Last Updated on November 10, 2026 by A Teaspoon of Travel

3 Day Wakayama Itinerary: How to Visit Shirahama & Nachi Falls Without a Car

Traveled in May 2026

Japan has so much more to offer beyond Tokyo and Kyoto. We have found that venturing a little off the beaten path often rewards you with fewer crowds and some of Japan’s most spectacular natural scenery. Wakayama is an easy train ride south of Kyoto and Osaka, but feels completely different from the city. If you’re looking for a nature escape from Japan’s busy cities, with beautiful beaches and impressive waterfalls, this 3 day Wakayama itinerary is for you! We explored Wakayama by train and visited the beach town of Shirahama and the picturesque Nachi Falls. All the other visitors we chatted with commented on how much more relaxed the area felt compared to the cities, and we completely agree. This leg of our trip felt like a much-needed exhale. Follow along for exactly how to visit Shirahama and Nachi Falls without a car.

3 Day Wakayama Itinerary

When to Go

The best time for visiting Shirahama for beach weather is usually June to August, when temperatures are warmest. We visited in mid-May and the weather was perfect for sightseeing, but still a bit chilly for the beach. Shirahama Beach typically opens for swimming on May 3, but peak summer crowds usually don’t arrive until June. When we visited in May, the beach and surrounding areas were surprisingly quiet. If you prefer to enjoy Wakayama with fewer crowds and lower hotel rates, May and September are both great shoulder season months to visit.

How to Get There

The closest international airport to fly into to visit Wakayama is Kansai International Airport (airport code KIX) in Osaka. The other airport in the region is the Osaka Itami Airport (airport code ITM), which is a domestic airport that handles connecting flights from other Japanese cities. Shirahama is a 2.5 hour train ride from Shin-Osaka station. Nachi Falls is a further down the same line, and is about a 4 hour train ride total from Shin-Osaka station.

Booking tip: certain flight searches like Kayak, Skyscanner, or Google flights allow you to set price trackers that will alert you when the price of your flight changes. I never book a flight without tracking prices first because there is no better feeling than snagging a good deal! And I always book with a travel credit card because it includes travel insurance protections that I’ve taken advantage of (like delayed baggage reimbursements and trip delay reimbursements). Contact me for my recs on the travel cards that are worth their annual fee!

Bonus Booking tip: sign your kiddo up for frequent flyer accounts with airlines to start earning airline miles for them! Most airline miles do not expire for minors so your kiddo will thank you later.

Where to Stay

For this 3 day Wakayama itinerary, we stayed 2 nights in Shirahama and 1 night in Kii-Katsuura (the town near where Nachi Falls is located). Both of these are onsen resort towns, so you can maximize your relaxation experience by booking an onsen hotel. Onsens are a unique Japanese cultural experience, so it’s absolutely worth doing to experience more on your trip!

Where to Stay in Shirahama

Most people come to Shirahama for the beach. So the best option if you’re planning to spend time on the beach is a beachfront hotel! There are some hotels that are further up the hill, but it’s not very convenient for actually going to the beach. These are the best two beachfront hotels in the area.

• Shiraraso Grand Hotel ($$$) – (where we stayed) We really loved this hotel! The location was amazing and waking up to the ocean views was sublime. This beachfront onsen hotel has direct beach access, and a playground right in front of the hotel so it is perfect for kids. We got the half board option for ourselves and the kaiseki dinner was such a treat. All the rooms have beach views and were really large.
• Hotel Sanrakuso ($$$) – Also a beachfront onsen hotel, but it is across the street from the beach. All rooms have beach views, and there are a variety of Japanese and Western style rooms. Some rooms even have an in-room private onsen!

Where to Stay in Kii-Katsuura

Most of the nicer onsen resorts in Kii-Katsuura are a boat ride away from Kii-Katsuura Station on an island or further out on the bay. For a complete onsen resort experience, these are the best choices.

• Hotel Urashima ($$$) – (where we stayed) A sprawling onsen hotel built into a mountain that is full of quirky charm. They are famous for onsens that are built into open caves with ocean views. And a super long escalator to their rooftop terrace that has sweeping views of the bay. The hotel definitely feels dated and past its prime, but if you go in with those expectations it can still be an enjoyable stay just because of the oddities. My husband said it felt like stepping into a James Bond villain’s lair. I would have loved to see it in its heyday.
• Kumano Bettei Nakanoshima ($$$$) – An onsen hotel located on a private island. Very luxurious, and all rooms have ocean views. Some rooms even have private in-room onsens.

