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Kobe Japan

Well I hardly know what to say.

I spent hours doing research about Kobe Japan and the Kobe that I saw in YouTube videos was not the Kobe that I came to

I did not just use YouTube videos to research Kobe I did other research as well

Because I have been losing my post after a lot of typing, I am going to post a little at a time and then update v

The videos and other research indicated that Kobe was a beautiful port with lots to do. You could just walk off your ship and you were there. There was an aquarium, there was shopping and eating. There was a tower. There was Harbor Land.

That is not my experience. And I am confused.

Maybe The Spirit berthed elsewhere than expected.

We had a lot of walking just to get off of the ship. We went up and down and long corridors. We arrived at an Arrival Hall. There was visitor information . And we went outdoors. But we walked out to lots of concrete and freeways. It could have been Chicago

Norwegian offered a free shuttle to a beautiful downtown area, very upscale. And then I took a hop on hop off trolly around the center of Kobe. It may have been the third stop when came to the area that I had seen in YouTube videos.

Posted by
63 posts

Kobe is not great for typical tourist stuff.

One option would be to take a train or tour to Himeji. The castle there is one of my favorite places. Also the Shoshazan Engyoji Temple is well worth seeing, it was a filming location for The Last Samurai

Posted by
3078 posts

Hi George

Some passengers took an excursion to Kyoto but it was over an hour each way and they were expensive.

I was hoping to have an interesting day in port

I did eat at Chinatown. Ate Kobe beef in Kobe. And I visited an upscale street which begins with an M ….

Not disappointed in Kobe but disappointed in my experience. The Kobe that I visited was not the Kobe that I saw in YouTube videos.

Posted by
1175 posts

I find YouTube is a great resource but it has it's limitations. In the end you're getting video based on the creator's interests and things are always going to be left out, overlooked or compressed.

When watching various travel videos on YouTube I find it beneficial to pull up Google Maps and note locations mentioned in a video. Good for keeping things in context. Maps and CityMapper are also good for getting a idea of distances and local transit.