Location: Saitama Prefecture
Top Things to do in Saitama Prefecture
Top Hotels in Saitama Prefecture
- 1. King Ambassador Hotel Kumagaya
- 2. Hotel Grantia Hanyu
- 3. Toyoko Inn Saitama Shintoshin
- 4. COCO STAY Nishikawaguchi Ekimae
- 5. Hotel Route Inn Fukaya Ekimae
- 6. Toyoko Inn Wakoshi Ekimae
- 7. HOTEL WILL Urawa
- 8. Toyoko Inn Kumagaya-eki Kita-guchi
- 9. Hotel Metropolitan Saitama-Shintoshin
- 10. Palace Hotel Omiya
Countries
Top 10 Things to do in Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Saitama Prefecture in Japan, from Asia region, is best know for Sacred & Religious Sites. Discover best things to do in Saitama Prefecture with beautiful photos and great reviews from traveller around the world here!
Restaurants in Saitama Prefecture
1. Mitsumine Shrine
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 276 reviews
Reviewed By StewieTokyo - Saitama, Japan
This shrine is very old and looks / feels it. It probably dates back about 2,000 years but since the founder is the reputed son of a legendary figure, it is not certain. It is also one of the few shrines in Japan where wolves were enshrined as the local deity. This is clear from the entrance, where the usual guardian foxes or dogs have been replaced by wolf statues.
Good points
1) The atmosphere is wonderful. Huge cedar trees that line the approach along with four sacred trees that form a 'power spot' in front of the shrine in which visitors are encouraged to take life force from the trees by touching them and praying.
2) The history - mentioned above but there are many little points of interest, e.g. a marble paving stone that shows up the profile of a dragon when wet (bamboo scoops provided) and is said to have first appeared in the year of the dragon.
3) Views - you are on top of a mountain and you can see great views from all angles, including sitting in the restaurant near the top.
4) Autumn leaves - this place would be amazing in the fall (and very crowded) - there is a special fall walk around the mountain top.
4) Wolf stuff - a souvenir shop with lots of wolf related stuff - not the average shrine souvenirs.
Comments
1) Access is not easy - this is a day trip to see the one shrine. It is an hours drive from Chichibu town (which I did) or there are only three buses a day (5 at weekends).
2) Small - you can see the whole of the shrine in one sweep of the eyes once you get to the top. This is despite it being a training shrine for young Shinto priests.
3) In winter I would guess this to be inaccessible (I noted a helicopter pad near the top for emergencies)
4) Car parking it 510 yen (but the shrine is free)
2. The Railway Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 581 reviews
The Railway Museum was built in Onari, Saitama City as the centerpiece of the JR East 20th Anniversary Memorial Project. This is a railway museum, and it preserves both the physical elements and heritage of Railways in Japan and abroad. It also preserves materials relating to JR East and the JNR privatization reforms. The Railway Museum also conducts research and development. This is a historical museum that tells the industrial history of the development of the railway system while introducing the historical background of each period with displays of actual models. It is also an educational museum. Children can learn about and experience railway principles, systems, and the latest technologies (including future plans) through models, simulations, and play equipment.
Reviewed By travelmomVancouver - Vancouver
Nice train models from different historical periods. Also interesting for a foreigner is to observe the infatuation of Japanese toward railway system and trains. Avoid the crowd and visit only at off peak days. Food tend to be a little expensive. Parking fine but needs to walk a bit.
DON'T MISS OUT the miniature railway show. The best attraction of this museum. It was a new addition just completed in July 2017. Well worth your time!
3. Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park
Overall Ratings
4 based on 157 reviews
Reviewed By Michael B - Suffolk, United Kingdom
Overall, this is a nice place to go for the day near Yokota and Fussa. They have many airplanes and helicopters to view with a few that you can sit in or walk around. They also have a few things for kids to do like the gravity walker, flight simulator, Mission control and art room. They also have an IMAX movie theater that plays an aviation movie, but unfortunately is all in Japanese.
Outside of the museum, there is a big open park area which is nice to bring your lunch or snacks while visiting.
Strollers are allowed in the museum and they have elevators too. In addition there is a small gift shop and restaurant that offers a buffet lunch and other snacks and drinks.
Keep in mind that parking is limited around the area. If you get there early and during the weekdays, should not be a problem.
The price for the museum was about 1,000 yen per adult with small children free.
The staff was helpful, despite the limited English (or our limited Japanese). Overall, it is nice to visit when wanting to stay near Yokota, approximately 30 mins drive near Seibu Dome.
