Glover Garden to Suwa Shrine, Nagasaki: free self-guided walking tour
Quick answer. A free self-guided walking tour from Glover Garden to Suwa Shrine: 7 stops, about 5.2 km, about 70 minutes of walking plus about 43 minutes of listening. Start above the harbor at Glover Garden, around the oldest Western-style house in Japan, built in 1863, and Ōura Church next door, where hidden Christians revealed their faith in 1865. Walk down to Dejima, the Dutch trading island of the isolation era, and Shinchi Chinatown, raised from the sea in 1702. Climb to Sōfuku-ji, a Chinese Zen temple of 1629, cross the Megane Bridge of 1634 and end up the long stone steps of Suwa Shrine.
- Stops:
- 7
- Distance:
- about 5.2 km
- Walking:
- about 70 min
- Listening:
- about 43 min
Two ways to do this walk
Nagasaki with Mappu
Walk Mode, in the free Mappu app
It knows where you are, tells you about everything you pass between the stops, answers your questions and keeps you on the route. Your phone stays in your pocket.
A 2-hour live walk, €4.99.
50 credits from the Starter pack. One-time purchase, no subscription.
Self-guided audio walk. No guide accompanies you. Not affiliated with the sites.
Free: the audio guides
Listen to each stop’s audio guide in your browser and find your own way between the stops.
Walking directions in Google MapsGlover Garden to Suwa Shrine, Nagasaki: how long does the walk take?
About 113 minutes in all: about 70 minutes on foot over about 5.2 km, plus about 43 minutes of audio at the 7 stops. Time inside the sites is extra.
Glover Garden to Suwa Shrine, Nagasaki: in what order should you visit the stops?
Follow the stops in this order: Glover Garden, Ōura Church, Dejima, Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown, Sōfuku-ji Temple, Megane Bridge, and Suwa Shrine. The longest stretch between two stops is about 1.4 km, about 19 min on foot.
Route and map
Indicative route. While you walk, watch where you're going, mind the traffic and follow local signs and rules. The map is an aid, not a safety guide. Terms
Follow Mappu’s map: the route runs along the streets from stop to stop, and the stories keep playing as you walk.
Google Maps opens up to 5 stops at a time on a phone, so the route comes in parts: each part starts where the last one ends.
Stop 1
Merchant houses on the Minamiyamate hillside over the harbor, around Thomas Glover’s house of 1863, the oldest surviving Western-style wooden building in Japan.
about 6 min of audio
Next stop: Ōura Church · about 0.2 km, about 3 min on foot
Stop 2
Japan’s oldest surviving Christian building, finished in 1864, where hidden Christians revealed their faith on 17 March 1865; a National Treasure with a paid entry.
about 7 min of audio
Next stop: Dejima · about 1.4 km, about 19 min on foot
Stop 3
The artificial island where Dutch traders lived apart during Japan’s isolation from 1641 to 1854, now carefully reconstructed as a window on that age.
about 7 min of audio
Next stop: Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown · about 0.4 km, about 6 min on foot
Stop 4
One of Japan’s three great Chinatowns, on a storehouse island reclaimed in 1702 for Chinese trade, entered through four gates built in 1986.
about 7 min of audio
Next stop: Sōfuku-ji Temple · about 1.1 km, about 14 min on foot
Stop 5
An Obaku Zen temple founded in 1629 for the Fuzhou Chinese of Nagasaki, behind a red Ming-style gate; its Buddha Hall was cut in China and raised here in 1646.
about 6 min of audio
Next stop: Megane Bridge · about 1.0 km, about 13 min on foot
Stop 6
The “spectacles bridge” of 1634 over the Nakashima River, Japan’s oldest stone arch bridge, rebuilt in 1983 from its own stones after the 1982 flood.
about 6 min of audio
Next stop: Suwa Shrine · about 1.1 km, about 15 min on foot
Stop 7
Nagasaki’s main Shinto shrine, completed in 1626, at the top of a long flight of stone steps; every 7 to 9 October it hosts the Nagasaki Kunchi festival.
about 6 min of audio
The stop stories are AI-generated audio guides and can contain mistakes. Check opening hours and tickets on the official sites.
Planning a trip to Nagasaki?
Get your plan
Mappu sketches your days free in the chat, no account needed. Then take the full plan with you:
- Weekend trip, €9.99: Your day-by-day plan plus 2 live walks
- Save your trip’s free guides on your phone in the Mappu app: they play with no signal
Before you go
- Check opening hours, tickets and access on each site’s official page before you go.
- Distances and times are estimates: the walking route between stops, from OpenStreetMap, at 4.5 km/h. Your route on the street may differ.
Plan more days in Nagasaki
These day-by-day Mappu itineraries include Nagasaki. The day links open the days that visit stops on this walk.
Route checked by Mappu on November 1, 2026. Stop descriptions come from each place’s published Mappu audio guide. Mappu is a Fenutech product.