Although Kobe doesn’t often make it into many of Japan’s tourist pamphlets it is my special, special “Japan Happy Place.” It’s where I’ve spent the majority of the Japan-portion of my life and it’s also where I met my husband.
At the risk of sounding like a complete bossy boots… I also used to work in the Guest Relations and Executive Office at a Kobe Hotel in my 20s and it was literally my job to find the cool spots (still my best non-Mummy job to date. It was so awesome.)
Kobe is a beautiful, beautiful place to live but is also a fantastic place to base yourself if you want to see Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Himeji or Awaji Island.
Kobe is also home to one of Japan’s more affluent areas, Ashiya, and other area called Shukugawa which is particularly well-known for it’s stunning flower-viewing spots during cherry blossom season.
Japanese people often visit Kobe because of the wide streets, gorgeous green mountains and the ability to be on the water. Kobe is well known for its’ beef, steak and textiles.
The women, in particular, are beautifully groomed and even compared to the hustle and bustle of “get-your-hands-on-anything-from-anywhere” vibe of Tokyo, I still prefer a good clothing, accessories and homewares shop in Kobe. Actually…note. to. self. Plan child-free shopping trip to Kobe.
Kobe On Foot.
The centre of Kobe is so easy to navigate on foot. The city is mountainous on one side and has the port on the other. It’s possible to walk from Shin-Kobe Bullet Train station down to the water in about 25 minutes. As the view changes so much, I love the centre of town as you can find the rowdy bars, the ramen spots and then walk a little further and you’re strolling down gorgeous laneways lined with trees, outdoor dining and little zakka (ornaments , cards, clothing and homewares) stores.
The ability to walk around the city (although some roads are on an incline back up towards the mountains) make it perfect for a family with a stroller and/or a baby carrier. Like all Japanese cities, convenience stores and beautifully clean change rooms all over the city too.
The pavements are much wider than many parts of Japan which feels like a holiday in itself.
Morning Suggestions.
As Kobe is located on a Port, it had access to a lot of goods from the west. The first thing that may surprise you is just how many amazing bakeries there are around town. Kobe is well known for it’s beautiful fresh bread – I really enjoy sampling a mix of french baquettes and pastries but also reaping the benenfits of the Japanese bakery too – little mini pizza rolls and curry pan (bread stuffed with Japanese curry ) etc.
Ca Marche in Sannomiya sells more than 100 different types of bread. Pretty spectacular, yes? They also have an outdoor terrace. It’s also a completely non-smoking restaurant so is perfect to take children.
3-1-3 YAMAMOTO-DORI, CHUO-KU, KOBE
神戸市中央区山本通3-1-3
OPEN 8AM-9PM
CLOSED TUESDAYS & WEDNESDAYS
Although there is no in-restaurant dining options available I still recommend Isuzu Bakery for a grab and go snack or meal. Isuzu Bakery has branches in 4 locations in Kobe. Motomachi, Kitanozaka, Ikuta Road and another near Sannomiya Station. They have as many as 5 types of curry bread alone and I recommend their Yamashoku (mountain shaped loaf of bread.)
Kobe Haborland on the waterfront is not my favourite place to be but they do have the Hawaiian breakfast spot with a fantastic view of the harbour. So if it’s amazing pancakes you’re craving – go here! They have high chairs and the staff are very welcoming when it comes to families.
As you may be aware, Kobe had a devastating earthquake in 1995. Part of Meriken Park (next to the port) has been left the same as after the earthquake. It’s an outdoor memorial and is a great way to talk to children about earthquakes. There are some informative plaques and a movie plays anytime between 9AM – 10:30PM. It is a small memorial. As mentioned below, the rest of this park also has lots of room for children to run around and a waterfront Starbucks for the grown-ups.
