Located to the south of Tokyo, Yokohama is Japan’s second largest city and is popular with foreigner visitors for its shopping, nightlife and the variety of fun attractions. Yokohama first came to prominence under the Meiji restoration and has had further life breathed into it in the form of the revitalised Minato Mirai district in the centre of town.

Chinatown is the heart and soul of Yokohama, featuring the largest Chinese community in the country and one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. While Chinatown is awash with eateries or every description and all types of shops, Minato Mirai features the city’s most outstanding landmarks, as well as world-class shopping and entertainment.

Yokohama also has a revitalised waterfront area at Kannai and you can discern the glitzy city from the telescopes of the Sky Walk on Yokohama Bay Bridge. The tallest manmade landmark in town, and indeed in all of Japan, is the Landmark Tower, which also boasts a lofty observation deck, numerous side attractions and some great shopping and dining in its onsite Landmark Plaza.

Other highlights of Yokohama are the stunning Sankeien Garden; Sakuragi Cho, the oldest area of town; and several popular children’s attractions, including the Sea Paradise and Yokohama Cosmo World amusement parks. Options for getting active in Yokohama are good owing to the profusion of parks and ice-skating rinks, while the dining and shopping is almost on par with Tokyo.

Yokohama has a massive number of hotels although prices here are notoriously high. If you can afford it, try and stay in the Minato Mirai 21 area, which has most of the city’s main attractions as well as excellent shopping and dining. The upmarket hotels on Queen's Square are located here. Other popular hotel areas in Yokohama are the Kannai waterfront, Yokohama Station, and the Yokohama Arena.

Although it doesn’t have its own airport, with Tokyo’s Narita Airport as the gateway, transfer options to Yokohama from Narita are very good. Flights come in from everywhere and transfer times are about two hours by dedicated airport bus to your hotel, less when going by train direct to Yokohama Station. If you are elsewhere in Japan, public transport options to Yokohama are comprehensive.

Yokohama, like Tokyo, has a seasonal temperate climate and an average year-round temperature of about 16°C. Spring is without doubt the best time to be here, especially in April and May, as you can walk around town without sweating buckets during this time. Summertime (June to August) can be quite hot and humid in Yokohama and this is not the best time to be visiting.

Summers are still preferable to the autumn, however (from September to early November) as this is typhoon season in Japan, when Yokohama tends to be pelted with very wet weather even when a typhoon isn’t in the neighbourhood. It gets quite cold in Yokohama during wintertime and you may see a bit of snow, although hotels are generally cheaper.