Exciting Family Adventures in Japan 2024 | Nagoya – Japan's Underrated Playground

Oh yes, that was a unique family adventure in Japan! The playground addition is of course pragmatically chosen, but as a family, we experienced real adventures here. Our kids' eyes sparkled and gleamed more than an infinite number of times when they raced through the forests of Nagoya with their cousin.

The city itself also surprised me greatly. Nagoya is an industrial city and not at all an ordinary travel destination for a trip to Japan. Especially not if it's your first time in Japan. In addition to the nature surrounding Nagoya, the lush bamboo forests, lakes, and recreational areas, the city center itself is also worth a trip to Nagoya.

We even went there twice. First for three days and three weeks later again for three days. In my travel report on Nagoya, I want to show you our highlights and inspire you to add this city to your bucket list as well.

Getting there and accommodation in Nagoya

We're starting our family adventure in Japan, traveling from Kyoto to Nagoya by Shinkansen. That's a great feeling. Similar to being on an airplane, but without turbulence. With the Japanese high-speed train (English: Bullet Train), it only takes us about 35 minutes to cover the 150 km. That alone was a family adventure in Japan. By the way, we took the original route, which runs from Osaka via Kyoto and Nagoya to Tokyo.

Trains run just three minutes apart, that's a maximum of 16 trains per hour. The Bullet Train has been operating since 1964, and its own rail network currently spans 3,000 km. Incidentally, the tracks are blocked off along the entire route to enhance safety.

As mentioned, we were in Nagoya twice, and the second time we flew from Okinawa. The train connection from Okinawa to the main island is not recommended. 😉

On our first visit to Nagoya, we rented an Airbnb in the Three Island Tower in the Kanayama district. It was close to Kanayama Station and also great for getting around everywhere by Uber. From there, we explored more of the southern part of the city.

On the second visit, we were then directly in the center, in the The Royal Park Iconic NagoyaWe were housed on the 32nd floor, YES! It's one of the tallest buildings in Nagoya, so we had a great view of the city day and night. From here, we mainly explored the city on foot. I rarely give hotel recommendations, but I'll make an exception in my Nagoya travelogue.

Staying overnight here was another of our family adventures in Japan. The kids loved sleeping by the window all night, looking out at the city more than they kept their eyes open. Counterproductive for the next day, but a great experience.

Dino Adventure Nagoya - Odaka Ryokuchi

The Dino Adventure Park in Nagoya is about 30 minutes south of our hotel. We're taking an Uber, of course! Since we're traveling during the off-season, it's not very crowded here. Therefore, we bought our tickets at the counter without a reservation. I would recommend that for the peak season, though.

The park itself has about 20 life-sized animated dinosaurs. As in many places in Japan, robots or robot technology are used here. You can tell this by the deceptively realistic and smooth movements of the dinosaurs.

So you're running up a hill on a winding path, and suddenly a Brachiosaurus appears above the treetops, eating leaves. The details in the park make it so worthwhile. A Triceratops is lying injured on the ground, and pterodactyls are currently hatching their eggs. We've visited several parks like this, but the Dino Adventure Park in Nagoya really stands out for its details.

Here's the overview map of the park, in Japanese of course. However, there are also English brochures available on site. It's best to check the website beforehand, or even better, check Facebook, to see if the park is open.

Outside the park and without admission, there are two more beautiful playgrounds. A large adventure playground with climbing towers and another where you can slide down a T-Rex. The children loved the second playground and didn't want to leave.

To complete our family adventure in Japan, we also walked through a forest section right next to the Dino Park. There are nicely laid out jogging and walking paths. However, you walk past thousands of large, but harmless, spiders here. We also saw a stick insect climbing a tree. My wife fondly calls this forest "Spider Forest," but officially it's called Healing Forest.

We're planning a full day for the Dinopark and Odaka Ryokuchi, the huge park complex surrounding the Dinopark. However, after a few hours, we'll head to the adjacent AEON Mall because it's 36 degrees Celsius. But once it cools down a bit, there's really a lot you can do and discover here. Especially with children who love nature.

Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium

I've been to many aquariums before, like Sea Life and all the others. All over the world now, across North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Malta. 😁 But no aquarium has ever impressed me or given me that certain WOW effect quite like the Public Aquarium in Nagoya.

