Day Trip to Himeji Castle: Everything You Need to Know!

Himeji Castle, also known as the White Heron Castle for its coloring, is a seven floor castle in Himeji, Japan and is considered one of the best-preserved castles in Japan! The castle consists of 83 rooms and was home to an impressive defense system from the 17th century.

The architecture and size alone are impressive enough, but as an added bonus, the grounds are beautiful as well!

The castle is surrounded by a moat and the path leading up to the castle is lined with cherry blossom trees. If you are visiting during cherry blossom season, I bet it is AMAZING!

It was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993 and did you know it was a filming location in The Last Samurai?!

A day trip to Himeji Castle is easy due to its proximity to Osaka! You can take a direct train from Osaka to Himeji on the bullet (shinkensen) train or via a JR train.

You can take either the:

• Sanyo Shinkansen (bullet) train, which is about 30 minutes from the Shin-Osaka Station (Hikari Line. Not all trains stop in Himeji)
• Tokaido-Sanyo Line, which is about an hour from the Osaka Station

Both of these trains are covered by the Japan Rail Pass if you are opting to purchase one for your Japan trip!

Once you get to the Himeji Station, you can take the bus or walk about 20 minutes to the castle, which is a flat and leisurely walk.

You can walk down the main road to the castle or opt to take the covered street that is lined with shops.

The primary thing to do in Himeji is see Himeji Castle. You can certainly opt to spend most of your day in Himeji if you wish.

However, if you are in Japan for a short period (like us who work and travel), then I recommend only spending about half a day in Himeji.

This will allow you to spend the other half of your day either visiting another nearby location (we spent the morning in Nara!), or spending more time exploring Osaka. My humble opinion is that you can spend your other half day doing better things if you are on a time crunch in Osaka!

Want more Japan itinerary details?
One Week in Japan for First-Time Visitors: How to Maximize Your Time!

Explore Himeji Castle Grounds

Once you arrive at Himeji Station I recommend heading straight to the castle! As I mentioned, you will either have about a 20 minute walk to the castle or you can wait for the bus (you can likely walk to the castle in the time it takes to wait on a bus).

The grounds of Himeji Castle are beautiful! To enter the grounds, you will walk across a wooden bridge and through a gate that takes you to a path that goes in front of the castle and passed all the rows of cherry blossom trees.

Left of the path and the castle is Kokoen Garden, which is small Japanese garden that has a cute little koi pond and bridge.

To the right of the castle you will find a path that will take you closer to the moats that surround the castle.

Is It Worth Visiting the Inside of the Castle?

The views of the castle architecture and grounds are incredible! But is it worth going inside the castle?

We DID opt to stroll through the inside, which is a 7 story castle that, although well-preserved, does not have much inside. There really isn’t any staging (furniture, etc), rather just plaques on each floor to discuss what each story of the castle was used for originally.

On the top floor you do get a good view of the grounds below and there is a small shrine, which is more than the other floors offer.

But, in our opinion, we didn’t think it was worth the time. I would spend more time exploring the grounds if I were to do it again.

If you DO opt to visit the inside of the castle, a few things to know:

• Cost: 1,000 yen (around $6.70 USD, but the site says price will increase to 2,500 yen in March of 2026)
• You will have to remove your shoes, but they provide slippers to wear
• The steps to each floor are NARROW and STEEP. I did see kids doing them, but I also saw parents carrying toddlers.

Shop Down Miyuki Street

Miyuki Street is a covered street that runs from Himeji Station to the parking lot near Himeji Castle.

Here you will find a variety of stores including clothing stores, shoe stores, cafes, antique stores and more.

However, when we visited many of the stores weren’t open and, in all honesty, the shopping here wasn’t as good as in the shopping districts of the larger cities.

So, I do recommend walking back from the castle down Miyuki street, at least for a change of scenery. But I don’t imagine you will spend much time here!

Prefer guided tours over exploring yourself?

You can take a guided tour from Osaka or Kyoto. However, the tour is about $147 USD per person and doesn’t included the train fair.

• This is a good option if you aren’t comfortable getting to Himeji on your own

However, if you’ve gotten comfortable with the train system, I recommend taking the direct, easy train ride to Himeji on your own then meeting a guide in Himeji!

Once in Himeji, you can meet your guide who will guide you around the castle while providing details on the history of the castle, shoguns and more!

I recommend keeping your tour within 3 hours so you can maximize your time in Himeji and Osaka. The tour below has great reviews who enjoyed the guide and found they got a lot out of the history he provided!

To note: Neither of the two tours include fees to enter the castle

Lucky for you, a day trip to Himeji is easy! (compared to some day trips I have taken 🙃). The direct train ride and walkability once you arrive in Himeji really make it a good day trip option from Osaka.

Staying in Osaka? Here is how to spend one day in Osaka!

➡️ Cost of a day trip to Himeji (without a guide):

• Shinkensen Train: around 3,500 yen ($22 USD) one-way
• JR West Train: around 1,520 yen ($10.22 USD) one-way
• Castle Entrance: 1,000 yen (around $6.70 USD until price increase to 2,500 yen in March of 2026)

Total: 4.015 yen to 8,000 yen (around $27- $53 USD) plus spending money

➡️ Time You Should Allot:

The train ride from Osaka to Himeji is 30 minutes to an hour, depending if you choose to take the bullet train or the express train.

You should plan to spend no less than 2.5 to 3 hours exploring Himeji Castle and the grounds.

In total, you should plan for at least 5 hours for a day trip to Himeji from Osaka.

➡️ Is Himeji worth the trip?

I definitely think Himeji Castle is worth seeing! The architecture is gorgeous and the size of the castle really is impressive! Plus, I think its proximity makes it an easy addition to an Osaka itinerary!

Even if you only have a couple of days in Osaka (like us!) I still think visiting Himeji Castle is worth it! Even after seeing Osaka Castle, I think Himeji Castle is worth seeing!