For a truly luxurious hotel breakfast, I loooooooove the breakfast buffet at the Oriental Hotel Kobe, just above Barneys New York. Breakfast is served on the 17th floor with a view of the mountains. The other side of the restaurant offers a spectacular view of the harbour too. If it’s a family members’ birthday, let them know to organize a “surprise” fruit plate. Breakfast is 2,700 yen per person.
MAIN DINING RESTAURANT, ORIENTAL HOTEL KOBE 
Daytime Suggestions.
A beautiful walk through a Japanese garden is the perfect thing to do with kiddies. I highly recommend Sorakuen – regardless of the weather. In fact, there is something magical about Japanese gardens on rainy days. Also, every season in this garden looks completely different. It’s just 10 minutes walk from Motomachi Station.
Or you could take the ropeway up the mountain to Nunobiki Herb Garden for a walk, lunch or a cup of tea with some cake. There are some gift shops, greenhouses and ice-cream shops in the garden. Lots of places to run and play. The garden offers a beautiful view of the city.
Freundlieb bakery & cafe is an old church converted into a cafe and the building is a registered cultural asset. The menu includes roast beef or salad sandwiches, salads, sweet pastries and some lunch sets also come with a scoop of ice-cream.
If you’re keen on having your whole family sample some of the famous Kobe beef (Kobe beef can be extremely rich and fatty), a more child-friendly way of doing it can be in a Kobe Beef Quiche.
It’s a huge call but…. Quicheya is my most favourite place to eat in Kobe. At night it is a quiche and wine pairing bar but during the day it is possible to pick up a few of these speciality quiches to take away for a snack or a picnic.
If you do get a moment of kid-free time in Kobe after 6pm- please go here! It’s our favourite date night spot. It’s cozy and, surprisingly, quiche is an amazing dish to share over wine.
They are open for takeout from 11AM-11PM.
Quiche selection includes ; Kobe Sukiyaki Quiche, Quiche Lorraine, Smoked Salmon, Blue Cheese, Beef stewed in Red Wine Quiche, Spinach Quiche, Hijiki Seaweed with Soybeans, Ham, Potato Gratin, Sausage & Basil, Pork stewed with Lentils Quiche, Margherita. Soooo good.
Quicheya Kobe 
If you do want to try Kobe Beef while in the land of Kobe beef then I recommend, especially with children, going to a beef specialty restaurant for lunch over dinner. Lunch will most likely cost close to 7000 yen per person (per adult, I mean) whereas dinner can often end up being more than double that amount. As I mentioned above, Kobe Beef is rich and fatty. It is famous for its high quality and beautiful presentation. I’m only writing about this because I’ve met so many international visitors who, mistakenly, anticipated a big texas style steak ending up on their plate. Kobe Beef is about the delicacy and the flavour. It’s designed to be eaten as part of a course.
I recommend two restaurants for when eating Kobe beef with children.
Kobe steak restaurant Moriya has 4 branches all over Kobe.
I recommend ordering a specialty lunch course to get the most value for your money and really see what the chefs can do. All branches open around 11AM. The dress code for all is smart casual. Many of the staff members speak English well. There is room for a stroller in the restaurant.
If you’re watching your budget and it doesn’t allow for a specialty course – maybe you’d like to consider Kobe Steakland? It’s a cheaper, much more casual version. The restaurant is more like a local, rustic pub with a big teppanyaki plate. Personally, I’d rather take guests to Moriya, but this is more of a “pay for pieces of meat you want to eat” kind of idea. The restaurant is extremely well-known and the service is warm and friendly. Expect to pay around 2500 – 3000 yen per adult.
The restaurant has highchairs.
Modern Ark restaurant & cafe is one of my favourite places to have a bite to eat in Kobe. It’s a vegetarian restaurant but even my very-much-non-vegetarian husband loves to eat here. This is the best place to go if you have allergies. The staff know exactly what goes into every single dish – including their freshly baked desserts.
They have an English website with their menu listed. A lunch or dinner plate is around 1000 yen.