4. Gongendo Sakura Tsutsumi
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 117 reviews
Reviewed By mabei0123 - Tsukuba, Japan
Today, I visited the Gongendo Sakura Tsutsumi, the long park with Cherry Blossom along the river bank at Satte, Saitama Prefecture!! It was crowed because of Sunday, but really beautiful. But, petals were failing very much, indicating that this is the final Sunday of this year to see Cherry Blossom here. This is definitely one of the best places to see Cherry Blossom in the vicinities of Tokyo!!
5. Kawagoe Ichibangai Shopping Street
Overall Ratings
4 based on 482 reviews
Reviewed By Selsy - New Zealand
This historic street is pretty, but small. It was also busy with traffic rather than being a pedestrian area. I was disappointed that the Kawagoe Kurazukuri Museum was closed, as I would have liked to learn more about these buildings.
Some of the shops have nice things in them, and there are some interesting snack foods. There are also some interesting temples and shrines in the side streets. If you are only visiting Tokyo and want to see a bit of old Japan, then a half day trip to Kawagoe might suit. If you're travelling elsewhere in Japan, there are better opportunities to see preserved streets (eg Takayama, Kurashiki).
I combined my visit to Kawagoe with a visit to the Omiya bonsai village, so all up, it was a reasonably good day out.
6. Kinchakuda Manjushage Park
Overall Ratings
4 based on 141 reviews
Reviewed By Joy_Sinha - Kolkata (Calcutta), India
Located in Hidaka, Saitama Prefecture. The park is accessible at a walking distance of 15 minutes from the Koma railway station on the Seibu-Chichibu Line.
This park is best visited in the month of September when the spider lilies are in full bloom. The bloom is usually during the last 2 weeks of the September.
There is an entry fee to the park and that is very minimal considering the wonderful sight of the large stretch of Spider lilies along the river side and in the forest areas within the park.
This is a good one day activity from Tokyo during the month of September. Do check the local listings and notifications before visiting this park for more details.
7. Musashi Kyuryo National Government Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 92 reviews
Reviewed By TokyoTrotter - Tokyo, Japan
We visited for a nice cycling spot in Tokyo suburb. Not so known even among locals, compared to the famous Shimanami Kaido or Arakawa bank, this is sort of hidden gem for family or casual cyclists.
The total length for the whole circuit is around 16km. Various rent-a-cycle vendors are available with reasonable rent fee (e.g. 500JPY per 3hours). Traveling by train and bus is most recommended, as traffic is quite congested to reach here from anywhere, not to mention parking space.
東京近郊のサイクリングコースを探してたどり着きました。しまなみ海道ほどの知名度はないですが、首都圏で家族連れ、サイクリング初心者には最適かと思います。一周16kmをレンタル自転車で廻るのに出費は入園料420円にレンタルサイクルで500円前後でいけます。
ここへの交通手段ですが、断然電車とバスを勧めます。高速と周辺道路と駐車場の混雑は半端なさそうですので。
8. Aeon Lake Town
Overall Ratings
4 based on 265 reviews
Reviewed By CHEERBEARBEAR - HONG KONG
Went there on a sunny day during the weekday. Not too much people. The malls were combined by 2 malls + 1 outlet. This outlet was little bit different from those with Premium and Mitsui. The products' price there are little bit higher due to the shops & brands.
If you went there on a Sunny day, you must go the restaurants near the lake in which the view were perfect. If you were dogs lovers, there were many doggies there too.
We did walk through the outlet and part of the mall but not all due to limited time. In fact, we did spend one whole day there already but we cannot see all shops.
Next time, I will go there again for sure not because of shopping but the scenery and atm0sphere.
9. Saitama Children Zoo
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 85 reviews
Reviewed By Mr.Ashwell - Shiki, Japan
It was a fairly average zoo which had a few nice touches. I liked the kangaroo, wallaby and Penguin enclosures which you can enter and get up close to the animals. There was also an opportunity around 13:00 to have you photograph taken for free with an alpaca.
The capybara bath time drew a massive crowd so it was difficult to get a look, but, from what I could see, it wasn't much to get excited about - the capybaras were just sitting in a shallow pool of water rather than hay.
My sister-in-law took a two minute ride on a pony for 200yen, which she seemed to enjoy immensely.
Some people may complain about having to walk up and down slopes during their visit - it was quite hilly.
The entrance charge is only 500yen. Bargain!
10. Nagatoro Iwadatami Rocks
Overall Ratings
4 based on 216 reviews
Reviewed By WLL - Singapore
It was very clean and open. Everything was orderly. The rock formation is accessible by walking down a flight of steps ate the end of a rustic old-world short shopping lane with 20 odd restaurants and local specialty shops. It was a nice walk and we sampled and bought some nice local pickled veg and beans. There were only Japanese tourists. We seem to be the only foreign tourists that day. Water was calm and you could pay to ride on a 20-seater boat along the river Arakawa.
TAGS
