Osaka in 4 Days — Kuidaore: Markets, Neon, and the Kitchen of Japan

Osaka's motto is kuidaore — eat until you drop — and this four-day plan takes it literally while still covering the first-timer sights. Day 1 works the Minami food core (Kuromon market breakfast, Michelin-listed okonomiyaki, takoyaki, Dotonbori neon, a 1946 udon house); day 2 pairs Osaka Castle with Kita's depachika, the Umeda Sky Building and a 1950s alley of standing bars; day 3 runs Shitennoji to Shinsekai kushikatsu to wagyu yakiniku in Japan's biggest Koreatown; day 4 goes to the Ikeda museum where instant ramen was invented, then Japan's longest shopping arcade and a farewell at an oden house that opened in 1844. Budget ~¥37,000 per person for four days of admissions, local transport and eating properly, lodging aside. Most of the eating is cheap — market stalls, ¥450 takoyaki, ¥120 skewers — and the spend concentrates in four line items: two observation decks (¥2,000 each) and the two sit-down dinners on days 3 and 4 (~¥5,000 each). Cut any of them and the trip still works.