Kanazawa: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Kanazawa is a city of 466,029 people in Japan (Ishikawa), -1 m (-3 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Komatsu Airport / JASDF Komatsu Air Base (KMQ), 30 km (19 mi) from the centre. It has a dozen or more railway stations on record, including Higashi-Kanazawa Station. It is a port city: Port of Kanazawa. Our booking partner lists 363 places to stay.
Key facts
Daylight in Kanazawa runs from about 9 h 42 min a day in late December to 14 h 43 min in late June (computed for 36.6° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Kanazawa is served by 3 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Komatsu Airport / JASDF Komatsu Air Base (KMQ), 30 km (19 mi) from the centre, with a longest runway of 8,876 ft, which limits it to short and medium-haul aircraft. The alternatives are Toyama Kitokito Airport (TOY, 51 km), Noto Satoyama Airport (NTQ, 83 km).
Flights to Kanazawa: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Higashi-Kanazawa Station, Nishi-Kanazawa Station, Morimoto Station, Isobe Station, Kagatsume Station, Okobata Station. Trains to Kanazawa
Buses to Kanazawa · Driving and car hire · Ferries
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 363 places to stay in Kanazawa. Of the 308 with a star rating, the largest group is 3-star (137), and 11 are five-star. Across 148 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.8 out of 10. Guests have left 193,587 reviews in total.
Hotels in Kanazawa: the full picture, and book
Our booking partner lists 10 hostels in Kanazawa, out of 363 places to stay of every kind — 2.8% of everywhere it lists in the city, around the middle of the range for the cities we hold figures for. Across 7 hostels with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.9 out of 10, level with the city’s hotels. Guests have left 3,316 reviews across them.
Hostels in Kanazawa: the full picture, and book
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Kenroku-en | 2,590,000 | 2019 |
The busiest is Kenroku-en at 2,590,000 visitors in 2019. At that volume, anything with a gate is worth a timed ticket or an early start.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Kanazawa
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Tokyo, 294 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Yokohama, 302 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Osaka, 235 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · ferries · tours
- Nagoya, 160 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Kawasaki, 303 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Kobe, 249 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Kyoto, 192 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Saitama, 283 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Chiba, 334 km
- Sakai, 247 km
Twin towns and sister cities: Nancy, Irkutsk, Buffalo, Porto Alegre, Ghent, Suzhou, Jeonju, Toyota, Matsumoto, Okazaki, Shizuoka, Meguro.
Common questions
Which airport serves Kanazawa?
Komatsu Airport / JASDF Komatsu Air Base (KMQ), 30 km (19 mi) from the centre, plus 2 other airports with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is Kanazawa?
About 466,029 people live in Kanazawa, across 468 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Kanazawa in?
Asia/Tokyo, currently UTC+9.
What currency is used in Kanazawa?
The Yen (JPY). Traffic drives on the left.
Are there hostels in Kanazawa?
10 of them, bookable on this site. Hostels in Kanazawa.
How many hotels are there in Kanazawa?
Our booking partner lists 363 places to stay in Kanazawa, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Kanazawa?
Tokyo (294 km), Yokohama (302 km), Osaka (235 km), Nagoya (160 km), Kawasaki (303 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 14 September 2026. Hotel and hostel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.