Some people might find Nagoya boring but I'm not. 

I enjoyed and missed the chill days & nights in Nagoya a lot... (*¯︶¯*)

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Quick menu:

📝 Itinerary

🛏️ Accommodations

📌 Top 5 experiences (attractions & restaurants)

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📝 Itinerary

Here's my itinerary for my Nagoya trip last winter for reference! 

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🛏️ Accommodations

I'd highly recommend all my accommodations in Nagoya and Takayama - my expectations were 100% met for the value/price.

Below is the price of my stays in Nagoya and Takayama for reference (for two people).

🩵 Airbnb in Nagoya: Kanariya R401 - HK$1,412.55 (JPY¥27,000) for 2 nights

👍 The bathroom is amazing - super modern, bright, and clean, with a nice hot bathtub that I can't pull myself out every morning; 

👍 The washing machine with detergent and hangers provided, the best part is the bathroom has drying mode so you can hang dry your clothes in one night easy; 

👍 Spacious room with small table area for eating and chilling, facing a big door/window with plenty of sunshine brightening up the room; 

👍 The kitchenette; 

👍 The price is cheaper than a lot of hotels around; 

👍 Not the most city-centric location but still quite conveniently located with a bus stop nearby.

👎The A/C is only warming the bedroom, the hallway is freezing in winter - but it's a small issue. This made me appreciate the hot bath in the morning even more hehe.

 

 

🩵 Onsen hotel in Takayama: Wat Hotel & Spa Hida Takayama - HK$756 (JPY¥14,571) for 1 night

👍 One of the cheapest hotels in Takayama with private open-air onsen available to rent; 

👍 Modern furnishing and facilities; 

👍 Public onsen is soooo good; 

👍 Spacious room with window; 

👍 Convenient location, easy to walk to any place and quiet; 

👍 Free welcome beer and popsicle; 

👍 Big windows, bright, natural light. 

👎Can't think of any, really. Maybe it's an 8-min walk to the station and it could be a bit  inconvenient when you have luggages?

🩵 Private Room in Hostel in Nagoya: ゲストハウスよるよなか - HK$394 (JPY¥7,500) for 1 night

👍 Extremely cheap, private room and located near Osu-street; 

👍 Nice decoration/interior design, I especially like the wooden floor; 

👍 Nice common area to chill/socialise (although we didn't use); 

👍 The toilet is quite clean.

👎The receptionist was not around when we arrived so we waited for like 10 minutes until someone showed up to assist with check-in (do remember to share your arrival time beforehand!);

👎 Shared toilet and bathroom - exposing myself for not showering that night so I don't know about the cleanliness; 

👎My head got hit by the hanging ceiling lamp a few times when I woke up to left my bed at night...I'm not a tall person for sure... 

 

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📌 My top 5 best experiences in Nagoya

1. Ghibli

Had my first meal in Nagoya at the cuteness overload Osu Mori Cafe Kodama. I'd recommend any Ghibli fans to visit this place for a date/ meal - why not? It's well-decorated, the service is top-notch, and the food is Instagrammable at a reasonable price!

If you are interested in visiting them, do make an online reservation as they don't accept walk-ins.

➡️ Click here to read more about this lovely Ghibli-themed cafe in Nagoya.

Secondly, the one and only Ghibli Park (not to be confused with the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka!).

Located in the expo park, quite a distance from the city centre but accessible by a scenic, fully automated sky train ride, this little green paradise offers visitors a peaceful and healing day trip.

I would describe this as a museum with interactive elements, rather than a theme park though - so don't get your expectations wrong!

➡️ Click here to read more about the Ghibli Park in Nagoya.

2. Food

I'm not a breakfast person but since I'm in Nagoya, there is no way I'll miss the famous Nagoya Breakfast/ Ogura toast (red bean toast)! The meal here costs around 800-1,200 yen per set in general.

Breakfast sets @ Pineapple Mint

Decided to give it a try when we passed by this little shop on our way to AirBnb and saw the high rating on Google Maps. It's kind of out of nowhere nestling in a residential area...

No regrets - tasty, reasonable price and friendly owner! No wonder there was a queue outside when we left - lucky that we arrived quite early.

We order the classic breakfast set and pork cutlet set - both very oishii! The icecream looking small bowl in the middle is actually red bean with whipped cream - the sweetness (but not too over) works well with the toast.

 

Coffee with free toast of your choice @ Komeda Coffee

Komeda Coffee is a popular cafe chain in Japan that originated from Nagoya. You get free toast/bun (+ your choice of topping, i.e. red bean, butter or jam) when you order a cup of coffee before 11am.

The coffee and toast were fine, as expected from the franchised cafe. I quite like the stained glass lamps and the warm, yellowish tone of furniture/lighting - kinda makes the shop looks cozy.

 

Unagi don (rice with Japanese eel) @ Maruya Honten - JR Nagoya Station

Omg how can eel rice be this tasty... It was more expensive than our everyday meal (as expected for unagi), i.e. around 3,000 yen for a set but totally worth it.

We were one of the first batches that arrive at the opening at 11am (as we were waiting for our 1pm bus to Takayama) so no queue at all, just waited for 5-10 mins for the staff to get tables ready.

We ordered the signature set that comes with three ways to enjoy it - 

1. Enjoy just as it is - the fish is so tender and sweet.
2. Eat with fresh wasabi which gives it a herbal taste, not spicy at all!
3. Ochazuke style - pour in the green tea to make it like a "porridge".

 

 

3. Firework

While it's usually a summer festival thing, I'm surprised that there is one Winter Firework festival in Nagoya - ISOGAI Theatrical Fireworks in Nagoya, a theoretical show that requires admission tickets to fully enjoy the fireworks with narrative and music. 

Unfortunately, the tickets sold out pretty fast - and I decided to try something as I really didn't want to give up - since it's a firework, there is no way it's being kept indoors right? I believed it MUST be visible even if we just watched it from the park nearby. And I'm so glad that we were right - the plaza was so crowded with families, friends, and couples coming to enjoy watching fireworks like us (for free)!

The fireworks lit up the sky as we walked toward the plaza. People were gathered in different corners of the spacious public plaza. There were some stalls selling hot food as well. Everyone stood or sat down on the lawn to watch and cheer on the fireworks. It just feels like a Hanabi Taikai (fireworks festival) I'd imagine! Only without Yukata haha. 

The fireworks were truly amazing, we could hear exclamations of surprise ("sugeeeee") nonstop from people around us XD 

 

4. Onsen (hot spring) trip to Takayama Old Town

It's a heritage town with natural hot springs. We booked earlier so our stay at the onsen hotel was affordable. There is a public bath, and four private baths for rental. It was my first time experiencing onsen and that was the start of my love for outdoor onsen =w=

  

5. Nagoya Castle & Meijo Park

 

Free photo booth is offered but the queue is too long - so we just took one selfie on our own lol.

  

Some other recommended attractions in Nagoya (will add photos/notes if I have time later):

1. Nagashima Spa Land

2. Nabana no Sato

3. Osu - Osu dori, Kannon Temple & Antiques Markets

4. Sakae district

5. Izakaya at Gifu

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Thanks for reading! :)