have read that the Dotonbori area in Osaka has many things to see at night (since a lot of it is open 24 hours), so that's why we were leaning toward something like that, along with getting a bit of history the next day by seeing the castle. We are not looking for a club, etc, to go to at night, just something to see/do while we're in the area. I'd hate to squander the few hours that we actually have in Japan!

Any recommendations of a good place to get dinner while we're in town (either Osaka or Kyoto)? Not looking for something fancy/expensive, just something good/traditional (my girlfriend LOVES sushi, so any recommendations there would be great!)!

Thanks again!

ksandness

The temples in Kyoto are usually closed at night except for certain times of the year (autumn leaf and/or cherry blossom season) when they are lit and open in the evening. Your best bet for sights there, other than the usual bars and restaurants would be to hang around in Pontocho on the off chance of seeing some geisha or maiko (apprentice geisha) traveling between appointments. If you were going to Kyoto in the summer, I'd suggest spending the evening in a riverside beer garden, but that's for summer.
Osaka Castle is a concrete replica of the original, which was destroyed during World War II.

jib71

The pre-WW2 Osaka castle was also a replica of the original (from the 1920s, I think). In the 1950s, as Osaka emerged from near-total destruction (over 80% of buildings in the city were destroyed), the citizens of Osaka decided to build another replica. For this reason, Osaka castle is my favourite replica castle. But that's a bit like saying that strawberry-flavor pop-tarts are my favourite pop-tarts. (Given the choice between real strawberries and strawberry pop tarts, I think I'd choose the real thing).

EDIT: There's a lot more to the history of Osaka castle than one can fit into a Flyertalk post:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaka_Castle

angra

For food, I've recently become a big fan of kushikatsu, which is a specialty of Osaka. It's not sushi, and probably not even traditional, but it is unique and a fun way to get fed.

acregal

For Kyoto, while the hotel is close to Keihan, it would still take an hour to get there. Fushimi Inari is open all the time, so if you woke up at 6 AM and left there and the weather was good (so summer) it might be worth it, but there are a lot of ifs there and I don't know if its worth risking it with an international flight and limited time.

For food, Fugetsu ( https://fugetsu.jp/en/ )is always good - it is basically described as a Japanese pancake (basically batter, shredded cabbage, meat and seafood), which is cooked in front of you. For sushi, I really like the sushi restaurant in Lucua - it is really delicious and their sets are around 2,000-3,000 yen https://www.lucua.jp/lucua/lang/engl...?c=shop&pk=528

mpiotrow

Aventine

Osaka is like a city that never sleeps. A lot more to do, eat and see in the nighttime than Kyoto.

IMOA

Given you have to be heading back to the airport by 10:00am there’s not much you can do the next morning beyond go for a walk in a park and Osaka castle is perfectly fine for that. If it was me I’d maximise the nighttime, head for dotonbori and have a really good night out. Monday night is one of the quieter nights but still no problem staying out to 3 or 4 and visiting a bunch of bars and restaurants.

If if you’d rather a culturally focussed trip I’d stay in Kyoto near the station, go for dinner somewhere like gion/pontocho then get up early (like 6:00am early) and do fushimi inari hiking up the mountain just a bit and if you can head north to the neighbouring temples. Get back to hotel by 10, grab bags and take airport express to the airport. It’s pretty cliche but it’s your first trip to japan and it’s one night, cliche is perfectly fine.

mpiotrow

mpiotrow

abmj-jr

To and from Kyoto Station, I'd just use the JR Haruka airport express train. It takes about 75-80 minutes each way, is comfortable and has luggage space on each car. Arrival at KIX is in the lower level of the terminal building. The 10:00 am Haruka from Kyoto Station arrives at KIX at 11:20 am, plenty of time for your flight. Make your return seat reservations at the same time you book your KIX-Kyoto leg to avoid hassles on the return.

If your hotel in Kyoto is not right in the station building, there are many cabs right outside.

IMOA

There’s a Haruka which leaves Kyoto station at 10:00 and gets in a KIX at 11:24. I’d be comfortable catching that for an 13:15 flight. There’s another one at 10:30 which gets in at 11:50 which would get you there just in time if something goes badly wrong somewhere however I’d be treating that as the ‘safety’ rather than the primary option.

mpiotrow