Hi everyone! I'm planning to go to Kyushu/Okinawa next year, along with my wife and the baby.
I've been looking around to create an itinerary, but still don't know how long should/could we stay over there — 3 or 4 weeks?
Coming from France, the first stop is Fukuoka, seems to be the easiest option (Paris > Tokyo > Fukuoka).
It seems to be a great base to check cities around (Itoshima comes to mind), to enjoy some parks (Uminonakamichi, Nokonoshima, Shikanoshima), some museum (Ito-Koku History Museum, Fukuoka Art Museum). The city looks nice and walkable as well, and we love that!
I think I'll be renting a car at Fukuoka so we can move easily, at our own pace!
Second stop could be Yanagawa, we can discover Kurume, Yame or Saga.
Then, I was thinking of going to Yufuin/Karakawa, to properly enjoy onsen. I'm not quite sure it's interesting to go further on this coast so I thought of going straight to Nagasaki, making some stops on the way.
Nagasaki seems to be a great place to stay for a few days, the History of the city looks crazy! I haven't yet looked around to see what would be doable around the city / 120min-long drive.
After that, we could drive / take the ferry to Kumamoto — so we could discover Unzen, Shimabara, and I've read the drive is amazing on this side! Not sure Kumamoto needs to be a long stay — there's the castle, the Shimada Museum, the Suizenji-Jojuen Garden. And near-by there's Aso, with the national Park or the Kikuchi Gorge.
One of the last stop could be Kagoshima, I know the city is full of history, Sakurajima looks incredible, we could drive to Ibusuki. The city can also be interesting as we could go to Yakushima, take the plane to Naha (and leave the rented car).
In Okinawa, I was thinking of discovering Naha obviously, but also another island — Ishigaki or Miyakojima. And after that, going back to Fukuoka, back to the real world!
So yes, I know it's a big draft, we can't do/visit everything!
How would you improve the itinerary? Would it be interesting to use full 4 weeks to take the time, or 3 weeks can be enough? Any feedback is welcome at this point!
Thanks for your help!
by NomDunNinja
