I am finalizing our itinerary for a Road trip through Kyushu. While reading through, keep in mind that as of the current sakura forecast we are set to arrive in Fukuoka right at the start of full bloom. Fingers crossed it stays this way. For context this is our 3rd trip to japan and the 2nd road trip style trip. Last year we drove through Tohoku and loved it. Driving through rural japan is part of the fun for us so the days with a lot of travel are not a negative. I figured out last year that you can do quite a bit and cover a lot of ground in a day in Japan. Please take a look and critique my plan or make suggestions.
**Day 1 Friday – Fukuoka**
\- Land in Tokyo 4pm
\- Fly to Fukoka arrive 9pm
\- Check into hotel
\- Yatai for late food?
**Day 2 Saturday – Fukuoka Full Day**
\- Pick up rental car 8am (Toyota)
\- Nanzoin
\- Dazaifu
\- Ohori Park (arrive by noon)
\- Ramen for Lunch, any recommendations?
\- Fukuoka Castle
\- Kushida Temple
\- Tochoji Temple
\- Canal City shopping
\- Pokemon Center
\- Kusaba River for dusk
On paper it looks like a lot for this day but round trip from the hotel to Zanzoin to Dazaifu then back to Fukuoka is only 1.5hr. The walking route from Ohori park through all the other locations is only an hour as well. If we end up taking too much time at any one place we can adjust on the fly. Main reason for picking up the rental this day is to leave early for day 3 rather than get around Fukuoka.
**Day 3 Sunday – Saga/Nagasaki**
\- Head out around 730am
\- Okawachiyama Porcelain Village Arita (1.5hr drive)
\- Takeo city for lunch (30min drive)
\- Takeo Library, Takeo Shrine, Mifuneyama Flower park
\- Yutoku Inari Shrine (30min drive)
\- Drive to Nagasaki City for dinner and night view (1.5hrs)
**Day 4 Monday – Nagasaki**
\- Atomic Bomb Site
\- Peace Park
\- China town
\- Explore city
Open to more ideas for this day as long as it’s not a long drive. Also if anyone knows of local specialty hotspots please share!
**Day 5 Tuesday – Kumamoto**
\- Takachiho Gorge (3.75hr drive)
\- Amanoiwato Shrine
\- Takachiho beef for lunch
\- Head to Ryokan Konomama to check in and relax
\- Explore the area if time allows
Was really happy to discover this Ryokan while researching. They have private onsens but do not offer dinner. I have done the classic onsen ryokan with kaiseki dinner in Tohoku and its an awesome experience but its hard to justify multiple nights stay with included meals because it really cuts into exploring time. For us this is perfect to explore all day and come back to a private open air onsen. This day is subject to changes, see questions after itinerary.
**Day 6 Wednesday – Kumamoto**
\- Nakadake Hike
\- Daikanbo Viewpoint
\- Shirakawa Spring
\- Explore the area if time allows
\- Head back to ryokan for onsen time
If you have done this hike before please share your thoughts on fitting anything else in this day, im not sure how much time we will have afterwards. Also please share restaurant recommendations for the area, definitely want to try the horse meat sashimi!
**Day 7 Thursday – Kagoshima**
\- Wake up early for long travel day
\- Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine for morning walk (30min drive)
\- Drive to Kagoshima (3.5hrs)
\- Check into hotel with Sakurajima view 🙂
For this day we have 2 options; we can either stop off at Kumamoto City for food and a castle visit before heading to Kagoshima since its along the route. Or we can go straight to Kagoshima and take advantage of the earlier arrival to do something there. Any opinions?
**Day 8 Friday – Kagoshima**
\- Ibusuki (1.5hr drive)
\- Hike Kaimondake
\- Sand bath
\- Kamikaze Museum maybe?
**Day 9 Saturday – Kagoshima**
\- Kagoshima city
\- Sakurajima bike ride maybe?
\- Parks and Shrines
Easy going day for the end of the Kyushu trip. Again, any kagoshima restaurant recommendations are appreciated!
**Day 10 Sunday – Osaka**
\- Drop off rental car at kagoshima airport and fly to osaka
\- Drown in delicious Osaka food all day and night
**Day 11 Monday – Osaka**
\- Food and shopping around the city
**Day 12 Tuesday – Tokyo**
\- Fly or shinkansen to Tokyo, not sure which one yet. Ive done the shinkansen rt a couple times already so the speed of flying is appealing.
\- Arcades and shopping in Tokyo for the night.
**Day 13 Wednesday – Tokyo**
\- Shop and eat around, fill up my extra suitcase with all sorts of Anime gear 🙂
**Day 14 Thursday – Fly home**
We have been to Osaka and Tokyo a few times before so we don’t need any suggestions for those areas.
Question for day 5, its a long ride from Nagasaki to the Aso area. Does anyone think it would be better to hit Takachiho Gorge on day 7 before heading off to Kagoshima? In this scenario we would basically just swap the activities on days 5 and 7. I guess my concern being that the long ride would make us arrive at the gorge a bit later than optimal.
Thanks for looking!
by Steve_TCG_CC