I don't know if it was the oversized dolphin pool, the orcas swimming 20 cm past you at full size, or the penguins you could watch from underwater as they jumped onto land. Anyway, we had an unforgettable time at this great aquarium. If you want to experience a family adventure in Japan, then this place definitely needs to be on your bucket list.

The aquarium cost us around €35 together in 2024. I usually book admissions through Trip.com*, because you get cashback from there now and then. We spent about 4 hours here and couldn't see everything. As mentioned, there is a huge enclosure for the dolphins and of course a show. But just by the sheer size of the enclosure, you get the impression that the animals are kept and treated as species-appropriately as possible here.

My personal highlight was the orca pool. It was an indescribable feeling when an orca swam past us at full size, only 20 cm away. Of course, 20 cm of glass separated us here, but the animals are simply huge and the feeling was just incredible.

In another tank, there are 35,000 sardines, and the tank is so large that you can really follow the school. It's called ’The Tornado of Sardines.„ Very exciting and not possible in smaller aquariums like those at Sea Life. Therefore, I absolutely had to mention this aquarium in my Nagoya travel report. If you're in the city, you absolutely must go see it.

Flight of Dreams – Nagoya Airport

On our second stop in Nagoya, we'll be traveling by plane. At the airport, we'll visit Flight of Dreams. It's a flight park that houses a full Boeing 787, the so-called Dreamliner. Dad's excited about this because, as you may know, I love airplanes. Since we were once at Boeing in Seattle We saw, of course, even more, and on top of that, at the airport, we also saw a Dreamlifter, Boeing's cargo plane, of which there are only four. For aviation freaks, this is quite special, and they know it more by the designation Boeing 747-400 LCF Dreamlifter. 😁

While there's only one Dreamliner here in Nagoya, you can visit it and even walk into the cockpit. The Flight Park consists of three parts: the actual exhibition, which is free to visit; a Kids Play Area with a zipline for the kids directly under the plane; and the Seattle Terrace. On the latter, you can dine in the food court directly under the wing. That was super cool.

The playground directly under the airplane is also exciting. You normally don't get that close to an aircraft. Even the kids were impressed by that. In the airplane shop, you can buy all sorts of Boeing merchandise. Unfortunately, I decide against the cool seatbelt belts. Such a cool gimmick. Next time, they're mine!

And so, our second stay in Nagoya begins with an exciting highlight, and we're very curious to see how our family adventure in Japan continues.

Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Nagoya

Higashiyama Zoo is located in eastern Nagoya and is the second largest zoo in Japan. With more than 450 animal species, the zoo offers a huge variety of animals, including all the usual favorites like giraffes, lions, gorillas, seals, and many more.

In total, you can spend the whole day here at the zoo and walk several kilometers. The grounds are huge and there's even its own monorail that goes through the zoo. Unfortunately, we don't have that much time, but we visit the cute koalas and reminisce about our trip to Australia a few years ago.

In the northern section of the zoo lies a beautiful botanical garden with over 7,000 plant species. We're not in Japan during cherry blossom season, but here in mid-August, and we're still seeing fantastic plants and flowers from all over the world. The water lily pond is also impressive. It sits majestically in front of the main building and is a beautiful sight.

Above the Botanical Garden runs a forest area with great streams and even a small waterfall. There are picnic spots everywhere, and through the forest area you can then reach the next subway station. The zoo is therefore very well connected and accessible by public transport. I can only highly recommend a trip to the zoo; I don't want to leave this out of my travel report on Nagoya.

Nagoya City Center – Shopping and Dining

Since our hotel is located directly in the Chunichi Building, we have a great shopping mall including a food court right in the building. This is very convenient, and we only have to go down about 30 floors for it. We are in the Sakae district, which forms the center of Nagoya.

Here you'll find all the common shops from Japan, like Uniqlo and Don Quijote, but also all the usual suspects from the West. Zara and H&M are here just like Louis Vuitton and Armani. Tiffany also sells its rings and jewelry on the street parallel to our hotel. The Swiss even have a Lindt & Sprüngli shop in the subway station.

Fine dining is available directly in our hotel. The restaurant „The 7th Terrace“ serves enough delicacies to indulge yourself. However, we prefer simple noodle bars. A delicious udon soup with fresh ingredients is ready in two minutes and tastes delicious. I love tempura, so we usually get a few of those as well. Tempura is the Japanese way of frying. Vegetables, shrimp, and soft-boiled eggs are usually fried this way. It tastes delicious!

