23 day itinerary in Japan (winter)

9 comments

1. Huzzah for Kyushu! It’s not visited enough. 🙂

   I do think that you’ve crammed a lot in. I’ve not hit the google maps- but tachikiho gorge and Mt Aso all in the same day with travel on either end seems like a pretty long day. And one thing to consider in winter is the short days, the sun can den pretty early.

   And in general that’s a lot of moving around, and a fair number of one night stays. With a small child that is going to be a lot of packing and unpacking. I think you should trim a couple spots and slow it down a bit. I don’t think you’ll be able to fit it all in. Even without the kid that would be a challenge!

2. I’m exhausted just reading that! And with a baby in tow? What a nightmare itinerary!

3. I would fly in Narita and straight go to Fukuoka instead of spending a night in Tokyo. I think that there is quite a lot to see in Fukuoka and was happy to have two full days there and not just and afternoon. If you are into history, the city museum is really great and cheap. There is also a TeamLab exhibition in Fukuoka is you are more into that.

   Why would you specifically return the car in Fukuoka ? You will have to drive an extra 2-3 hours when you can take a 1h20 min train to Kokura and continue to Hiroshima after that.

   I would check to eat oyster in Miyajima. The oyster are farmed in the water right next to the island, you can see it from the ferry. I remember seeing several places that were grilling oyster outside.

   Is there a reason you always want to move between cities in the morning ? I’ve done more than one trip visiting on average one city a day. My usual plan would be to wake up and go to the first thing I want to see in the city were I am around 9am, or when it open. Then I spend the full day visiting different things until attractions start to close, so around 5pm, get dinner and hop on the train. Obviously, having a baby with you is a different challenge and I could understand if you say you have to check-in earlier.

   And speaking of baby, I know that some people will say you are changing city too much (I don’t mind), but I am not sure I would be down to do it with a baby.

4. This has got to be like 30+ hours of time spent on train/car not even counting the time you would spend getting to the stations and waiting for trains. That seems excessive even without an infant. You know your own travel preferences better than me, but I would consider focusing on one region more.

   As for food, Kagoshima is known for kurobuta pork tonkatsu so maybe shift your Kumamoto tonkatsu meal to Kagoshima and try the specialty of basashi in Kumamoto.

5. That’s a nice list. It looks like you’re heading towards the south near Kyushu first. In my experience, I went here during winter and it felt like I should have saved coming to this region for spring or summer time. If you’re looking to avoid the cold winter weather though, then this is a great place to be. Hiroshima, Yufuin, and Nagasaki were my favorite near this region.

   The winter recommendations I have are for prefectures in the northern region in Tohoku and Hokkaido. There’s quite a bit of winter festivals going around up here and different places that blend well with the winter scenery.

   There is the snow festival (if COVID doesn’t cancel it) in Sapporo which is really cool. Jigokudani snow monkey park in Yamanouchi is nice. The first time I went to Ginzan Onsen in the winter time blew me away. It was snowing near dusk and it was like walking on to a movie set. Otaru lantern festival might be of interest to you as well.

   There’s a lot of great videos of Japan here if you want to get some travel ideas.

   https://www.youtube.com/c/hanazakurasakura/videos

6. First of course assuming you can get into the country AND there is no quarantine time, I would catch a domestic flight straight from Narita to arrive in Hakata day 1.

   Is it cost effective to buy the 21 day rail pass instead of some pass starting with your Day 10 plan? I live here so I can’t get most of the rail passes you can, so I fly free with ANA using my United miles (about 5500-8000 miles 1way depending on the day-open up a United credit card and get the sign up bonus if you are in the US, I think the Explorer has a 50,000 mile bonus now), and usually rent a car. It will be cheaper with the car to rent and return in Hakata. There’s gonna be a big surcharge if you return it somewhere else.

   Just came back from a big Kyushu trip. The beginning of your trip was kinda the same, but I drove all the way. I didn’t use the toll roads, just set Google maps to avoid those. It takes more time, but for me, the driving is part of the fun. If you can make a deal with the JR pass then cool. Some suggestions:

   Day 1 get to Hakata

   2 Day trip to Dazaifu and visit the shrine and Kyushu National Museum, but stay another night in Hakata to adjust

   3 to Kumamoto
   4 to Kagoshima

   Day 5 put the car on the ferry to Sakurajima, look at that and then drive to Udo shrine and arrive in the evening in Miyazaki

   6 to Takachiho and Aso. Stay around there

   Day 7 drive to see the world heritage stone Buddha’s in Usuki, then to Beppu and stay there. Be sure to try steam cooking at Jigoku Mushi.

   8 Drive through Yufuin but end up in Kurokawa Onsen

   9 back to Hakata

   10 to Hiroshima

   11 Miyajima day trip and try to see the beautiful Kintai bridge in Iwakuni. Stay in Hiroshima again

   12 how about Himeiji castle? Much better than Korakuen unless you’ve been there or have a passion for gardens.

   I’ll stop there, since it’s on track with your schedule after that, and I just wanted to comment on the Kyushu part. Enjoy!

7. You should consider flying directly to Fukuoka, either transferring in Tokyo or direct from where you live. It will save you a lot of time when compared to the Shinkansen. Since you are then hiring a car you probably don’t need a 21 day JR pass, maybe only a 14 day one.

   Also, I’ve traveled with a baby/toddler and you probably need to reduce the number of locations to give you a bit more flexibility and time to explore. You will spend a lot of time having breaks either for changing, feeding or trying to get them to nap so you need to factor that in when planning.

8. Great that you are visiting Kyushu, but everything sounds so packed full of things to do, especially with a toddler. What happens when the toddler wants to spend an hour at some cute park you found next to the hotel and throws off your schedule? I have a 5 year old and it’s a struggle to even get him from school to home without a stop sometimes.

   Another example of how packed this schedule is:

   Day 9: Yufuin > Hakata
   Morning: Explore Yufuin
   Afternoon: Drive to Beppu and explore Beppu before returning car in Hakata
   Night: Explore Yatai part 2

   I’ve been to Yufuin often and made that drive as well. 2 hours for a quick exploration of Yufuin, an hour drive to Beppu, an hour lunch then 2 hours exploring Beppu. After that is 2.5 hours to Hakata. That is 8.5 hours, call it 10 hours after morning rituals and check out without any hiccups in the plan. That is kinda bare minimum times as well. You’re going in the winter and we have had snow when visitng Yufuin more than once.

   I would honestly just skip Beppu. It’s nice i guess but unless it’s to go to the aquarium or Rakutenchi for the kid(both of which are more than 2 hours visiting of time) it’s not that special. Spend a relaxing morning exploring Yufuin and then make your way to Hakata in the afternoon.

9. why not flying straight to fukuoka? it would save a lot of time i think