The fastest way of reaching Kanazawa by train from Tokyo is to take a Shinkansen to Nagaoka and change to an express train heading west, via Toyama - a total journey time of just under four hours. Slightly cheaper is the daily direct limited express train from Ueno Station in Tokyo, which reaches the city in six hours. Coming from the Kansai area, the Super Raicho express from Osaka does the journey in two hours and thirty minutes, and there's also a direct express service from Kyoto and Nagoya.

Long-distance buses pull up at the bus terminal on the east side of Kanazawa Station. Komatsu airport is 30km southwest of the city and connected to Kanazawa Station by bus (¥1050). The journey takes 55 minutes and the bus stops first in the Katamachi shopping and entertainment district.

Providing help for foreign visitors is one of Kanazawa's strengths. Within the station is an excellent tourist information office (daily 9am-7pm; tel 0762/32-6200), well stocked with maps and leaflets and with English-speaking staff who can book accommodation. You may also be able to arrange for a guide to show you around town for free. Another good place to pop in is the Ishikawa Foundation for International Exchange (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-5pm; tel 0762/62-5931) on the third and fourth floors of the Rifare Building, five minutes' walk southeast of the station. This has a library with foreign newspapers and magazines and two wide-screen TVs, one showing CNN, the other BBC World, and it's also a good place to meet up with Japanese who want to practise their English. Finally, the Kanazawa International Exchange Foundation , or KIEF (tel 0762/20-2522), is also in the Rifare Building, on the second floor. KIEF can arrange homestays as well as volunteer guides.

Getting around is easy enough; although Kanazawa is a sprawling city, its main sights are clustered within walking distance of Korinbo and Katamachi, the neighbouring downtown areas, ten minutes by bus from the terminal outside the east exit of Kanazawa Station. Kenroku-en is five minutes' walk east of Korinbo, and the Nagamachi district of samurai houses lies immediately to the west. Buses leave frequently from stops 7, 8 and 9 for both Korinbo and Katamachi and cost ¥210.