How to Get Around

I would not recommend the Japan Rail Pass for this trip. Instead, the real money saver is actually getting the 5 day Kansai Wide Area Pass for exploring the southern Wakayama coast. Just the trip from Kyoto to Kii-Katsuura and back to Osaka makes the pass worth it. Make sure to get the Kansai WIDE Area Pass and not the Kansai area pass, as the areas it covers are slightly different. You need the WIDE Area Pass to cover everything on this trip!

• If the official website does not accept your credit card, the easiest way is to buy the 5 day Kansai Wide Area Pass on Klook.
• Get the 5 day Kansai Wide Area Pass on the official website to be able to book seat reservations ahead of time. But be warned that this website is not very user friendly to navigate. I stumbled upon the page for making seat reservations by luck.

Show Me the Money

The currency in Japan is the Japanese Yen. Unlike many other countries, cash is still very widely used (and preferred) in Japan. While we usually rely mostly on our credit cards when traveling and only withdraw a small amount of cash, that was not the case in Japan. Many of the restaurants and smaller stores prefer cash and may not even accept credit cards. Especially in the Wakayama area, many restaurants and stores only accepted cash. So make sure you have some cash for that leg of the trip.

The easiest way to withdraw cash in Japan is to look for a local 7-Eleven or the 7 Bank atm in train stations. The ATMs in the 7-Elevens accept international debit cards and are open all the time. (7-Elevens in Japan are magical and deserve a tribute post of their own. We went into one at least once a day – for breakfast, a snack, or cash, and it never disappoints.) Always choose to withdraw cash in Yen for the best exchange rate!

Saving tip: to avoid ATM fees (from the foreign bank and your bank), look for a checking account that offers ATM fee reimbursements. I can personally recommend the Schwab investors checking account and the Betterment checking account for this purpose.

How to Stay Connected

You absolutely need internet when you are in Japan. We were on our phones all day looking things up, from following Google Maps to figuring out transit or figuring out where to eat. There are three main options for staying connected in Japan. You can use a pocket wifi, an e-sim, or a physical sim card. My recommendation is the E-sim because it’s the easiest and cheapest option.

3 Day Wakayama Itinerary At a Glance

Day	Activity	Sleep in
1	Train to Shirahama Shirahama Beach	Shirahama
2	Adventure World Nature sightseeing	Shirahama
3	Train to Kii-Katsuura Kumano Nachi Taisha and Nachi Falls	Kii-Katsuura

Day 1: Train to Shirahama

Shirahama and the Kii peninsula is known for their beautiful beaches and scenic natural landscapes. It’s also culturally significant because it is the site of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trails. In fact, we saw many hikers getting off at different points on the train to embark on this trail. We took the shortcut and used the train to travel between the beach and Nachi Falls, and it was no less scenic.

One big reason we chose to visit this area was so our kid could ride the “Panda Train.” As a bit of background, Adventure World in Shirahama used to be home to several pandas, and since Japan loves pandas, some of the Kuroshio Ltd Express trains were decorated to look like pandas too. Japan is a country full of serious train enthusiasts. After watching a YouTube video about the “Panda Train” before our trip, our kid was super excited to ride it in real life. The Panda Train is one of those bucket list train attractions in Japan for train-loving kids!

Our hotel (which we absolutely loved) was right on Shirahama Beach, which is located about 11 minutes away by taxi from Shirahama Station. There are a couple bus lines that run between the station and the hotel that take around 20 minutes, but we opted for a taxi because it was a short ride. Note that taxis here are cash only.

• Kids do not need car seats to ride in taxis in Japan. For extra safety, bring a Ride Safer Travel Vest if you will be taking many car rides – it’s so much more portable than a regular car seat!

But first, lunch!

There are a couple ramen places on the main street in Shirahama which are good options for lunch. We stumbled upon this cute cafe called “豆の湯” which had good egg sandos and amazing smelling Japanese curry.

Shirahama Beach

Shirahama Beach in Wakayama is the sister beach of Waikiki Beach in Hawaii (there’s even a sign to prove it!). (Note that there is another Shirahama Beach in Shizuoka on the Izu Peninsula, closer to Tokyo. Don’t book a hotel in the wrong Shirahama Beach!) This crescent white sand beach is beautiful, and the waters are really calm, which is perfect for kids. I’ve seen photos of it packed with people in the summer, but when we visited in mid-May it was not crowded at all. The beach is pristine, and there are periodic announcements over the loudspeakers reminding people to keep it that way. This is also the first beach where I’ve seen staff using a frontloader and rakes to keep the shoreline clean from seaweed and other debris. This is a man made beach, with sand imported from Australia, so maybe that is another reason for the raking.