The restaurant uses as much organic produce as they can get their hands on. They also have some vegan options.
Our favourite is the Chilli Bean Burrito. I also love the soy bean hamburger patty.
There is a small shop in the cafe that sells cookies, dandelion coffee and sourdough bread made in Shukugawa (just a few stations away).
MODERN ARK PHARM CAFE 
While in the area, I highly recommend a shopping walk under the train tracks from Sannomiya through to Motomachi Station. Even if just for the window shopping element. There are lots of colourful knick knacks, foodtruck-style shops and clothing stores. This is where you’ll pick up some truly unique Kobe kitsch gifts for family and friends.
This area under the tracks is called kokashita.
This is also a great way to make most of your walk from Sannomiya to Motomachi undercover on a rainy day. Even if the shops are closed – the roller doors are decorated with some pretty cool street art. Kobe is very clean and a bit posh but this shows a more local side of the city.
Another lunch suggestion is the bakery cafe Central.
It’s right in the middle of the Old Foreigner’s Settlement ( I just love walking in this area down the port side of Kobe – even just for a little window shop.) I highly recommend this place if your family loves bread as lunch comes with an all-you-can-eat bread buffet. The main meals are mostly Italian fare. Expect to pay around 2000 yen for lunch or 4000 yen for dinner.
This restaurant take reservations only for weekday lunch times. Otherwise you’ll just have to wait for your turn.
Unfortunately this is not a smoke-free restaurant (gross, right?) so you’ll need to request a seat in the non-smoking section (the word for non-smoking seating is 禁煙席 kinenseki but “No Smoking” also seems to be widely understood in Japan too.)
The bread is so fresh and it’s just a lovely, spacious, modern restaurant.
If you’re walking up the mountain-side of Kobe in the early morning or afternoon (up towards Shin-Kobe Station along Kitanozaka Road) you’ll come across Kitano Ijinkan Starbucks. This area is where many diplomats and foreign merchants settled after the ports opened in the latter half of the 19th Century. One of these beautiful homes has been converted into the most gorgeous Starbucks. It has so much character.
Around the corner from this Starbucks is one of my favourite Zakka stores in Kobe. Zakka is a word that generally refers to homewares, stationery and accessories. I love the cards and the delicate jewellery here. Everything is very reasonably priced.
Kobe Dinner Suggestions.
Rough Rare in Kyukyoruchi (the old foriegners’ settlement next to Motomachi & Sannomiya) is a trendy cafe that makes for an easy lunch or dinner with kids. It’s open from 10am everyday.
Lunch menu options include (listed in the same order as on their website lunch menu) roast chicken on rice, karage (fried chicken) lunch plate with soup and salad, pasta, penne gratin, butter chicken curry, lightly cooked omelette on rice with demi-glace sauce. Many of the options include an all you drink juice option.
And the dinner options (once again , in the same order as the menu on the website) roast chicken with rice, margherita pizza pie, chilli beans pizza pie, olive, anchovy, golden onion, pizza pie, four cheese pizza pie.
It is a non-smoking restaurant until 3pm, after that there is are smoking and non-smoking sections set in place.
I used to go here often when I lived in Kobe and we have been back with our kids for dinner. It was so nice and easy. This restaurant is doing so well that they are about to add a whole new floor!
In the evening you might want to consider a cruise around the harbour? The Concerto company have been around for a while and are quite popular for dates and for young families.
Harbourland, itself, isn’t my favourite area in Kobe to spend my time (mostly shopping ; there is a Toys R Us, a Gap kids and the Anpan Man character museum – if your children are familiar with Japanese cartoons – though! I’ve written more about this in the “places for children to play” section down the bottom of the page) but I must say, it is so beautiful at night.
They have four cruise options and all include live music on board.
A lunch cruise (for 2 hours), a tea cruise (1.5 hours) and two dinner cruises to choose from, an early (1 hour 45 minutes) and a late option ( 2 hours 10 minutes.)
