1-Day Kobe Highlights Tour including Sake Tasting

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. The view of the water falls from high above was breath taking. Enjoy from great view from the sky.

   Passes by

2. The Nunobiki Herb Garden is Japan's largest herb garden with 75,000 herbs and 200 flower species. Take some time to relax while gazing out at the view of Kobe City from the rich nature of Mt. Rokko from the observation plaza, the terrace, and Kaze no Oka Square. You can also take a 10 minute stroll down the ropeway’s skywalk to get yet another great view of Kobe’s cityscape, Nunobiki Falls, Gobonmatsu dam, and more.

   1.5 hAdmission included

3. After the herb garden, head on over to the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum- a short walk from Shin-Kobe Station. Established in 1984, it is the only carpentry tool museum in Japan. Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum moved to its current location at Shin-Kobe Station in 2014. More than 35,000 items are on display in the museum, and the increasingly rare carpenter tools from this disappearing craft are collected and preserved as part of Japan’s ethnic heritage. In addition to seeing the exhibition, you can indulge in all five senses by touching the carpentry tools, appreciating the structure of Japanese wooden architecture, and smelling the fragrant wood. There are also many touch panels and videos with easy to understand explanations, making the exhibition accessible to many visitors.

   1 hAdmission included

4. The most popular shrine where many people come to visit in Kobe. In addition to becoming Kobe's name origin, this shrine honors the god of marriage. Hundreds of couples hold their wedding ceremony here each year. Also take a look at the water which is said to tell the future.

   20 min

5. Hakutsuru Sake Brewery is a brewery that has always been at the forefront of trends in the sake industry such as introducing drinking chilled sake, and selling other sake in easily accessible plastic bottle containers. The museum was made by remodeling the No. 1 sake storehouse. In order to reproduce the traditional sake brewing process in an easy-to-understand manner, a three-dimensional displays of sake production, including life sized figurines, are on display. You can also partake in a sake tasting at the main sake corner on the 1st floor.

   50 min

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 29 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Showing reviews written in English.

• 5Wonderfully tailored for 2 older couples!

  We are two couples in our 70s. We move kind of slow and our hearing is not the best. We visited on a HAL cruise ship and we knew the large bus tours would be difficult for us, and the private HAL tours were amazingly expensive. Then we found the tours on Viator, which were reasonable. We hoped this would work, and it did! Our guide Aki tailored the tour perfectly for the 4 of us. She navigated us through the numerous subway and train stations - buying us the right tickets and showing us how to use them - and knowing how to walk from the train to the subway and back to the train. And walking slow enough, and using elevators and escalators. We could have never done it alone. We did the Carpentry Museum, the gondola ride to the herb garden and touring some of the garden, a lunch (she found something for the picky eaters in the group), a Shinto Temple, and a Sake tasting. We did everything we possibly could have done in 7 hours in Kobe. And there is no way we could have done half of it without Aki's expert guidance. We learned a bit about Kobe and Japan and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I would highly recommend this experience. Being able to take a break when needed, and having the guide repeat what they said when needed, was just what we needed.

  Woodinville_WMarch 2026via Viator

• 5A most wonderful day

  We had a most wonderful day. Our Guide Aki was great. She got us off to great start at the woodwork museum, which was an amazing place. So much history and such a well laid out display, in an amazing building. Next was the ropeway/cable car to the Herb Garden atop the mountain with great views over Kobe. The Herb gardens were very well displayed. Then onto Kobe for the shrine and a lunch break. A short train ride took us to the Nada sake region here we had a great Sake lesson and tasing of the sakes. A great day which was well-paced. Ari also took heaps of photos of us and sent them to us later. Ari was a great host. We would highly recommend this tour.

  Paul_LAugust 2025via Viator

• 5Akari was fantastic! She...

  Akari was fantastic! She took the time to explain all stops for us and was very helpful and knowledgeable.

  Ana_cJuly 2025via Viator

• 5Great Day in Kobe with Sunny

  Had a wonderful day in Kobe with our wonderful guide, Sunny. She gave us an up close and personalized tour of the city. Thoroughly enjoyed all the places she took us to on this tour. Highly recommend Sunny for your day in Kobe. You won't be disappointed.

  Lisa_MJuly 2025via Viator

• 5Fabulous day in Kobe with a super guide

  Our guide, Aki, was lovely. She was knowledgeable about all of the venues and took us to a wonderful Kobe beef restaurant for lunch. Nunobiki Herb Garden and Ropeway was beautiful, and the carpentry museum was a surprisingly great stop that gave us an immense appreciation for how temples and shrines were built with such intricacy. We were thrilled to learn that Aki had recently completed her sake sommelier certification, so she was able to answer many of our questions. This tour involves a lot of walking, steps and slopes but worth it. Two thumbs up for Aki making it a very memorable visit to Kobe!

  debracC2406HPMay 2025via Tripadvisor

• 5Great tour

  What a wonderful way to spend a day in Kobe. Our guide Aki, was very knowledgeable and took us to an amazing restaurant for lunch. Best sushi we have ever had.

  Christine_BMay 2025via Viator

Know before you go

How it compares in Kobe

• Its from-price is 11% above the median of the 198 experiences we list in Kobe.
• It is longer than most of them.
• By number of reviews it ranks 10 of 198.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Kobe

Kobe is a port city on Osaka Bay, set between the sea and the Rokko mountains, known for its beef, foreign-style hillside houses and hot springs.

Kobe is a long, narrow city squeezed between Osaka Bay and the Rokko Mountains, which rise steeply behind it. It opened as a treaty port in 1868, and its foreign merchants left a hillside district, Kitano, of European-style mansions, churches and cafés. Nankinmachi is a compact Chinatown. At the harbour, the red Port Tower and the Meriken Park waterfront look out over the bay.

Top-ranked sights in Kobe: Kobe Harborland, Kobe Port Tower, Kobe Maritime Museum.

See all 198 experiences in Kobe