The water in mid-May still felt cool to me initially, so it’s not quite as warm as Hawaii beaches. Our kid still splashed in without hesitation and had a grand time. I loved that our hotel had direct beach access – it made it so easy to walk to the beach and get cleaned up after. And waking up to the beach views from our room was so luxurious. A beachfront stay here felt much more affordable than a beachfront room in Waikiki, thanks to the exchange rate and traveling off season.

Shirahamakaigan Park

Another reason our hotel was perfect for us was because there is a playground right outside the hotel next to the beach. Our kid may actually have spent more time on this playground than on the beach itself! The playground has a boat play structure and an octopus play structure. The octopus was definitely the big hit with all the kids. We met a couple other tourist families at the playground. It’s always heartwarming seeing kids of different cultures playing together.

Kaiseki Dinner

Many onsen resort hotels offer kaiseki dinners that you can book as part of your stay. It’s definitely a bucket list thing to do in Japan and a food experience you can only find in Japan. It can be pricey, but it’s so worth it! A kaiseki dinner is a multicourse Japanese meal using local seasonal ingredients, and it’s always beautifully plated. Many family-friendly resort hotels will also have a kid’s version, if you choose to pay for meals for your kid. We have tried those kids meals before on our previous Japan trip, and our kid hardly ate any of it. Our hotel showed us a picture of what the kids meal would look like, and it didn’t look like food our kid would eat. So this time around, we just ordered him some udon noodles and kara-age a la carte to save money and avoid wasting food.

If you choose not to include the kaiseki dinner with your hotel stay, there are many restaurants on the main drag in Shirahama across from the beach. There is also a large Gourmet City supermarket across the street from our hotel that is open 24 hours which also sells prepared food.

Day 2: Adventure World

Adventure World

• Age Range: all ages
• Cost: 1 day admission is 5300 yen for adults, 4300 yen for kids age 12-18, 3300 yen for kids age 4-11, free for kids under 4
  • While you can buy tickets online, the website is in Japanese and I found it confusing. You can buy adult tickets on Klook here. Our hotel had a discount on tickets through the gift shop, so we purchased them there (cash only).
• How to Get There: take the 101 loop bus (note there are only a few buses per hour on weekdays, pay by tapping your credit card on the reader or with cash) or take a taxi
• Hours: 10am – 5pm, closed on Wednesdays

Adventure World used to be famous for being a breeding center for pandas (hence all the panda stuff everywhere in this area). The pandas were returned to China early in 2026, so now they have red pandas there in their place.

Adventure World reminds me of a mix of a zoo and Sea World in the 90s, with dolphin shows and animal encounters. I’m always surprised by the animal experiences you can have in Japan, because you can get much closer to the animals than you can in the US. For example, I saw in the brochure that one of the paid experiences is feeding lions.

Attractions included in the admission fee include the dolphin show, the penguin and zoo areas, and the safari train. They also have other rides like roller coasters, a ferris wheel, go karts, and a carousel that you have to pay extra for. Indoors, they have a play area for kids that our kid spent a good amount of time in (also paid), which was a nice break for us. There are multiple cafes serving cute animal-themed food. We went on a weekday and it was mostly school groups there, so there were hardly any lines.

We spent a good couple hours here before heading back to our hotel for some more playground time before dinner. To get back to our hotel, we took the 102 loop bus.

Nature Attractions in Shirahama

If Adventure World is not your jam and you’re looking for more scenic outdoor things to do in Shirahama, take advantage of the amazing coastline here. These sights are all along the 101 and 102 loop bus line, so it’s easy to hop on and off to explore. Most are easy walks that kids can handle, but there are no barriers so just watch them near the cliffs.

Engetsu Island Viewpoint

Engetsu Island is one of Shirahama’s most iconic coastal landmarks, famous for its natural sea arch carved through a small offshore rock island. The best way to see Engetsu Island is from the roadside viewpoint along the coast. The best time to visit is during sunset, sunset, when the sun seems to pass through the arch for an amazing photo op.

• How to Get There: take the bus to the Rinkai (Engetsujima) bus stop, or walk 15 minutes from the Shirahama Bus Center stop.

Senjojiki

Senjojiki translates to “one thousand tatami mats,” because it looks like a giant outdoor floor covered with tatami mats. This rock plateau with dramatic layers of flat sandstone rock stretching out toward the ocean makes for a scenic and unique coastal hike.

• How to Get There: take the bus to the Senjo-guchi stop.

