Nagoya Castle and the Toyota museum

About this experience

Tourism Designers runs this as a private day for your group, with a minimum of two people per booking. Your guide meets you at 10:00 at the Tourist Information Center inside JR Nagoya Station, holding a name board, and takes you by subway to the castle. About two hours there covers the golden shachihoko (seen on the keep, which is closed for the planned wooden rebuild, as the listing says) and the Honmaru Palace with its gold-leaf screens.

Lunch is on you: about an hour of free time, with the restaurants of Kinshachi Yokocho at the gates. Then a taxi takes you to the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, set in the original Toyoda loom works in Nishi Ward. Its Textile Machinery Pavilion and Automobile Pavilion show machines working, with live demonstrations by staff. It is less about shiny cars than about how a loom maker became a carmaker, and it is good at that. You get about two hours, then a taxi back; the day ends around 16:00.

The price covers the guide, castle admission, museum admission and the transport between the sights. Lunch, shopping and tips are extra. The listing says it is not suitable for people with mobility impairments, which makes sense: there's a lot of standing and walking on hard floors.

• Two sights, two tickets, one price
• Taxis between the castle, the museum and the station
• Live demonstrations of looms and engines at the Toyota museum
• A private group with your own guide
• Done by about 16:00, with the evening free

How the day runs

1. 10:00Meet at Nagoya Station

   The Tourist Information Center in JR Nagoya Station. Your guide holds a name board.

2. About 2 hoursNagoya Castle

   Subway to the castle, the golden shachihoko and the Honmaru Palace.

3. About 1 hourLunch break

   Free time for lunch, not included. Kinshachi Yokocho is at the gate.

4. About 2 hoursToyota Commemorative Museum

   By taxi to the museum: textile machinery, the automobile pavilion and live demonstrations.

5. Around 16:00Back to the station

   By taxi, ending the day where it started.

What's included

Who it suits

What guests say

Tips before you book

• Book a Tuesday to Sunday: the Toyota museum closes on Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a holiday).
• Eat lunch on Kinshachi Yokocho by the castle gate. The Yoshinao zone has hitsumabushi and miso katsu.
• The museum floors are hard and you stand a lot. Wear proper shoes.
• Reserve now, pay later is offered, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before.

Read next:

• Nagoya in one day
• How long to spend

Frequently asked questions

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