This is my first time in Osaka but for Andrew it is his second time in this awesome city. There’s many things to do, see and of course eat. Osaka is the foodie capital of Japan and I don’t think  you can get a bad bowl of food. Before coming to Japan I knew there was more to the cuisine than ramen noddles and sushi.

Food

There was okonomiyaki – a type of savoury pancake with toppings of your preference such as seafood or pork belly or vegetables. The choice is really yours and it is cooked fresh in front of you on a big hot plate. My first time eating at a sushi train restaurant and I ate everything I wanted to (the free green tea refill is the best) and it averages around £8 per person, which is inexpensive. Sushi is one of the cheapest foods in Japan! We also tried takoyaki  – a flour based doughball filled with octopus and topped with katsuobushi shavings – yum. There’s also countless shops selling ramen in a aromatic flavourless soup base.

Not just Osaka but Japan really does have restaurants that cater for everyone’s pocket. However if you are on a budget it’s worthwhile to check a few places out before committing as prices can vary drastically.

We only stayed here 3 days, which was not really enough time to see everything. Our schedule was chaotic but we had a few lazy days in Manila before we came to Japan. We immediately got the Osaka 2 Day Amazing Pass, which allowed us free entry to lots of museums, the zoo, temples, boat rides and even onsens!! You can check out how the 2-Day Amazing Pass will save you money.

We visited the history museum, zoo, temples (we chose to visit some that weren’t free), saw and watched the sunset over Osaka city. We also had unlimited access on the Osaka subway, which saved us even more money.

The Osaka 2 day Amazing Pass is a steal if you are planning to visit Osaka’s attractions because it allows you:

• unlimited rides on all the trains and buses within Osaka city . You can obtain the boundary information by asking when you buy the pass
• access to 28 sights, where you will get free entry (boat trips, sightseeing and onsens are included)
• access to some other sights, which you can get discount entry to
• discount on some certain restaurants and shops with your tokens that come in the brochure when you purchase the pass

There is the 1 day pass, which costs 2,300 Yen however it is much more worthwhile to get the 2 day pass, which costs 3,000 Yen and you will have more more to visit the attractions.

Even if you only visit a few attractions the pass pays for itself and in addition you won’t have to pay additional on the subways to get around Osaka. Osaka is a big place and yes cycling around the city is an option because it is flat and very safe to cycle around but this depends on how much time you have and what you want to see. I would first go to the information place at Kansai airport of any of the JR stations to see if it is worth you getting a pass. It certainly did for us.

A breakdown of what we had saved:

Attractions we visited:

Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory – 800 Yen saved

HEP Five Ferris Wheel – 500 Yen saved

Osaka Museum of History – 600 Yen saved

Shitennoji Temple – 300 Yen saved

Osaka Zoo – 500 Yen saved

Suminoe Spa Onsen – 650 Yen saved

Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel – 800 Yen saved

Total entry to all attractions above with no pass – 4,150 Yen

Cost of the Osaka 2 day Amazing Pass – 3,000 Yen

Money saved – 1,150 Yen and all transportation around the city for free.

Tips on using the pass:

• you can only visit the attractions once and multiply reentries will not be allowed
• use the pass as a normal train ticket and place it through the barriers when using the trains
• check at the information desk what attractions are closed, open, opening hours because a lot close on Mondays, some close on Tuesdays and some were closed for maintenance. It was very confusing so ask or you will waste your time.

To see what attractions the pass entitles you to click here.

To find out more about the pass click here.

To find out where to buy the Osaka Amazing Pass click here.

Read what we got upto on our Osaka post here.