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If you only have one day to spend in Kanazawa, how should you spend it? Here’s my guide to making the most of your time.
You won’t get to see everything in Kanazawa in one day, but you can tick off many of the must-see sights, albeit in a whistlestop fashion. To cover these properly takes at least two days, ideally three. But the plan below will allow you to cover a lot briefly, or pick a few stops and take a more leisurely pace.
To complete it all, you need to be in Kanazawa by about 9 a.m.
Article by Helen Foster. Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. See our Affiliate Disclosure.
Changing the Plan For Later Arrivals
If you arrive later than 9am, it’s easy to adapt the plans to cut out a stop, as the bus service in Kanazawa is excellent, and most of the tourist sites are easily reached from one another without having to change buses. Distances also aren’t large, so you can also walk between most sites in about 30 minutes.
If you’re arriving later, staying overnight in Kanazawa, and have the following morning to explore Kanazawa, I’d suggest visiting Kenrouken as soon as it opens (this can be as early as 7 a.m.). Then, head to the Ninja Temple and Samurai district for the morning of your second day (booking the first tour at the Ninja Temple that you can). Start the plan below with a delicious lunch at Omicho Market—that’s how I started my first day, and I was not disappointed.
By 9 am. Arrive at Kanazawa Station
I’m guessing you’ll read the whole of this plan before you turn up at the station, but just in case, make sure you take a look at the plan below before heading off to our first step as you need to make a decision about whether to buy a bus pass here.
If you think you’ll use the bus more than four times after reading this, pick up a one-day bus ticket for 800 yen at the counter here.
Most of the bus trips you’ll take as a tourist in Kanazawa cost 210 yen, but you must either pay in cash or with the pass, as IC cards are not accepted on most buses. Even if you’re only doing three journeys, the pass can save the hassle of finding or making, change!
Use Google Maps to find the first service that’s going to take you to Myoryuji, aka the Ninja Temple – there will be a lot of them. Jump on the bus – it will take about 20 minutes to get to this fantastic first stop.
9.30 to 11 ish. Visit the Ninja Temple
This was hands down the best thing I did in Kanazawa. Before you roll your eyes at another temple, this is no ordinary building. Built by the local samurai lord, it was as much a place to hide from attack as a place of worship. You’ll find hidden rooms, some with very gruesome uses, and even an entire concealed floor.
You do have to take an organised tour in Japanese, although there is an English booklet, but it’s well worth it. See my longer review on the Ninja Temple for an idea of what to expect.
The tour also needs to be booked in advance, but that can just mean buzzing on the intercom once inside. However, as you’ll be a bit time-crunched with a one-day visit, ask one of your previous hotels to call them on 076-241-0888 to make a booking for a tour starting around 9.30 am.
You’ll need about an hour here. If you get here without a booking and need to kill some time, the nearby temples of Saihoji, Kourinji and Gyokuruji have some fun touches. See more details in our guide to interesting Kanazawa shrines.
11am-ish: Walk to Nagamachi
Time to move on, and we’re off to visit another important part of Kanazawa’s Samurai heritage – the Nagamachi Samurai District. Use the Kanazawa Shinise Memorial Hall as your marker to head toward. It will take you about as long to walk here as it will take to get the bus (13 minutes vs nine), so you may as well walk and take in the sights.
Image: Kanazawa tourist media library
If you finished early at the Ninja Temple, walking will also allow you could take a small detour to walk through the main road of Nishi Chaya, one of Kanazawa’s geisha districts.
If you have a big interest in samurai history, you might want to visit the Ninja Weapons museum here. It’s not large, so, it won’t take long.
Don’t worry if you can’t make this side trip, though. Later today, you will visit two other geisha districts.
Related Read: If you’d like to spend longer here, our guide to Nishi Chaya highlights the main sights.
(11-1ish): Explore Nagamachi
Allow about 90 minutes in the Samurai District to visit the museum of Kanazawa life in the Kanazawa Shinise Memorial Hall – with displays of everything from old shops to a pretty Japanese garden, kimono and masks, it has something to please everyone.
Skip the Samurai Museum opposite, the name is a little deceptive, and time is tight, but you may want to stop at Nomura-ke Samurai Heritage Residence.
This preserved home with a lovely garden shows how the middle-ranking samurai lived in this area. Then wind your way east through the old district, noting how different the architecture is here from many other places in Japan – you moved from old wooden houses to thick, stone protective walls.
Aim to exit out by the canal (the Godburger hamburger restaurant is a good marker on the map, but, you’re unlikely to get lost).
By now you might be hungry so, it’s time for lunch. You could try a bowl of Kaga Jibune, a traditional duck or chicken hotpot, at nearby Gyohan (see more about this, and some other sights not to miss as you wander in our guide to the Nagamachi Samurai district) but I’d suggest taking a visit to Omicho Market instead.
