1-Day Tour: Nagoya Castle, Gardens & Historic Estate

This tour will start at Nagoya Station at 9:00 A.M., where your guide will meet you in front of the Silver Clock tower near the Shinkansen Gates. You will have the opportunity to put your belongings in a coin locker at the station if you feel the need.

Your guide will provide you with a brief history of Nagoya and set the scene as we depart Nagoya JR Station via Nagoya’s tourist bus toward our first destination, Nagoya Castle. As we walk around Nagoya Castle’s vast grounds, your guide will point out great spots for photos to commemorate your trip.

You will have the opportunity to enter Honmaru Palace and view the golden rooms which become more and more ornate as we make our way through the palace. Your guide will point out unique details and bring the palace to life as each room has its own story to tell.

We will then stop for lunch at a shopping street full of restaurants and souvenir stands constructed in a Japanese style of architecture giving the feeling of shopping at merchant houses from the Edo period. The street houses many well-known restaurants serving up local Nagoya dishes, known as “Nagoya meshi.”

After lunch, we will continue on foot to Nagoya’s Culture Path—an area rich in well-preserved historical estates from some of Nagoya’s wealthiest residents from the Meiji era through the early Showa era (1868 -1930). You will be able to enter the homes and stroll the gardens of several of these properties, including the home of Sasuke Toyoda and Japan’s most famous geisha, Sadayakko Kawakami.

Our next stop will be Tokugawa Garden. Where we will take a well-deserved break to have some Sencha Tea and a traditional Japanese sweet in a historic building that was once the State Guest House of the Nagoya Pan-Pacific Peace Expo and is now registered as a national tangible cultural property.

Your guide will explain the proper way to enjoy drinking Sencha tea. Feel free to spend some time here contemplating the garden before you while sipping some high-quality, locally-grown tea.

After the sweet refreshments, we will enjoy some mental refreshment as we stroll through the beautiful Tokugawa Garden. The garden features over 100 maple trees, two waterfalls, and a beautiful pond in its center showing visitors a different face in each of the four seasons and making each visit a one-of-a-kind experience. Of course, your guide will be available to help you take photos that will make your friends and family envious.

From here, we will return to the station via Nagoya’s tourist bus and say our goodbyes there. Feel free to ask the guide for dinner recommendations or instructions back to your hotel.