Good morning / afternoon everyone!
Me and my best friend are looking to take a roadtrip across the Tohoku region, however, we're not entirely sure of the great locations we should see along the way.
This is our second time in Japan – previously we spent 3 week across Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Okinawa.
This time, we're looking to spend 5 weeks from Tokyo to Osaka, back to Tokyo, and then taking a roadtrip all the way up to Aomori, and then back down to Tokyo.
We have a couple places pinned on our map for the roadtrip, but not a lot, which is why I'm looking for everyones input on the best places to visit in this region!
A roughdraft of our roadtrip is as follows.
Tokyo -> Sendai -> Aomori -> Akita -> Niigata -> Tokyo.
If you have any recommendations for places to visit along this route, we would greatly appreciate it! Additionally, if you recommend we instead roadtrip across the Chubu, Kansai, Chugoko region, please do tell us the reasoning, as we're more than flexible with these plans!
by VykasBooba
5 comments
If you have a car, Tunnel of Light in Niigata is a must. Also Takayama inari-jinja in Aomori
I’d skip Sendai and visit Yamagata instead. Head up through Fukushima to Yamagata. After Yamagata head up to Akita/Aomori before heading back down.
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Love that considering tohoku. Definitely go with this! If you have time, akiu onsen /naruko gorge are worth it too.
Sendai – must try gyutan, matsushima is lovely to stop by!
I know fukushima isn’t on your path, it should especially aizuwakamatsu , tadami line simply gorgeous at any season! The area is also filled with amazing nature sights and onsen, well worth your exploring! Ouchi post town, inawashiro lake， goshikunama ponds.
Aomori and iwate are also amazing , there are really a lot to see. Iwate has hiraizumi with two unesco sights and a lot of nature too. Morioka as a city is worth a half day.
Hachinohe, morning market, kabushima shrine, then oirase stream, mount hakkoda, lake towada.
One thing for tohoku that you should definitely try is the onsens , it has a lot of onsen town that are worth it. Some examples are hanamaki, ginzan, nyuto, akiu , naruko, zao , ashinomaki. I can really keep going, tohoku is my new favorite area in Japan because it is very less travelled and it is very much untouched!
[https://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1102.html](https://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1102.html)
There are tons.
I especially loved Nyuto Onsen, thought Kakunodate and Aizuwakamatsu were really interesting, the Sanriku coast is gorgeous, Lake Towada was nice.
Basically everywhere I went in Tohoku was awesome, such a great region.