Sandanbeki Cliffs and Cave

The Sandanbeki Cliffs are a series of cliffs towering above the ocean, creating a dramatic coastline view. You can walk along the cliff-top viewpoint to take in the sweeping ocean views and watch the powerful waves pound against the rocks below. You can also go into the the Sandanbeki Cave, a large sea cave hidden beneath the cliffs that you can access by elevator.

• How to Get There: take the bus to Sandanbeki stop.

Day 3: Travel to Kii-Katsuura

Nachi Falls and the Kumano Nachi Taisha shrine are a little more remote and off the usual tourist trail because they take a little more time and effort to get there. But that effort is rewarded with some of the most stunning views! The Kumano Nachi Taisha shrine is the end of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trail, so you see many hikers there. This is the lower effort way to get to the same views.

Because our hotel was not close to Kii-Katsuura station, we stored our luggage in luggage lockers at the station rather than wasting time traveling to our hotel to drop off luggage. The luggage lockers are downstairs from the train platforms.

Since we arrived around lunchtime, we stopped at Rio Ramen across the street from the train station for lunch. This tiny ramen restaurant seemed packed with locals. The menu was in Japanese but they did have some recommendations in English on a sign board. We used Google Translate to view the menu and order. It was a great bowl of ramen and our son also enjoyed the kara-age! The broth was flavorful without feeling too oily. Note that they are cash only!

Kumano Nachi Taisha and Seiganto-ji Pagoda

This vibrant red pagoda perfectly positioned in front of a waterfall is the highlight of this trip.

When we visited Kumano Nachi Taisha, there was a hula troupe performing in front of the shrine. I think they were there for a ceremony, but it added another meaningful cultural element to the visit. From the shrine, we made our way to the main attraction, the pagoda. You really can’t get lost because everyone is walking in the same direction.

After taking our fill of photos from the outside, we went inside the pagoda for a closer view of the waterfall. I was really impressed with how well preserved the pagoda was. The bright red paint was so vibrant!

From the pagoda, we walked downhill to the waterfall itself.

Nachi Falls

The walk down to Nachi Falls feels a bit like a taste of the Kumano Kodo trail. The path is mostly stone steps zig-zagging down a peaceful forest until you reach the large torii gate that marks the start of the path down to the waterfall. There is another series of stone steps down to the waterfall itself which ends in a viewing platform for the waterfall. If you want to get closer to the waterfall (and actually drink from the waterfall water), you can pay a small fee at the store. This gives access to another viewing platform closer to the waterfall. I thought this was worth it! We love seeing waterfalls up close (as evidenced by our Pacific Northwest waterfall road trip).

Right outside Nachi Falls is a drag of stores, cafes, and restaurants catering to tourists if you want to pick up snacks or souvenirs before heading back to Kii-Katsuura. The Nachi-no-Taki-Mae stop for Bus line 32 is here as well. Beware that the line for the bus can get long quickly here. So it’s best to get in line as soon as possible.

We initially planned on hiking down the Kumano Kodo cedar tree trail to the Kumano Kodo bus stop. But once we saw the line at the Nachi-no-Taki-Mae stop we decided to skip the hike and just get in line. The bus was completely packed when we got on, so we would not have been able to get on the bus at the Kumano Kodo stop.

Onsen Hotel

Onsens are a bucket list thing to do in Japan. We stayed at an onsen resort hotel with multiple onsens. It is most famous for onsens that were carved into a cave. Note that the public onsens are usually segregated by gender because you have to be naked in the onsen. If you’re not comfortable with public nudity or want to soak in the onsen as a family, there are usually private onsens that you can rent for a fee.

We decided to skip the onsen this time since we weren’t quite sure how long it would be safe for our little one to stay in the hot water. Thankfully, there was no shortage of other things to explore around the hotel. Our hotel is also famous for having a crazy long escalator that tunnels up the mountain that the hotel is built into. The escalator leads to a rooftop terrace with a scenic walking path and several viewing platforms overlooking the bay. The views were absolutely gorgeous and made for a fun little adventure without ever leaving the hotel grounds.

The hotel itself had a quirky charm. It was enormous, and as we wandered around, we passed long hallways and empty sitting areas that felt like they had once been bustling with activity but were now abandoned. It felt like stepping back in time. I would have loved to see the resort during its heyday when every corner was full of guests and energy.

Another retro element in the hotel was a corridor of old school claw machines and arcade games we passed on the way to the dining room. Each arcade game was 100 yen per play so it was a cheap and nostalgic way to spend a bit of time for us kids who grew up with arcades! It was fun to introduce our kid to his first arcade experience.

From Kii-Katsuura, it’s about a 4 hour train ride back to Shin-Osaka or onward to Nagoya.