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 time we went to Huis Ten Bosch, the Dutch-themed park in Nagasaki. I love theme parks: we go to Tokyo Disney every quarter and I am very fond of USJ in Osaka. Huis Ten Bosch has been on my list for years and we finally made it.
The thing to understand is that Huis Ten Bosch rewards preparation more than most parks do, and there is surprisingly little up-to-date advice out there — especially in English. So here is what I wish I had known.
Where we stayed: Hotel Europe
There are five official hotels connected to the park, and Hotel Europe is positioned as the most luxurious of them. That is what we chose.
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Three things make Hotel Europe worth the premium over the others:
- The atmosphere
- The food
- The free direct bus from the airport
The atmosphere
The appeal of Hotel Europe is that it genuinely feels like staying somewhere in Europe rather than in Japan — which is a slightly funny thing to seek out if you have flown in from abroad, but it is beautifully done. We took a room type with the bedroom and living area separated. Worth knowing: children of primary-school age and under stay free when sharing a bed with a parent.
The food
The restaurants looked lovely, but we were completely worn out from the park and decided to eat in the room instead. My daughter had the children’s plate and I had a sandwich; both arrived quickly and were good.
Breakfast the next morning was as good as you would hope. The omelettes, made in front of you, were the highlight. I do not drink, but if you do, champagne is apparently available from the morning. The buffet was already busy just after 7am, so my advice is to go straight down when you wake up.
We also had a look at the bar in the evening. It is a lovely space with the park right in front of you — worth dropping in even briefly.
The free airport bus
There is a free direct shuttle bus between the airport and the hotel. The catch is that capacity is clearly too small, and it sells out more than a month ahead. Book the bus at the same moment you book the room. No email arrives telling you to reserve it, so if you are not paying attention you will miss out. I was not paying attention, found it full, rang up on the off-chance and they added seats for us. That is real service.
How to do Huis Ten Bosch properly
The short answer: buy the Premium Ticket Royal 6
Whether it is an operational issue or simply the nature of the attractions, a lot of rides here cannot process people quickly. A queue that looks short barely moves, and you can end up waiting longer than you would at Disney. The ones that always have a queue, whenever you go:
- The popular VR attractions — the whitewater rafting simulator and the Ultra Reverse Bungee
- The Adventure Park attractions — Shooting Star, Tenku no Shiro (Sky Castle) and the Sky Rail Coaster
The premium pass covers those and gets you in with essentially no wait. The staff take the pass seriously too: on the carousel it did not just let us skip the queue, it let my daughter pick her horse before anyone else boarded. There is also a premium lounge with free drinks and snacks, which was genuinely welcome, and they will lend you a phone charger.
Once you have the pass, here is how to plan the day
1. Do Sky Castle early. You can only attempt the Challenge Course to begin with, and it is easy — my six-year-old got through it without difficulty. The Expert Course, which staff told us is about three times harder, can only be booked by people who have completed the Challenge Course. Those bookings are first-come, first-served and the slots run out, so if you turn up in the afternoon you will probably miss it. Do the Challenge Course first thing and book the Expert Course on the spot.
2. Rent a bike. The park is very large. Walking is fine, but cycling is much more fun. For a family, hire one of the four-seater bikes. There are electric-assist and non-assist versions, and the electric ones are far more popular — if there is one left when you get there, take it without hesitating.
3. On the Sky Carousel, aim for the third floor. A three-storey merry-go-round is an unusual thing. You queue separately for each level, and the third floor is by far the most popular. If you are using a premium pass, go straight for the third floor — the view from up there is beautiful.
Bonus: the thing my daughter actually liked most was the Super Trick Art museum. There is essentially never a wait, whatever time you go, so it is perfect when you want to cool off indoors, when the rides are busy, or when you have an awkward gap to fill. The pictures work better viewed through a camera filter, so take plenty of photos.
That is our Huis Ten Bosch report. The streetscape really does make you feel you have left Japan, and the atmosphere is quite different from Disney or USJ. Comments and questions always welcome.
Book Hotel Europe, Huis Ten Bosch
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