Its name may be synonymous with the calamitous events of WWII, but Nagasaki is so much more than its past, with dazzling attractions beyond its monuments and memorials. The only person who understands the spirit of the city is someone who lives here – like your local host! Maybe you’ll visit a hilltop park like Kazagashira with stunning views of the port, or snap pictures of Meganebashi bridge – sorry, no prize for guessing what its reflection resembles! You could visit Suwa Shrine, a proud survivor of the atomic bomb, and 400-year-old Shōfuku-ji temple, then grab a bite of fusion food at Chinatown – but maybe a stroll through the Nagasaki Peace Park, where you can fully comprehend the city’s resilience, is on your bucket list.

Along the eastern bank of Urakami River, you’ll follow your local host through some of Nagasaki’s most fascinating districts. At the heart of the city, in the Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown area, explore the intersecting lanes of the oldest Chinatown in Japan (and get recommendations for where sample Chinese-influenced dishes), or head to neighboring Higashiyamate’s Dutch Slope, a perfectly preserved stone-paved street that was home to Western traders in the late 1800s. Maybe you’ll explore the Heiwa district three miles north, where you could learn about the city’s painful past – and appreciate how it rebuilt itself – at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Hall, or see the one-legged arch of Sannō Shrine (its second column destroyed by the bomb).