Thank you! I'll look it up, it sounds fun and something quite different to include on a future visit ourselves.

Have fun Tracey! We like Namba for a short stay in the city but we've also stayed in the Umeda area close to Osaka Station, it's also close to trains and subways with easy access to the airport. There are plenty of restaurant options but a little less consolidated if you want to just walk around and see what takes your fancy. The Granvia Hotel is excellent here and we've used them across Japan and we've also stayed at the Hilton across the road from the station when we got a good deal there, it's lovely but a bit more expensive. The area is also good, hotels are a bit higher end but we prefer what there is to do around Namba as we don't spend too much time in the hotel room. You can also stay closer to particular attractions like the castle but we find that less convenient on a short stay where you know you want to get out to Universal and see more of the city. We like the Hotel New Otani Osaka properties we've stayed at and they have one near the castle park but we've not stayed there.

Thank you Toni

I have been following you for awhile and Have taken lots of information from your blogs. I thought they might have been the two to stay at but I thought I should ask if there any other. Thank you once again.

Happy New Year

As you also want to explore the city I wouldn't stay out near Universal Studios as it will be less convenient for other things. We like the Namba / Dotonbori area as a base as it is easy to get to from the Shinkansen station and Airport, there are a lot of dining options for all price points and it's a key area you are likely to want to see on your day of sightseeing making it a good place to start or end. Hotel choices depend on budgets and personal preferences but we have used the Swissotel Nankai and the Namba Oriental Hotel recently and they are both an easy walk from the station with larger suitcases.

We are going to Osaka in February for two nights where would you recommend to stay as we want to go to Universal one day and do sightseeing the other day.

Cheers
Tracey

Hi Ricky, Thanks for getting in touch. A couple of other articles you might find useful are:

- Our guide to things to do in Tokyo
- Day trips from Tokyo
- Day trips from Kyoto

The first one gives ideas of 50 things we've done and enjoyed in Tokyo, regardless of age and interests most people will find some things in there that they'd want to see and do. Between Osaka and Tokyo, while we enjoy both for different reasons, there is probably more to see and do in Tokyo city than Osaka. Having said that I have also included two other articles, one for each city that highlights some great side trips you can do from a base in either one. I'm guessing you aren't planning to use a JR Pass if you are flying into one city and out of the other which might make some of the options like Nagano or Hiroshima a bit pricey but a lot of the others will work without it. There are also other passes that might work for specific trips or from one of the base points. If you need help with working out those once you know where you want to see let me know as we've used a few over the years and there is an even bigger range that's become available recently.

At the time of year that you are visiting I'd highly recommend incorporating the various winter light-ups in Tokyo into your evening, we tend to pick one of the areas each night for dinner then walk around the lights afterwards, they are in areas like Shiodome (Shimbashi), Roppongi Hills and Omotesando Hills. There are plenty of places to stop in for a drink, or hot drink to warm up at all of them before heading back to your hotel. Just be aware of the 'Cinderella issue', most trains stop at midnight and don't restart until 5 am.

Also with the recent typhoon there was a lot of damage to areas near Tokyo and up the east coast. They fix things very fast but I've been told that Hakone is badly damaged including roads and train tracks and they expect repairs to take some time so if you are planning to go there I would leave bookings until closer to the time and perhaps have an alternate day plan in mind.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for sharing this site, find it very useful. We are planning to visit japan from dec 24 to jan 4. were planning to stay in osaka from dec 24 to dec 29 (5 days) and dec 30 to jan 4 (5 days) in Tokyo. Do you also have a travel guide in Tokyo? Where should we stay longer? Osaka or Tokyo? Thanks very much.

Ricky

Hi Rachel, we wouldn't use the JR Pass for that itinerary, you won't get value from it. The only long trip that you will probably want to use the bullet train for is from Tokyo to Osaka and that is less than half the price of the JR pass. While you could use it again to Kobe it is very close to Osaka and the pass is not necessary, the JR Kobe Rapid only takes around 30 minutes from Osaka station and costs Y410. Also for Kyoto it's not worth using the bullet train, there are better options for time and price if you don't already have the pass.

If you are 10 minutes from Dotonburi, depending on from which side, you are likely close to either Namba station or Shinsaibashi both of which are on the Midosuji Line, a useful line to connect you with Umeda (Osaka) station, Shin Osaka etc. You may find the subway is worthwhile to save a bit of walking and time. We caught it through from Shin-Osaka with full-size luggage (out of peak time) to Namba when we came through from Tokyo in May and it was very easy.

I would suggest you look at getting an IC card which is just a stored value card that you can use on the subways, trains etc in each city for convenience. PASMO, SUICA and ICOCA all work exactly the same way. Also we have an article on the Osaka Amazing Pass and you might want to match that against what you are doing on your days in Osaka to see if that works for you, we have used it for the Aquarium discount and Umeda Sky Building that you mention including.

You can buy bullet train tickets the day you are travelling, although November may be autumn leaves season it is not as busy as some other times of year but if I have a particular train I want to be on I normally pick up the tickets ahead sometime when I am passing through a major station with a ticket office, it doesn't have to be Tokyo Station.

Have a fabulous trip!

Is it worth to buy 7 days JR Pass?
Can we buy bulletin train ticket from Tokyo to Osaka on the same day travel?

Thank you
Rachel