Introduction
We were in Osaka for 2 days back in April of this year during the cherry blossom season. We took the train from Kyoto to Osaka and arrived around 1pm or so. We initially wanted to go to Nara first since it’s “on the way” and then head to Osaka later, but didn’t want to deal with the luggage situation, so we did Nara as a separate day trip from Kyoto. If we could do it again, we would have done Nara en route to Osaka.
Staying in Osaka
We got to the St. Regis at around 1pm and our room wasn’t ready yet. We wanted to stay at the Intercontinental, but there were no award rooms left. The St. Regis is in the business district, so not really much to do there, but at least it’s right above a subway stop. If I were to do it again, I’d pick another hotel near the Crowne Plaza like maybe the Hilton, Westin, or Ritz. Really, the only thing around the St. Regis is a Starbucks at night.
Osaka Castle
Since our room wasn’t ready yet, we decided to walk to Osaka Castle, which was about a 15-20 minute walk. It was about 65 degrees outside, so perfect weather for a walk in early April. Once we got to the castle, we walked around the grounds outside to see the cherry blossoms. After that, we paid to go up Osaka castle. Spoiler alert – it wasn’t worth it, but you almost HAVE to pay it just to see it (kinda like paying $25 to go up the Space Needle when you know you’ll regret paying the money later.) This killed about 2-3 hours.
Dotonbori
After the castle, I forgot if we walked or took the subway to Dotonbori, but that’s where you need to go. It’s where this is. We got there around 4pm and went to Ichiran ramen shop since it’s rated the #5 restaurant in all of Osaka on Tripadvisor. We had to wait about 10 minutes, and this was at 4pm on a weekday. Nuts. Spoiler alert – it was good, but not that memorable.
After ramen, we just walked around the area and got back to the hotel around 6pm to check in. We then rested a bit at the hotel, and then headed back to Dotonbori to eat dinner. FACEPALM! It took us a while, but we found a random seafood spot that lets you grill the food at your table. I forgot the name of the restaurant, but if you want to know, I can think back harder.
After that, we went to get some dessert from this guy, where we waited about 20-25 minutes. Let me tell you – not many things are worth waiting that long for, but this ‘ice cream in a pastry’ was well worth the wait! I should have ordered 2 to be honest. Trust me. You MUST TRY THIS! After this, we called it a night.
Day Two
We weren’t sure where to go on day two. I thought about doing a day trip to Kobe or Hiroshima, but thought it was too far. Plus, we had a dinner reservation at 9pm and had to be back in Osaka. This would have been a good time to go to Nara. We considered going to the aquarium, but figured that wasn’t unique enough. Looking back, we should have gone to the Umeda sky building, but instead we went to the Shitennoji Temple. Spoiler alert – don’t waste your time!
After that, surprise surprise, we went back to Dotonbori because my wife wanted to eat at Gram, a place she found on Facebook. FACEPALM! While the pastry was good, it wasn’t nearly as good as my ice cream truck man.
After that, we just went back to the hotel; got some drinks with a fellow MPD reader and had dinner.
Conclusion
If I could do it again, I think 1 full day in Osaka is enough. Once you see the castle and Dotonbori, that’s pretty much it. Either make side trips to other places or spend more time in Kyoto.
You should have done the Osaka Aquarium. I remember it was awesome! And worth it just for the Giant Spider Crabs. I didn’t think Osaka castle was so bad. Not as good as some others, but still worthwhile, and like you said, you are sort of compelled to do it.