Nada and Arima: sake cellars, a ropeway over the mountain and golden springs

The day, in order

1. Morning

   Nada-Gogo, the five brewing villages

   Nada runs along the coast from Kobe to Nishinomiya in five villages, and it makes more sake by volume than anywhere else in Japan. It has been brewing for 700 years on water from the Rokko mountains, Yamada Nishiki rice and the cold wind that comes down off the ridge. The result is a dry, hard-water style that suits meat. Two or three brewery museums sit within a few stops of each other; pick one, not four.

   Read the city guide →
2. Late morning

   A second museum, or the waterfront Optional

   Sawanotsuru is the museum closest to Sannomiya and Shin-Kobe, and Hakutsuru works out of a Taisho-era brewhouse. Displays and shops are generally free to enter, while tastings and special tours usually need booking. If you plan to drink, take the train and skip the driving.

3. Lunch

   Back toward the mountain

   Eat in Nada or at the foot of the cable car rather than at the top: the mountain restaurants are a treat, but the afternoon has two rides in it and a heavy lunch makes both of them slower.

4. Afternoon

   Over the mountain Optional

   The Rokko cable car has been climbing since 1932, and the terrace at the top looks back over the city and the bay. From there the ropeway crosses the ridge to Arima in about twelve minutes, which is the whole reason this day works: you arrive in a hot spring town without coming back down through Kobe.

5. Evening

   Arima Onsen

   Arima is one of the three ancient springs named in eighth-century writing, with more than 1,400 years behind it. It has two kinds of water: kinsen, the golden spring, bronze with iron and salt and said to warm you to the core, and ginsen, the silver spring, clear and light. The day baths are the easy way in, the cobbled streets are the walk, and the carbonated crackers are what you eat on the way out.

Make it lighter

Brewery museums in the morning and the direct bus to Arima after lunch. The cable car and the ropeway are left out, and so is the climb.

The harbor and the old quarter → Shin-Kobe to Kitano → Read the Kobe city guide →

If the weather changes

High wind closes the ropeway and cloud erases the view, so take the direct bus to Arima instead and give the town the afternoon. The brewery museums are indoor, so the morning holds in any weather.

Check before leaving

Check brewery museum opening days, since several close one day a week and some tours need booking, and check the cable car and ropeway timetable before relying on the crossing.