We took 2 incredible day trips from Osaka. Our first stop was Miyajima, which is about 2.5 hours away from Osaka. We actually left from Fukuoka though after spending a week in Kyushu.
Armed with our bento boxes, we left towards Miyajima. This was about half way to our final destination of Osaka, but we wanted to stop and explore the "shrine island". We dropped our bags off in a locker at Hiroshima station and took a local train/ferry to Miyajima Island.
The island itself was crazy packed, but we wandered along the stalls, got a Japanese gin and tonic, and walked all around the shrines. Feeling a bit claustrophobic, we ventured a little outside the main drag and found a path leading up to a temple. These were the most beautiful cherry blossoms we had seen so far (only surpassed by the ones we saw in Nara) and it was far more peaceful.
We loved this stop along our journey, but it would also be a great day trip if you left from Osaka as well!
Hands down, if you have time for one day trip outside of Osaka, please make it Nara. It took less than an hour from our hotel near Osaka Station to reach Nara. We went pretty early in the day and seemed to really beat the crowds.
As soon as you leave the station, you see the famous deer all around. There are vendors selling rice crackers for 150 JPY and I told Jason this was the best $1ish we'd spent in Japan. In order to get a treat, the deer will bow to you when you bow to them. It is flipping adorable!
The main touristy spots aren't that far apart, so we wandered all around Nara Park and the surrounding temples in about 4 hours. When we left shortly after noon, the tourist buses were arriving, so I would absolutely recommend getting there as early as possible.
Nara was an incredible day trip - made even more special by the sakura.
We would have also loved to take trips to Himeji Castle and Kobe, but there just wasn't the time!
Up Next: Our last 5 days in Tokyo!
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