What's a good 3-day itinerary for Nagoya?

Nagoya's grid layout makes it forgiving for a first morning. Start at Nagoya Castle, built in 1532 and rebuilt in concrete after 1945 firebombing, by 8:30 AM when the grounds are quiet and the humid September air has not yet turned heavy. The Honmaru Palace reconstruction is the real draw, not the main tower. Cedar-paneled rooms with gold-leaf fusuma sliding doors, rebuilt with Edo-period joinery. That takes 45 minutes. Walk 15 minutes southwest to Noritake Garden, the porcelain company's old factory campus, where kiln-fired seconds sell at half retail. By noon you want miso-katsu at Yabaton in Osu, a deep-fried pork cutlet under Nagoya's thick red-bean miso sauce, around 1,500 yen. Osu Kannon temple sits at the north end of the Osu shopping arcade, five blocks of covered market crammed with vintage kimono shops, electronics stalls, and Brazilian restaurants. The smell of freshly fried korokke drifts from every third stall. Walk it end to end by 3 PM. Hisaya Odori Park and the 1953 Nagoya TV Tower are 10 minutes north into Sakae. Evening tebasaki chicken wings at Sekai no Yamachan cost about 500 yen per plate, eaten with cold draft beer.

Day 2 starts at Atsuta Shrine by 8 AM, a 6-minute Meijo Line ride south from Sakae. This is Nagoya's most important Shinto site, home to the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, one of three Imperial Regalia. The gravel paths under camphor trees stay cool even in late September. By 10 AM, walk 8 minutes to Atsuta Houraiken for hitsumabushi, Nagoya's grilled eel served three ways. Expect around 4,000 yen and a 30-to-45-minute wait on weekends. Worth it. The eel is charcoal-grilled, smoky, lacquered in sweet soy tare. You eat the first portion plain, the second with wasabi and spring onion, the third as ochazuke with dashi broth poured over. Take the subway to Nagoyako Station after noon for the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium, 2,030 yen entry. Its orca performance tank is the strongest reason to visit. Then Meitetsu east to Arimatsu, a Tokaido post-town that has been the center of shibori tie-dyeing since 1608. Workshops along the main street sell indigo-dyed tenugui towels from 800 yen. The dye-splashed doorways and wooden lattice facades make this the most photogenic 400 meters in the prefecture.

Day 3 belongs to Inuyama, 30 minutes north on the Meitetsu Inuyama Line from Nagoya Station, 570 yen each way. Inuyama Castle was built in 1469 and is one of only 12 Japanese castles with an original pre-Edo timber keep. The steep wooden stairs inside are slippery in socks, and the top-floor balcony is narrow enough to make you grip the railing. But the view over the Kiso River is the payoff. Entry costs 550 yen. Below the castle, Honmachi street runs four blocks of restored merchant houses converted into cafes, miso-dengaku skewer shops, and craft beer taprooms. Lunch here runs 800 to 1,200 yen. Museum Meiji-mura, open since 1965, is a 20-minute bus from Inuyama Station. The park holds 67 relocated Meiji-era buildings, including Frank Lloyd Wright's 1923 Imperial Hotel lobby from Tokyo. Entry is 2,000 yen and you need 2 hours minimum. Return to Nagoya by 5:30 PM for kishimen at Sumiyoshi in the JR Station concourse, Nagoya's flat wheat noodles in warm dashi, about 450 yen standing at the counter.

Nagoya's subway has 6 lines and runs until about 11:30 PM. A one-day pass costs 760 yen and covers all subway and bus routes, available from any station ticket machine. IC cards from Tokyo or Osaka work on every train and bus here. The Meitetsu railway handles the Inuyama and Arimatsu connections. September temperatures sit around 26°C but humidity near 72% pushes the felt temperature closer to 30°C, so carry a hand towel and grab 100-yen barley tea from vending machines between stops. Most restaurants in central Nagoya display plastic food models in the window or print picture menus, which takes the guesswork out of ordering. Solo travelers will find the city's safety score of 8.5 out of 10 (see the TTDI Solo-Safety Index) reliable at any hour. Nagoya Station's underground mall Esca stays open until 9 PM and is a solid fallback for dinner if Day 3 runs late.