Prices range between 2000-3000 yen per person, depending on which cruise you choose + the price of your meal or afternoon tea (approx 1600 yen for afternoon tea or wine and cheese, lunch prices range between 4000-10,000 yen depending on what you choose, dinner prices range between 5000 -15,700 yen.) The onboard cuisine is French, Teppanyaki or Chinese (being so close to Kobe’s Chinatown and all.)
Child passengers are gifted a balloon. The cruise dining has high chairs, baby food, boiled water.
The children’s menu, depending on the time of day, usually includes Japanese curry & rice with fried chicken and sausage or pancakes with french fries, chicken and sausage. Some kids plates also offer hamburger patties.
They also have an allergen free menu that is completely free of eggs, milk, flour, buckwheat noodles, peanuts, shrimp and crab.
Another night time suggestion is actually a freebie ! The observation deck at Kobe City Hall is open until 10pm everyday of the week. It offers a beautiful view of Sannomiya & the Port Area. Kids love taking the elevator up this 24 floor deck too.
Another dinner suggestion is Kichiri in Sannomiya. Kichiri is actually a chain of Izakaya restaurants in Japan so if you enjoy the beautiful interiors and amazingly Japanese-fusion menu, you’re in luck as you’ll likely find another in a different major city. Expect to pay around 3000 -4000 yen for dinner (it feels like a fancier restaurant but it’s actually quite reasonable. Every table has their own sectioned off booth.
They welcome kids and have highchairs and child-friendly crockery and cutlery. They don’t mind storing strollers for you either.
They also have an English menu.
This is not a non-smoking restaurant.
Note: it’s a shoes -off restaurant so wear your “good” socks, ok?
Or for a beautiful cafe for an organic meal on the way up towards the mountains, I love the adorable cafe Ageha.
They are open for lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.
For lunch and dinner they always offer a special meal of the day and a meal of the week served with a choice of brown rice or multi-grain rice. Lunch & dinner options almost always include a curry or a steamed seasonal vegetable bowl.
Their afternoon snack option is a riceball and miso soup.
Expect to pay 2000 yen for dinner and 1500 yen for lunch.
Spaces For Children To Play.
If your little one has the wriggles in the Sannomiya area, I recommend going to the 8th floor of the Sogo Department Store. There is a small play area with toys set out. On the same floor is a baby room with change tables, breastfeeding spaces, a vending machine etc.
The Port of Kobe has a lot of space and a big piece of flat grassland. Perfect for a run around or a good game of hide’n’seek at any time of day. (Pictures below show this space being used for a Summer festival.) For the grownups there is a Starbucks (brand new, opened April 2017) right on the water open from 8AM-10PM.
If the weather isn’t on its best behaviour , you can head to a playcentre called Kid-o-Kid Bournelund inside Kobe Bal department store in Sannomiya.
This is the playcentre lay out. The zones are (starting with the blue heading and working around clockwise) Active Ocean, Ball Pool, Baby Garden ( 6 -18 month olds) & Discovery Town.
Admission is a once off price of 500 yen per adult. Then 600 yen for your child’s first 30 minutes of play and 100 yen for every additional 10 minutes. (They will give you a start time and you will pay on the way out.)
Children will need to remove their shoes while they play.
Stroller parking is provided. There are change tables inside the playcentre and a vending machine for drinks (to be consumed in the “rest” area.)
The pictures above are of my kiddies playing at another Kid-o-Kid in Tokyo. Same company and basically the same layout.
If you decide that you like this brand of playcentre: you may like to visit their other branches all over Japan.
For a much smaller but free play space, you can also go to the 5th floor of Daimaru Department Store. I think this area wouldn’t be much fun for children much older than 2.
