City: Kinki
Top Things to do in Kinki
Top Hotels in Kinki
- 1. The Bridge Hotel Shinsaibashi
- 2. Hotel Universal Port
- 3. Hotel Universal Port Vita
- 4. Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Shinmachi Bettei
- 5. Hotel Nikko Osaka
- 6. Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel
- 7. Temple Town Hotel WAQOO Horyuji
- 8. Hotel Granvia Osaka
- 9. The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan
- 10. RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka
What to do and see in Kinki, Japan: The Best Historic Walking Areas
The Kansai region (関西地方, Kansai-chihō) or the Kinki region (近畿地方, Kinki-chihō) lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. While the use of the terms "Kansai" and "Kinki" have changed over history, in most modern contexts the use of the two terms is interchangeable. The urban region of Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto (Keihanshin region) is the second-most populated in Japan after the Greater Tokyo Area.
Restaurants in Kinki
1. Kii Mountains
2. Hieizan Enryaku-ji Temple
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 592 reviews
Reviewed By audreevisits - Canada, null
This is the birthplace of Zen Buddhism. The Enryaku hotel was, traditional Japanese style, very clean and comfortable- staff was very pleasant and helpful. The food breakfast and dinner was included and extraordinary! Beautiful views of the lake and distant mountains, some days we could see My Fuji in the distance. The Japanese baths were clean and hot. 7am we walked to the main temple to participate in the morning ceremonies. We hiked the mountain and visited the ancient temples, some original and hundreds of years old- learning the story of Zen Buddhism and how it came to be on this sacred mountain.Lots of local pilgrims making offerings and praying- so peaceful
3. Katsura Imperial Villa
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 472 reviews
Application in advance is highly recommended. ------------------------------------------------------------------- This beautiful home belonged to members of the Katsura family, one of the Imperial families of Japan. The home displays some very traditional Japanese architecture and landscape design.
Reviewed By hrtraveler
Lovely garden; recommend taking the English language tour(there are several every day) and also recommend applying on line before visiting to make sure you get a place on the tour. Tour was informative, and the gardens are beautiful. Took city bus from Kyoto station, which supplied good information regarding the proper bus stop to exit. And the villa is a short walk from the bus stop.
4. Street of Kinosaki Onsen
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 649 reviews
Reviewed By seanv0
Great onsen town with lots to do that truely captures what's so great about Japan. Managed to do many of the quintessential 'When in Japan' activities during our stay here.
5. Kumano Kodo
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 149 reviews
Reviewed By SullyDean - Sydney, Australia
We took this tour a year ago for my 50th b’day (April 2019) - apologies for late review, however I really want to share our experience as we had an amazing time and feel the reason was that we booked through Walk Japan. From the moment we met up with our tour group, 7 in all, at a snug hotel in Osaka we were able to sit back and focus on the culture, history, religion, scenery & relevance of the Kumano Kodo, and leave the complexities of logistics and language barrier to our competent guide Josh. While some travelers thrive on conquering the difficulties of traveling in a foreign land, we would rather spend our well earned holidays enjoying ourselves without stressing over are we on the correct train line and are we heading in the right direction, or the like. And for us if any country has engendered those feelings its Japan. So for 9 days we walked parts of this pilgrimage and had an absolutely amazing experience - as accommodation and meals were all organized and we had our trusty guide at no point did we stress - and we stayed in some unique accommodation from a monastery (participating in the morning fire ceremony with monks), repurposed high schools (declining population), some huge 80’s hotel built into the side of a cliff like something out of a James Bond movie. We visited all the main temples on the pilgrimage and had our stamp book attended to (make sure you do this right from the start), all relevant historic and cultural points of importance and interest were pointed out and if possible we had time to wonder around (seriously if we had done this pilgrimage as an independent walk we would have missed so much and understood even less) - and to top it all off we were walking smack bang in the middle of the cherry blossom bloom - early April is the time to go it was just gorgeous : ) All in all we had the most brilliant time and Walk Japan took care of everything and at no time did we feel out of our depth - best 50th b’day you could wish for. Thanks Japan, and thanks Walk Japan XXX
6. Gokashokondo Street
7. Genkyuen
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 174 reviews
Reviewed By Global715255 - Tokyo, Japan
Lovely garden worth visiting. With less crowds than Hikone Castle, I could relax a lot viewing the beautiful garden. You can enjoy Matcha with a sweet named Umoregi. The lady who served told me the best spot to enjoy the view from the engawa terrace. It was amazing.
8. Mikobata Senkojo Mine
9. Yoshino
10. Hachiman-bori
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 302 reviews
Reviewed By palawanismyhome - Palawan Island, Philippines
We were looking for a smaller place near Kyoto which would be away from the throngs of tourists at the popular sights in Kyoto and decided to take a 30 minute train ride to Omihachiman. At first the area near the station looked modern and uninviting but after talking to the lady at the tourist center by the station we were armed with a map and walked along the main street perpendicular to the station and 30 minutes later we were t the old historical district of Hachiman-bori. This was a Sunday and although there were quite a few Japanese visitors we only saw 2 other westerners. This delightful place had small streets with old wooden Japanese houses on each side, some were cafes, some were souvenir shops and some sold local specialties. We then walked by the canal where visitors could take rides on the small wooden boats. It was a beautiful area with weeping willows by the canal and well worth visiting.
