Hi — I’m Tabiiku. I travel around Japan with my daughter on the principle that experience is the best thing you can give a child. This is our second trip to Huis Ten Bosch, the Dutch-themed park in Nagasaki. It has been permanently installed in my daughter’s top three ever since our first visit, and she asked to go back at every opportunity — which is unusual for us, because I normally want to go somewhere new.
Last time we stayed at Hotel Europe; this time we tried Hotel Amsterdam, which sits inside the park itself. It had been exactly two years, and in that time the attractions and the express pass line-up have changed so much that my previous advice is now completely out of date. So here is the current version.
This time: Hotel Amsterdam
We loved Hotel Europe last time, but I wanted to try somewhere different, and Hotel Amsterdam had been on my mind.
Hotel Amsterdam (inside the park)
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Hotel Europe (the better hotel, in my view)
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The short verdict: Hotel Europe is in a different class.
The room first. It is large, and it does have a European feel to it, which is pleasant. But the plumbing and the electrics feel dated, and the bathroom is small.
The bigger disappointment was the service. Nothing unpleasant happened; it simply lacked thought. The clearest example: we were told at check-in that the breakfast buffet the next morning would be busy because a coach group was staying. Breakfast runs 6:30 to 10:00, and we were told that 6:30 to 8:30 would be very crowded, so we should either queue from around 6:00 or come late. But official hotel guests get early park entry from 9:00, so late was not an option, and I was not going to stand in a queue for thirty minutes from six in the morning. We had booked a rate that included breakfast and simply skipped it. I would have liked them to think about the independent guests as well as the coach party.
What Hotel Amsterdam does have over Hotel Europe is that you can enter the park twenty-four hours a day. The illuminations at night are beautiful, and being able to walk through the park after it closes is a real draw.
How to do Huis Ten Bosch now
Last time I said to buy the premium ticket. In the two years since, one popular attraction after another has closed, and I no longer think it is necessary. If you do buy anything, the standalone Evangelion premium pass might be worth it on a busy day.
What I would tell you to do instead is Jurassic Island. The concept is an AR shooting game — but it takes place on an actual island. You board a dedicated cruiser at Huis Ten Bosch, sail forty minutes each way, and spend thirty to forty minutes on a remote island shooting dinosaurs. The scale of it is faintly absurd.
Practical notes:
- It runs three times a day and is cancelled in bad weather.
- Numbered tickets are handed out from the morning, and each run seems to be capped at around 100 people on a busy day.
- We went on a weekday and still got tickets for the second run at 13:05 even though we did not reach the park until around midday.
- The ticket desk is at Harbour Gate, which is the furthest point from the entrance — about a fifteen-minute walk. Steel yourself.
It is genuinely good for adults as well as children, and the top scorers get a certificate. The winner in our session was an annual pass holder who had clearly done it many, many times.
It eats half a day, but do it anyway.
If you are staying at an official hotel and have early park entry, the sequence I would recommend is: Evangelion on the first run, then Castle Carousel to fill a little time, then Mission Deep Sea at 9:40. That gets you through three things in an hour with almost no queuing.
One other thing worth doing is the digital game on the ground floor of Athletic Fantasia. You pick your own difficulty and then spend three minutes dodging blocks coming at you on screen. It was much more fun than it sounds. On a busy day the wait reaches about forty minutes, so go straight there when the park opens at ten.
The park is large, so rent bicycles. The change since last time is that all of them are now electric-assist, which has pushed the price up considerably — but weighed against the time you save walking, it is still reasonable value.
We enjoyed the second visit as much as the first. The takeaways: Hotel Europe is the better hotel, and Jurassic Island is worth the half day. See you next time.
Hotel Amsterdam (inside the park)
Check rates on Agoda
Check rates on Booking.com
Hotel Europe (the better hotel, in my view)
Check rates on Agoda
Check rates on Booking.com
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