Personalized Star Map of Kobe

Kitano Ijinkan, on the city's northern slopes, gathers around twenty Western villas built by foreign diplomats and traders after the port opened in 1868. German half-timbered houses, British colonial mansions and American villas form an ensemble unique in Japan. It is one of the rare districts where 19th-century European architecture is so faithfully preserved.

Mount Rokko, rising 931 metres to the city's north, offers from the Kikuseidai observatory one of Japan's three finest night panoramas. Accessible by cable car, funicular or road, the summit is dotted with gardens, observatories and traditional inns. On clear days, the view stretches from Osaka Bay to Awaji Island.

Harborland, on the waterfront rebuilt after the 1995 earthquake, combines shops, restaurants and the Kobe Port Tower with its inverted-basket silhouette. The district glows at night thanks to its illuminations, its red Ferris wheel and the paved promenade along the bay. It is one of couples' favourite spots for a waterfront evening.