Along the outside of the Daimaru Department Store is a beautiful outdoor cafe – it all feels very European, actually. It’s called Caferra. It’s not a cheap cup of coffee ( around 800 yen) but the staff are professionally trained baristas. Coffee on the terrace also means that kids can get a hot chocolate outside with some additional wriggle room. I always feel better if kids spill outside over inside a cafe too.
I really should give the Anpanman Museum a mention (It will most certainly pop up on your phone if you google “things to do with kids” in this area. I took my little boy (2.5 years old) and he liked it enough to touch and spin and climb on everything but we did get through the “museum” (aka Anpanman themed play centre if you ask me…) very quickly…I mean….like… 45 minutes. Which was a bit rough for the 1500 yen per person – me included!
Japan has so many super-dooper play centres that we won’t be going back.
HOWEVER, if your child is a new walker and you want somewhere clean, dry and colourful – you may want to consider? Maybe? Maybe if it’s raining and you’re out of other ideas, maybe?
OR if they are a hardcore Anpanman character fan and under 3 years old…they may still find it fun.
Note: strollers need to be parked at the entrance. No food and drink inside.
Shoes can stay on for indoor play.
**Can I give a little tip?** Right next the museum is a complimentary Anpanman-themed shopping mall. My little boy loved the shops, the arcade games and the restaurants just as much as he loved the actual museum and it didn’t cost me a thing to enter! Something to consider….***
Another play space on the Harborland side of town is in the Mosaic Complex on the 3rd floor. It is called the “Dakko Room” (that means “The Cuddle Room”). It’s open from 10AM-6PM and is for 6 months – 6 years. 1 hour costs 1080 yen.
Only A Few Train Stations Out Of The Centre Of Town.
Ashiya & Shukugawa are a few stops away from Sannomiya. Both towns are on the river and make for lovely walks , particularly during cherry blossom season.
My favourite cafe and gorgeous zakka shop is Space R.
They serve specialty coffee and are well known for their cakes. If you feel like something heavier, they also offer rice dishes, soups , small salads and sandwiches.
The beautiful store stocks stationery, photo frames, placemats, cups and saucers etc.
Another area to explore is Mt Rokko. There are lots of beautiful big open areas for children to run around, pick fruit, try a Japanese onsen (hot springs.) The Fruits Flower Park is a beautiful park with flowers and some amusement park rides. It’s a full day event that is best saved for a sunny day.
Where To Change And Feed Baby.
I like to use these changing & feeding facilities in this area:
- “Sogo” Department Store, 8th Floor (breastfeeding rooms, change tables, boiled water, high chairs, small play area, microwave, vending machine, scales)
- “Marui” Department Store, 3rd Floor (breastfeeding room, change table)
- “Junkudo” Bookstore, 4th Floor (change table)
- Kobe City Hall, 1st Floor (breastfeeding room, change table)
- “Daimaru” Department Store, 5th floor (breastfeeding rooms, change tables, boiling water, high chair, small play room, microwave, vending machine, scales)
- “Tokyu Hands” Department Store, 3rd floor (breastfeeding rooms) and change tables in the female restrooms on floors 2 & 4
- “Mint Kobe” Department Store, 5th floor (breastfeeding room)
- ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel (breastfeeding room, change table)
- ShinKobe Station (change table)
- “Umie” Department Store, Kobe Harbourland, North Mall, 4th Floor (breastfeeding space, change table) 5th floor inside the bookshop (small play/reading space) This department store also rents strollers for in-store use.
- “Mosaic” Shopping Complex, Harborland, 2nd Floor (change tables, boiling water, microwave, vending machine)
Where We Have Stayed.
As a family we often stay at Hotel Trusty in Kyukyoruchi. Its’a simple business hotel. Reasonably priced and has a simple but lovely breakfast.
We also stay at the Hotel Okura Kobe, where I used to work. The views from the rooms on the ocean side are spectacular at night. The customer service here is exceptional.
If I was going to stay without children, I would probably choose the Oriental Hotel or Hotel La Suite Kobe Harborland on the water.