Japan’s kitchen and its most fun-loving city, Osaka pairs castles and temples with neon nightlife and the country’s best street food. Here are the best things to do.
The 8 best things to do in Osaka
The neon canal strip — Glico running man, street food and pure Osaka energy after dark.
The landmark castle in a moat-ringed park, with a museum and skyline views from the top.
“Osaka’s kitchen” — fresh seafood, wagyu skewers and tasting your way down the arcade.
Super Nintendo World and the Wizarding World draw theme-park fans for a full day.
Retro old-Osaka district for kushikatsu (deep-fried skewers) and a kitschy tower.
The floating-garden observatory for one of Japan’s great city panoramas.
45 minutes away — bowing deer, Todai-ji’s giant Buddha and ancient temples.
One of Japan’s oldest, most distinctive shrines, with its iconic arched bridge.
Suggested itinerary
Day 1: Osaka Castle, Kuromon Market, then Dotonbori and Shinsekai by night. Day 2: Nara day trip, or Universal Studios.
Tips for visiting Osaka
- Get an ICOCA card and consider the Osaka Amazing Pass for free entry + transport
- Dotonbori is the must — go hungry and graze takoyaki, okonomiyaki and kushikatsu
- Osaka is the ideal base for Kyoto and Nara day trips (both under an hour)
Kuromon is now a tourist food court, and the standing bars are where Osaka actually eats
Kuromon Ichiba still calls itself “Osaka’s kitchen,” but it stopped being one. Most stalls now sell grilled scallops and wagyu skewers to tourists at prices marked up around 150% over equivalent food a few streets away, and locals largely shop elsewhere. Go once for the spectacle, eat one thing, and move on. For a market that still works as a market, take the JR loop line to Tsuruhashi and walk into Ikuno Korea Town, a 300-metre run of family-run stalls selling kimchi, hotteok and wholesale yakiniku meat at honest prices, with almost no tour groups.
The thing first-timers miss entirely is the tachinomi, the standing bar. In Tenma, Fukushima and Shinsekai you’ll find counters where you stand elbow to elbow, order yakitori and a highball, and skewers run from about ¥50 to ¥300. That’s where the city’s real eating and drinking happens, not on the Dotonbori bridge.
Cost note for 2026: the Osaka Amazing Pass is now fully digital (a QR code, no physical card) at ¥3,500 for one day. It only pays off if you cram in several of its ~40 attractions in a day. For a food-and-walking trip, an ICOCA card (¥2,000, including a ¥500 refundable deposit) plus pay-per-ride metro is cheaper and far less stressful.
Osaka FAQ
How many days do you need in Osaka?
Two to three — one for the city, plus Nara and/or Universal Studios.
Is Osaka worth visiting over Kyoto?
Do both — Osaka for food and energy, Kyoto for temples; they are 30 minutes apart.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.