HIMEJI and KOBE in ONE Day | Guide to Castles and Gardens and Beef

HIMEJI and KOBE in ONE Day | Guide to Castles and Gardens and Beef

everyone has seen pictures of Himeji Castle it’s one of the most recognizable buildings in Japan and everyone has heard about Coobe Beef it’s one of the most famous foods in Japan so what happens if you combine them both in one day well nothing strange happens at all to be honest both Him and Corbear are common day trips from Osaka and Kyoto making this trip in one day is nothing strange and nothing challenging but there’s still a lot of people asking about it online how do I get there in which order should I visit the cities is Coobe beef actually worth it today I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about visiting Himi and Coobe in one [Music] day my trip starts in the morning in Osaka and I’ll be going to Himi first and then Kobe and then onwards to Kyoto i’m switching cities from Osaka to Kyoto but I don’t want to be traveling with a lot of luggage on a sightseeing day like this so I sent my suitcase ahead of me yesterday and I’m just traveling with a day pack today which is a little bit terrifying because all my stuff is somewhere now the quickest way to get between Osaka and Himi is with a Shinkansen it’s not the cheapest way but time is of the essence on a day like this a Shinkansen ticket between Osaka and Himi will cost you a whopping 3,350 yen but it’ll only take you half an hour to get there my Shinkansen departs at 8:44 and it’ll arrive at 9:14 you can also take a slower train but that will take you around an hour but it will cost you half as much anyway let’s see if I can find the Shinkansen and maybe some breakfast as well [Music] [Music] once you get to Himeji you want to get to the castle you can either take a walk there and it’ll take around 20 minutes or you can take a bus for a couple of hundred yen or you can take a taxi for well quite a bit more than a couple of hundred yen but it still won’t be all that expensive i’ll see if I can grab a bus myself that one seems to be departing let’s [Music] go so it turned out that that bus went in not exactly the right direction i’m going to have to take a little walk and you get to see a little bit more of him [Music] hima Castle was built in the year 1333 and it’s the largest and most visited castle in all of Japan it’s called the White Heron Castle and it’s a brilliant example of Japanese castle architecture the white exterior and the flowing design reminds people of a bird taking flight and that’s where the name of White Heron comes from entering the main keep will cost you a,000 yen and yeah you really should if you’ve gotten this far [Music] there’s a long and bloody history surrounding the castle but I’m not going to go into all of those details this video isn’t all about the Himeiji Castle after all we have a lot more to see today [Music] [Applause] [Music] you can do a lot more in images than just visit the castle the Koko and Japanese Garden for example or just garden as they call it in Japan it’s quite magnificent and well worth exploring in full detail and you can visit temples or go hiking or visit the Japanese toy museum or the Himeji Cityoo but I’m actually going to skip all of those other things to do in Himimei and head back to the train station there’s a lot of things to do in Coobe as well the time right now is around 11:30 and I’m going to see when the next Shinkansen to Cobay is you can take slow trains as well but we’re talking about a difference between 15 minutes and over an hour also the Shinkansen will take me to the Shin Coobe station and other trains might get me to the Coobe station kobe has multiple train stations and Kobe station is not the same as Shin Kobe station so keep that in mind what’s this in the middle of Himi they have a statue of me i think it’s me at least i made it in time for the 1152 Shinkansen and the ticket price was 2,720 yen that’s for an unreserved seat i’m not sure if it costs more for a reserved seat but uh I would assume so [Music] why was I being so stubborn about going to Shin Kobe and not Kobe station well there are two reasons for that first of all it might look like a sunny day right now but it’s going to rain in a couple of hours and secondly the first thing I want to do in Kobe is visit the Nunobiki herb gardens which are right next to Shin Kobe station or rather not the gardens themselves but a ropeway leading up to the [Music] gardens nunoiki Herb Gardens isn’t just a herb garden it’s a whole little adventure with lots of things to see first there’s an amazing ropeway to get to the top of the mountain and it cost 1,400 yen for a one-way ticket and you get a lovely view of the city on the way up not to mention the view from the top of the mountain i saw a Reddit comment saying that it’s ranked as one of the top three views in Japan and from here it’s time to explore all of the gardens down to the middle [Music] station there’s a rose symphony garden a lavender garden a four seasons garden and a lot more there’s also a museum a cafe and lots of other places to explore it’s an absolutely lovely place to visit even if you’re not into gardening yourself they call this the lavender garden but I think I have to say that the tulips are a little bit more eye-catching and you mustn’t miss the lily garden or the oriental garden or kazena at the mid station kasena means hill of the winds but uh don’t try to Google it all you’ll find is a web page for a crerematorium after exploring the gardens and maybe having a drink or two it’s time to decide how to get down you can either take the ropeway gondola down or you can hike your way down instead i think I already mentioned that I bought a one-way ticket so yeah there’s no surprise which one I’m going to do it’s just a couple of kilometers but it’s pretty steep downhill so maybe don’t take your 90-year-old grandma on a hike here [Music] if you decide to hike down you’ll pass the Nunobiki Falls a famous set of waterfalls in Coobe they’re quite gorgeous and I recommend that you take this little extra detour to see them the falls are part of a set of divine waterfalls in Japan and they’re listed among the hundred best waterfalls in the country but I think that the best part of hiking down is that you get to take a relaxing break from city life especially if you’re staying in Osaka so take the time and enjoy the Japanese nature [Music] i’m back at Shin Kobe it’s early afternoon and it hasn’t started to rain yet mission accomplished now it’s time to take a subway to the Sunom Mia station and see if I can find a restaurant that has coob beef to be honest I don’t think that coobe beef is going to be the highlight of the trip for me i’ve tried Vaju and I think it’s good but it’s a little bit too fatty and a little bit too rich and maybe a little bit too much umami for my palette but when in Coobe you have to try some coobe [Music] beef i tried to book at the Panjaki restaurant in advance based on recommendations I saw online the problem is that even when I tried to book a month in advance they didn’t have a spot at my requested time i didn’t want to walk in and just grab some place at random but I guess that that’s just what I’ll have to do once you find a restaurant you also need to decide what grade of beef to eat kobe Beef is famous because it’s extremely fatty and the grades range between B1 and A5 a5 is the best but I’m not going to bother with A5 i’m a threestar vagabond not a five-star vagabond you can also see beef graded according to the BMS scale which concerns the marbling of the meat but most likely you don’t have to worry about that i think that most restaurants here are going to use the B1 to A5 system oh and in case you’re wondering what the difference is between Vaju beef and coobe beef Vagu is a type of cattle and coobe beef is Vagu from Coobe coobe beef is supposed to be extra extra special but to be honest I think it’s mostly about the branding and marketing it can’t be that much of a difference [Music] so was that any good of course it was good it had bloody well better be good if it cost more than 10,000 yen the whole dining experience wasn’t just a meal it was a whole experience the meat and the vegetables were cooked to perfection right in front of your eyes and it did taste marvelously i can’t say anything other than that but did it taste 10,000 yen no it did not maybe beef like that is just pearls for swine when it comes to meat but I just can’t justify the price compared to what you get your mileage may of course vary but yeah I’m happy I did it but I’m not going to you know scramble to get back here and do it again [Music] now after I’ve stuffed my face with beef I’m going to head to the Coobe Harborland District it’s a shopping and entertainment area of Coobe filled with restaurants and activities one of the streets there is called the Gaslight Street because it’s well lit up by gas lights at night you can also gaze up at the Coobe port towers there or go to the Coobe Maritime Museum and you can do a lot of other things in Coobe too you can go to Port Island and visit the Coobe Animal Kingdom or you can visit Chinatown or look at shrines or go to the Coobe Earthquake Museum but you’re going to have a hard time to do all of that in just one day i tried to choose the things that were most important to me and I hope that this video gave you some ideas for things to do at least but now it’s about time for me to go to the station and catch one more train this time to Kyoto and with a little bit of luck my luggage will be waiting for me at the hotel and that’s about it for this video about how to make a day trip to Himi and Corbe in one day and now it’s starting to rain as well so yeah it’s about time to say goodbye like and subscribe but most importantly have a great day

