Nagasaki長崎県

Places to seeWhere to go in Nagasaki

Start with the first of these. Each is worth half a day.

Glover Gardenグラバー園

Nineteenth-century foreign houses on a hillside, with the whole harbour below them.

Half a day

MAP

Peace Park平和公園

The park and museum at the place the bomb fell. A morning, walked slowly.

Half a day

MAP

Gunkanjima軍艦島

An abandoned island city of concrete, reached by boat when the sea is calm enough to land.

Half a dayYou can ride

MAP

Mount Inasa稲佐山

A ropeway to a viewpoint over the harbour. The city lights are the reason to go.

2 hoursYou can ride

MAP

Huis Ten Boschハウステンボス

A large park built as a Dutch town, with canals and tulips in spring and lights in winter.

A full dayWinter

MAP

Unzen Onsen雲仙温泉

A hot-spring town on a volcanic plateau, with steaming ground you walk past on the way in.

Stay a nightYou can get in

MAP

Oura Church大浦天主堂

The oldest standing church in Japan, on the slope below Glover Garden. A world heritage element.

1 hour

MAP

What Nagasaki is

For two hundred years it was the only port in Japan open to the outside world. That shows in the streets: European houses on the slopes, a Chinese quarter, stone bridges, and a cathedral.

The city was destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945. The Peace Park and the museum are here, and most visitors give them a morning. They are quiet, careful places, and worth the time.

When to comeThe same place, four different places

Pick the season first and the days will arrange themselves.

March – May

Mild and clear. Cherry blossom in early April, and the hillsides are at their greenest.

June – August

The wettest part of Japan in June. August is humid, and the anniversary falls on the 9th.

September – November

The best months. Cool evenings, clear air, and the night view at its sharpest.

December – February

Cold wind off the sea. The Chinese quarter lights up for the lantern festival in winter.

Find it fastEverything in Nagasaki