Cruises to Kobe

神戸Hyogo Prefecture, on Osaka Bay, half an hour west of Osaka

About Kobe

20 upcoming voyages call at Kobe

Times shown are as scheduled and can change. Weather, sea conditions and port operations may shorten a call or prevent it — always check the latest information from NYK Cruises, and once aboard, from the ship.

About Kobe

A city on a strip of flat ground between the mountains and the sea, which is why it runs long and narrow along the shore and why the hills are ten minutes from the water. The port opened on 1 January 1868, and the merchants who came built up the slope at Kitano, where their houses still stand. Ships berth at the Port Terminal on the fourth pier of the new harbour, joined to Port Island by the Kobe Ohashi bridge, with the city centre a short ride away.

Within reach of the port

Kitano and the foreign houses

The slope above the centre, where merchants of the 1870s and 1880s built in the styles of the countries they came from. Several houses are open, and the street climbs steeply enough that the harbour is behind you the whole way up.

Feel KOBE (official, English)

Nankinmachi

Kobe's Chinatown: three streets and a small square set inside the shopping district, ten minutes on foot from Motomachi station. Busiest at lunchtime, and mostly eaten standing up.

Feel KOBE (official, English)

Arima Onsen

Over the mountain behind the city, about forty minutes away by road or by the ropeway across Rokko. Two different waters come out of the ground here, one iron red and one clear, and the public baths use both.

Arima Onsen Tourist Associationin Japanese — your browser can translate it

Mount Rokko

The ridge that stops the city spreading inland. A cable car climbs it from the north of the centre, and the view back down takes in the whole port at once, which is the quickest way to understand the shape of the place.

Feel KOBE (official, English)

Shore excursions

NYK Cruises run their own guided excursions at each port, booked by guests themselves through My ASUKA PLANS — the booking window opens before departure and depends on your cabin class. They are conducted in Japanese. Going ashore independently is always an option.

How pre-boarding reservations work →

Official sources

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