Kanazawa - Day 1

Took the train from Osaka to Kanazawa. Beautiful scenery along the way; mountains, lake, smallish settlement squeezed into every valley, and snow still melting on the mountainside.

Kanazawa is set up well for tourists. If you center yourself near the main rail station, (many hotels surrounding it), everything is withing easy reach. A tourist loop bus route, runs every 15 minutes and it stops near nearly all the towns main attractions. Only 500 yen for a day of unlimited use.

The first place most people go to is the gardens and castle, you can easily spend half a day just on these two locations. On the day we were there, the gardens were open for free. In general you can assume the cost of entering a garden or castle in Japan is somewhere between 300 and 600 yen, add little extra if they provide a guided tour. The Kenrokuen gardens are large strolling gardens, every turn offering a new vista. Official Site