Choose Your Trip by the Neighborhood You Stay In
Even within Osaka and Kyoto, every neighborhood layers time in its own way. We've gathered the stories behind each area and the sights you won't find in a guidebook, all from a local point of view. Start with the neighborhood that draws you, and choose where to stay.
Osaka
Namba & Dotonbori
Vacation rentals and whole houses in Namba, within walking distance of Dotonbori, Kuromon Market, and Hozenji Yokocho. Rent a whole house with a kitchen, shop at Kuromon Market, and eat in your own room. Guided directly by the operating company.
See the area guide →Tsutenkaku & Tengachaya
Walk to Tsutenkaku and Shinsekai, ride the Nankai Main Line from Kansai Airport with no transfer, and reach Namba in two stops. Vacation rentals and whole-house stays in the Tengachaya area, a residential neighborhood of shopping streets and old bathhouses where the nights are quiet.
See the area guide →Tsuruhashi & Ikuno Koreatown
A working-class district where you can walk between the yakiniku of Tsuruhashi and Ikuno Koreatown. Knowing that the neighborhood's roots reach back to settlers who arrived 1,500 years ago makes even the back alleys of a food crawl more interesting. Guided directly by the operating company.
See the area guide →USJ & Nishikujo
Universal City Station, the nearest stop for USJ, is just two stops from Nishikujo. In a district reborn from a former waterfront heavy-industry zone, you'll also find the Ajikawa Tunnel that runs beneath the river and the old-town Kujo shopping street. Guided directly by the operating company.
See the area guide →Sumiyoshi & Nanko
A bayside district of Osaka where the gates of Sumiyoshi Taisha, the shrine of the sea gods, sit alongside Kitakagaya, a shipbuilding town reborn as an art quarter, and the reclaimed man-made island of Sakishima. Rest quietly in vacation rentals and whole-house stays in a down-to-earth residential area. Our operating company guides you directly.
See the area guide →Shinsaibashi & Honmachi
Vacation rentals and whole-house stays in the heart of Osaka's commerce, where you can walk to Shinsaibashi shopping, the youth culture of America-mura, the ginkgo-lined Midosuji, and Semba — the historic wholesale district of medicine and textiles. Guided directly by the operating company.
See the area guide →Umeda & Nakanoshima
Vacation rentals and whole-house stays in the area you can walk from Umeda—the gateway from the Shinkansen and airports—through Grand Green Osaka (Umekita), born in 2024, Grand Front Osaka, the hanging garden of the Umeda Sky Building, Osaka Tenmangu Shrine and the Tenjin Matsuri, and the cultural island of Nakanoshima. Guided directly by the operating company.
See the area guide →Kyoto
Kyoto Station
The gateway from the Shinkansen and the airport, the Kyoto Station area. Vacation rentals and whole-house stays within walking distance of the station building's Grand Stairway, the lighthouse-shaped Kyoto Tower, the five-story pagoda of To-ji, and the eastern and western Hongan-ji temples. Guided directly by the operating company.
See the area guide →Kiyomizu-dera, Gion & Higashiyama
The Kiyomizu Stage, Yasaka Shrine, the stone-paved lanes of Ninen-zaka and Sannen-zaka, and the Gion geisha district—vacation rentals and whole-house stays in Higashiyama, the district many feel is the most "Kyoto-like" of all. The biggest advantage of staying here is walking the slopes in the early morning and evening, after the crowds have thinned. Managed and guided directly by our operating company.
See the area guide →Arashiyama
Togetsukyo Bridge, the Bamboo Grove Path, Tenryu-ji, Nonomiya Shrine—vacation rentals and whole-house stays within walking distance of Kyoto's Arashiyama. Being able to walk a quiet Togetsukyo Bridge and bamboo grove in the morning, before the day-trippers arrive, is a perk reserved for those who stay overnight. Guided directly by the operating company.
See the area guide →