TOKYO-KOBE-OSAKA

TOKYO-KOBE-OSAKA

The majority of last week was spent in a car driving from Tokyo to Kobe & Osaka for a quick work trip.

We set off on Tuesday night post midnight to drive to Kobe – a 520km journey to cover overnight.

Screen Shot 2017-05-20 at 8.42.12 PM

We reached Kobe around 9am and headed straight to the exhibition venue. As this was a work trip, most of our time in Kobe was occupied in an exhibition center or working from our hotel. Kobe, known as a cosmopolitan port city isn’t particularly a tourist destination. Fun fact, Kobe is the sixth-largest city in Japan, located on the souther main island of Honshu.

We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel for 3 days, 2 nights – it was a really comfortable stay with plenty of Japanese / Western influences. I thoroughly enjoyed a nice warm onsen bath after a long day on Wednesday (the day we reached to Kobe). The breakfast buffet was amazing – and of course I stuffed myself Thursday/Friday morning before leaving the hotel.

With the weather being in our favor, we experienced beautiful sunny, warm days and stunning sunsets that became the highlight of our stay.

18575873_10212024969391889_2108945863_o.jpg

Thursday evening, we drove to the outskirts of Osaka’s Cosmo Tower where we got to see a breathtaking 360-degree panoramic view of the city. 55 floors above ground, you are able to see all the way out to the Kansai International Airport, Awaji Island and Rokko Mountains! We arrived just a few minutes after sunset and managed to have a glimpse of the sun setting right in front of us – such a stunning night view with the city illuminated and flashing lights of floating ships offshore.

18642031_10212024923030730_1899282630_o

En Route Osaka

18618933_10212024922990729_37336775_o18618275_10212024922790724_34334785_o18596731_10212024922590719_1239984289_o

On our way back to Tokyo on Friday, we stopped by Osaka (just an hour away from Kobe) and did a bit of sightseeing. This being my second time in Osaka, I was most excited of visiting Dōtonbori again – one of the prime tourist destinations in Osaka.

18618186_10212024922150708_1509053632_o18596441_10212024922350713_479857799_o

Dōtonbori runs along the Dōtonbori canal and is known for its nightlife and entertainment it has to offer. Although, I didn’t get to see it lit with illuminated signboards like it is at night, I was glad to see the Glico man again! We walked around Shinsaibashi shopping street before driving to see the Osaka Castle.

18618862_10212024922110707_1051695485_o18641863_10212024922270711_612254009_o

Osaka Castle is another prominent landmark in Japan that signifies the unification during the sixteenth century. Being heavily crowded by large tour groups, we strolled around the Castle Park instead of going inside.

18596889_10212024922310712_571290152_o18641579_10212024922430715_1535692064_o

And that was it. By 4pm we strapped ourself back in the car and headed back to Tokyo. As we hit major traffic whilst leaving Osaka, it took us nearly 7 and a half hours to get to Tokyo.

18597029_10212024922470716_526632479_o

I write this post as I am sitting on my couch, sipping on green tea and back to being a city girl.

Defnitely gained a new perspective to Japan after this road trip to Kobe and Osaka compared to my first trip to the two cities ten years ago.

Cheers to more Japan travels!

Ria Parikh Logo

Leave a Reply