Three days in Osaka ...

[LindorDoubleChoc]

Anyone have any recommendations for things we must not miss?

Also, if you know of a nice mid price-range hotel (nothing TOO flash) I'd be interested to hear about that too.

Thank you!

No personal experience of Osaka yet but we are pretty far along in planning our trip. We leave in just over a month.

My main priorities for Osaka are food. I have takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kushikatsu, soufflé cheesecake and butaman on my Osaka must-eat list.

Our priorities for sightseeing are the castle, Dotonbori, Shinsekai, Shibsaibashi, Tennoji park and Team Labs botanical garden. We are there for 5 days but using it as a base to visit other places so only really have 2.5 days for Osaka itself and 2.5 days on day trips, so a similar amount of time to you. We may or may not go to the Umeda Sky building but that’s because I get nauseated in tall buildings.

The cup noodle factory was great fun.

@Takoneko we might be on the same flight!

We have a relative living in Japan so Osaka is our starting base then we are heading south on the bullet train, so I'm looking forward to that also. Thanks for the tips, yes food is always one of my priorities too .

Are you staying in a hotel? (not stalking, honest)!

Yes, we are staying in a hotel. I’ve booked the Henn na Hotel in Shinsaibashi. It’s not fancy but looks clean and modern and I was swayed by the robot dinosaur gimmick.

The Team Labs garden, Don Quixote Ferris wheel, Nambayasaka shrine. If you’re not separately going to Kyoto then it’s only 30 or so minutes away.

We stayed in the Zentis Osaka Hotel. The Dotonburi and Shinsekai districts worth a visit. We also went up the Kuchu Teien Observatory which had great views. Osaka Castle also worth visiting. We were there for three days before travelling on, but spent one at Universal Studios. Have a great trip!

We went to Team Labs in Tokyo which we enjoyed, so if similar in Osaka I'd agree worth checking out.

The aquarium was incredible. Universal studios was awesome too.

Yes the aquarium was great and the ferris wheel next to it has great views

We stayed in Hotel the Flag Shinsaibashi which we thought was great and very well located.

We enjoyed going to Dotonburi at night, we went up the Harukas 300 Observatory and spent some time shopping in the vintage shops (travelling with teens!). We went to Kobe for half a day and Hemeji Castle for half a day. We really enjoyed just walking round, ate some amazing food and went to some fun bars. We absolutely loved Osaka!

It was so long ago when I went but I remember visiting Kyoto too and I loved it even more than Osaka! It was such a cute place.

Btw, if you need to buy any apple products buy them in Osaka, I got my MacBook Air significantly cheaper there!

Are you going with kids? We went to some wonderful cocktail bars so can dig out the names if this is your thing

It depends on who you're going with......

Stayed at this hotel - excellent location.
dd loved the aquarium.