To get here you either walk for 16 minutes or take the bus, which will take about 8 minutes. As always, there are several buses traveling this route, so you won’t have to wait long for one to arrive. The stop is a little further east from the canal on the main road (the 157).
1-2.30ish: Lunch at Omicho Market
Omicho market is a mix of stalls selling fresh fish and other food goods, and restaurants serving up the day’s catch. You can enjoy a sit-down meal here (I visited Mori Mori Sushi Omicho at the back of the market and picked the chef’s selection for 2000 yen, but you won’t go wrong wherever you stop.)
To save time, or money, there are takeaway sushi stalls that you can stand at and eat in for less than 1000 yen. The croquettes here are also really good, and if you go to Musbi, a stall facing onto the main road (marked むすび近江町市場店 on the map), they come in a cute heart shape.
Another fun thing to try and spot is the Gold Leaf coffee vending machine outside the market where you can buy packets of coffee sprinkled with sparkles to take home – it’s located by a restaurant called Omicho Ichiban Sushi. You can walk past this on your way to our next stop, Kazuemachi Chaya – it’s a 15-minute walk from Omicho Market to here.
Need Extra Planning Help?
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3.00-3.30ish. Explore Kazuemachi Chaya
The old geisha district of Kazauemachi Chaya isn’t large, just a few winding streets, but, it’s beautiful and, because it has a fraction of the tourists as nearby Higashi Chaya, it’s usually more peaceful.
The whole place is photogenic, but the must-see points are the two staircases that lead down into the area. When you’re putting in your route from Omicho, make sure you set your destination as either Kuragarizaka orあかり坂, both are marked on the map with purple circles, to ensure you find these.
Kuragarizaka is easier to spell, but, it’s a bit harder to find as it requires you walking around the side of a shrine to find the footpath. I got a bit lost, so I’d suggest using あかり坂 if you can (it’s also slightly prettier – that’s it above – remember, I am not a photographer) – then walk up to Kuragarizaka from within Kazuemachi Chaya.
Once you’ve finished exploring, cross the river and head to Kanazawa’s most famous sight. The old geisha district of Higashi Chaya.
3.30ish: Explore Higashi Chaya
Lined with wooden buildings that used to be old teahouses, this is probably what you came to Kanazawa for. Some teahouses are still active, some contain geisha museums, but many now house shops, restaurants, and cafes.
This area also has many shops selling gold leaf-related goods, some of which must be seen to be believed – like this amazing wall at Hakuza Hikari-gura – the outside is platinum leaf and the inside is coated in gold leaf.
The shops and museums close between 5 and 6 p.m., so if there’s somewhere you particularly want to visit, make sure you know their closing time so you don’t miss out.
Once the shops close, you can enjoy just walking around the area, visiting some of the small shrines and other interesting sights – have a look at our guide to Higashi Chaya for more details of what not to miss.
If you want to grab dinner here before you move on to your next stop, Jiyuken is a local favourite (there were queues when I was there) and will set you up with a hearty meal before you leave. It serves of a mix of Japanized western dishes like Pork Cutlets and omurice. Prices are reasonable, there’s a whole heap of choice on the menu.
It’s open five days a week, closed on a Monday and a Tuesday from either 4.30 or 5 pm. It closes at 9pm.
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Diehard Explorers Only!
You may want to stop your day in Higashi Chaya – particularly if you have another morning in Kanazawa tomorrow, but if you’re literally one day and done, you could potentially fit in two more of Kanazawa’s must-see sights before you head to the station. Here’s how to add in a brief visit to one, or maybe two more, big hitters.
Kenrouken Garden
If you’re here when the evenings are lighter, you could now make a very quick visit to Kenrouken Garden, which is open until 6 p.m. between February and mid-October.
If you time things correctly, you can reach this in only 5 minutes by either the Loop bus or one of the local services, giving you about 45 minutes to explore.
The garden is large, so you won’t see everything before the gates close, but you will have time to make a stop at the famous lantern view that the garden is famous for.
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art
If you’re here on a Friday or Saturday evening, you could also make one last stop at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, as this is open until 8pm on these nights.
Note – that if you want to enter Leandro Erlich’s famous Swimming Pool sculpture, you will need to make a timed booking on the museum website. The last slot of the day is for 7.00 – although you might have to wait a little while at that point. Slots can run out, so I’d advise making this in the morning to ensure you don’t miss out. Make the booking from here.
And that’s the end of your (very busy) one day in Kanazawa. Take the bus back to the station from your final stop. There are a lot of dining choices around here if you want to eat before you move on, or, your hotel if you’re staying overnight.
Who Writes This Blog?
My name is Helen Foster, and I’m a journalist and author. My travel articles have appeared in publications including The Australian, Escape, RAC Horizons, Jetstar Magazine, Sainsbury’s Magazine, and more.
I’ve traveled to Japan eight times before – solo and with my partner and visited over 25 towns and cities. My last visit was November 2024 so, everything here is pretty up to date.
