Osaka Castle is a great place to visit with kids – for the castle but also mainly for the playground in the castle grounds. This is also a great spot for cherry blossoms in the right season.
This blog post contains some affiliate links. This means that I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase using my link – at no additional charge to you.
*Please note that, if you pre-purchase Osaka Castle tickets, tickets are only valid for 30 days.
If you haven’t pre-purchased tickets for Osaka Castle and there is a long line at the ticket booth – buy them online and skip the queue (I have no idea why more people don’t do this.)
Click here if you would like to book kimono rental and a photo shoot for the whole family at Osaka Castle and other nearby landmarks.
And just 10 minutes walk from the castle is Osaka Castle Playground Equipment Square ( known in Japanese as Kodomo Tenshukaku). The highlight for your kids will be the giant roller slide! ( Warning, this park gets quite busy from midday on weekends. If you are going for the park and not the park and castle it is 1 minute walk from Morinomiya subway station or 2 minutes walk from JR Morinomiya Station.
And you also might want to check out Taiyo-no-Hiroba ( Osaka Castle Park) just a few minutes walk away as food festivals are held here more often than not.
There is also a playcentre in this park called Playville by Bornelund. It is open 10am-6pm (last entry at 5pm.) They have an outdoor and indoor play area. Parents must stay with children at all times.
They also have a baby playarea. This who facility is fabulous and so so clean. Children must be younger than 12 to use the facilities (personally, I think that a child over 7 will find it to be a bit boring though.) A one day pass is 2700 yen per child on weekdays or 3500 yen on weekends.
After checking out the castle, I recommend eating at Blue Birds Rooftop Terrace (beforehand or afterwards, actually.) It has the castle as the backdrop and makes for such a special Osaka moment.
The cafe serves burgers, mochi, skewered meat, soba, sushi.
Check before you go as they can sometimes be closed for weddings or private events.
The entire venue is non-smoking.
It has an amazing open air terrace which is the main feature. So I wouldn’t bother on a rainy day.
You can reserve a barbeque (yakiniku) lunch or dinner here via the website (it is quite pricey though) in the summer months OR you can just visit the rooftop with the lovely view for a coffee etc on a weekday between 11:30am-3pm.
BLUEBIRDS ROOFTOP TERRACE
大阪市中央区大阪城1大阪城1-1
1-1 OSAKA-JO, 1 OSAKA-JO, CHUO-KU, OSAKA-SHI
OPEN 11AM – 8PM
Starbucks, OBP Matsushita IMP Building branch is 8 mins walk from Osakajokoen Station (Osaka Castle Park Station) Open 7:30am-10pm (from 8am on weekends.)
Mister Donut is also 7 mins walk from Osakajokoen Station (Osaka Castle Park Station) Open 9am-8pm.
This blog post contains some affiliate links. This means that I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase using my link – at no additional charge to you.