In Nagoya, as everywhere in Japan, there are naturally the claw machine arcade games. Crane Games, as they are called in English, and we've already spent hundreds of euros on them. on our last night in Nagoya, the kids were allowed to try their luck again. After we invested a few euros and only got a few cookies, a Japanese woman next to us suddenly won a giant stuffed rubber duck. With just one coin! That's 70 cents.

Alright, we can do this too. Dad isn't thinking about the consequences here and is feeding coin after coin into the machine. We'll keep trying to get one of these ducks out of the machine, taking turns.

After about 10 tries, it actually worked. Yippeeeeeh, the joy is great. Until we then realize that this duck naturally doesn't fit in the suitcase.

So the duck gets its own seat on the plane and continues its journey with us to the Emirates, where it is warmly welcomed everywhere.

In any case, our daughter is super happy with it. The few coins were thus well invested. Fortunately, we are only in Japan for four weeks in total, so the investments are still within limits. If we lived here, I don't know how much would go just towards these games per month. Pretty addictive, it just makes the whole thing a lot of fun.

Afterwards, we'll make a „quick“ stop at the Pokémon Center, which is located in the Lachic Shopping Center. We can't find the store right away and ask in a clothing store. The nice guy walks with us for hundreds of meters through the mall, just so we can't miss the store. We only encountered nice Japanese people at every turn. That was really pleasant.

Summa summarum, as the Japanese say with Latin, Nagoya is perfectly suited for shopping and going out.

Central Park and Mirai Tower

As the name suggests, Nagoya Central Park is centrally located. It runs along the main central street Hisaya Ōdori, which is why it is also known as Hisaya Ōdori Park. These green spaces and gardens are ideal if you want to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. There are also small playgrounds and areas where kids can really let off steam.

We are spending a wonderful afternoon and evening in the park, enjoying the casual and chill vibe. There are numerous restaurants and cafes here that invite you to linger. Various art installations and events ensure that there is always something going on in Central Park.

An iconic structure stands in the middle of the park, the Nagoya TV Tower, also called Mirai Tower. The tower was built in 1954 and is the oldest television tower in Japan. It has recently been renovated and offers an observation deck in addition to some restaurants. Since our apartment in the hotel feels higher up, we decide against the observation deck.

What we absolutely had to try was the PEANUTS Café Nagoya, located in Central Park. The Snoopy atmosphere was great, but of course, the food was exclusively American, which the kids absolutely loved.

Makinoga Pond

To the east of the city, there is a beautiful recreation area, similar to Odaka Ryokuchi Park, mentioned earlier in the chapter. Makinoga Pond is surrounded by a wooded area that offers some great playgrounds and plenty of green space for relaxation and picnics.

We're meeting my sister-in-law and my nephew there, and the kids are going on an insect hunt. After a while, they caught giant grasshoppers and even bigger butterflies. Among them, there are always the most exotic spiders. Under a park bench, I spot a black widow and get startled at first. Seeing a spider like that in real life is quite strange. I sit down on the next bench after carefully examining it.

The kids don't notice anything and comb the woods in search of even more creepy crawlies. It's our last day in Nagoya, and we're using the time to relax a bit. Nagoya is the fourth-largest city in Japan and has 2.3 million inhabitants. You notice that after a few days, of course.

Excursion tips Travel report Nagoya

Conclusion – Family Adventure in Japan

A beautiful section of our 2024 Asia trip. We spent a total of one week in Nagoya and had some great adventures there. The city, which is not a typical tourist destination, offers more than just a few shopping malls and temples. The aquarium alone was worth the trip, and we also got to meet my nephew and sister-in-law there.

The kids got along great and had a wonderful time together. Should we travel to Japan again, we will definitely stop in Nagoya again. Compared to Tokyo and Osaka, life here in Nagoya was clearly geared less towards tourists. I like that much better because it all felt more authentic.

I hope I was able to bring Nagoya a little closer to you and maybe you'll add it to your bucket list for your next trip. A family adventure in Japan can be very exciting, and not without reason did I call Nagoya Japan's underestimated playground. 😉

Have you ever been to Nagoya? What did you like best there? What should we see there next time? What else are you missing in my Nagoya travel report?

Photo gallery travel report Nagoya 2024