Himeji is famous for its magnificent castle, and Kobe is famous for its amazing beef. But there’s a lot more to see in both cities. What can you do in Himeji and Kobe in one day?

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This video covers a full day of sightseeng, starting from Osaka in the morning, and I cover everything from transportation and how to get around, to what the best things to see and do are. But of course, this is all personal preference – there’s a lot more to do in each city than what I show, so I tried to list a lot of alternative things you can do as well.

My trip starts with Himeji in the morning, mostly focusing on Himeji Castle – the famous White Heron Castle with one of the most recognizable designs in Japan. It’s a must-see if you’re planning on going anywhere close to Himeji.

Then just before lunch I move on to Kobe, where I explore the Nunobiki Herb Gardens (and Ropeway), the Nunobiki Falls, and I have a long relaxing hike through Japanese nature on the way down from the mountain.

After that, I have a look at the Sannomiya area of Kobe, which of course includes finding some proper Kobe beef to try at a teppanyaki restaurant. I’ve had wagyu before but this was quite a different experience. Was it worth the cost? Well… I guess you’ll have to watch the video to find out.

To round off the evening I also visit the Kobe Harborland district to see everything from a ferris wheel to an Elvis statue. And of course, the gaslight street. But after that, it was time to go back to the train station after a full day of sightseeing. But I managed to see the most interesting parts of Kobe and Himeji in one day!