|
Orientation, arrival and information
|
|
|
Nagasaki is a long, thin city which fills the flatland beside the harbour, spreads its tentacles along tributary valleys, and is slowly creeping up the hillsides, eating away at the green woods. The city's main
downtown
area lies in the south, concentrated round Hamanomachi shopping centre and the compact Shianbashi entertainment district, both on the south bank of the Nakashima-gawa, while administrative and commercial offices occupy land between the river and Nagasaki Station. North of the station, the city slims down to a narrow corridor along the
Urakami valley
, with Inasa-yama rising to the west.
Nagasaki airport occupies an artificial island in Omura Bay, 40km from town and connected by limousine bus (A?1200) to Nagasaki Station in just under one hour. The train station sits at the south end of the highway running into Nagasaki, roughly 1km north of the city's main downtown area. Most long-distance buses either stop outside the station or pull into Ken-ei bus terminal on the opposite side of the road. Ferries from Kumamoto dock at the Ohato Port Terminal, fifteen minutes' walk south of Nagasaki Station.
The best source of
information
is Nagasaki Prefectural Tourist Federation (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat 9am-5pm; tel 095/826-9407, fax 824-3087), located on the second floor above Ken-ei bus station. The English-speaking staff can help with hotel reservations and there's plentiful information about the local sights and transport to them. When the office is closed, city maps and a few English pamphlets are available at Nagasaki City Tourist Information (daily: March-Oct 8am-7pm; Jan, Feb, Nov & Dec 8am-5.30pm; tel 095/823-3631, fax 822-1954), immediately outside the station on the left, though staff here don't speak English. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
|
Japan,
|