Hi everyone, following advice from my previous post about driving in Japan during winter, I’ve done some research about Kyushu and made an itinerary for a self-drive tour in January (two itineraries actually, one without Kagoshima and Miyazaki).
I’ve just been trying to work out the traveling time and locations so please give as much feedback as needed, e.g unrealistic or too many/few places, fast-paced or slow-paced?, weird routes, not suggested for winter, etc.
||Version 1|Version 2 (without Kagoshima)|
|:-|:-|:-|
|**Day 1 (Tues, Jan 3rd**|**Fukuoka** *Arrive 8-9pm*, Stay in \[A\]|**Fukuoka** *Arrive 8-9pm*, Stay in \[A\]|
||*/OR/ Arrive 10-11am* \- Fukuoka+, Drive to Oita, Stay in \[B\]|*/OR/ Arrive 10-11am* \- Fukuoka+, Drive to Oita, Stay in \[B\]|
||*/OR/ Arrive 10-11am* \- Fukuoka+, Fukuoka+, Fukuoka+, Stay in \[A\]|*/OR/ Arrive 10-11am* \- Fukuoka+, Fukuoka+, Fukuoka+, Stay in \[A\]|
||*/OR/ Arrive 10-11am* \- Drive to Oita, Beppu Hells, Stay in \[B\]||
|**Day 2 (Wed, Jan 4th**|**Beppu & Yufuin, Oita**\- Beppu Hells\*, Kinrin Lake, Yufuin Floral Village, Harajiri Falls, Drive to Aso, Stay in \[C\]|**Beppu, Oita**\- Beppu Hells, Beppu+, Stay in \[B\]|
|**Day 3 (Thurs, Jan 5th**|**Aso**\- Aso Kuju National Park, Mount Aso nakadake crater, Kusasenri, Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu shrine, Stay in \[C\]|**Yufuin, Oita**\- Kinrin Lake, Yufuin Floral Village, Harajiri Falls, Stay in \[B\]|
|**Day 4 (Fri, Jan 6th**|**Aso to Kagoshima**\- Takachiho Gorge, Amanoiwato shrine, Omi shrine Miyazaki (KIV)\*\*, Shiroyama Park, Stay in \[D\]|**Kuju to Aso**\- Kuju mountains, Nabegataki Falls, Drive to Aso, Stay in \[C\]|
|**Day 5 (Sat, Jan 7th**|**Kagoshima**\- *Ogawa Falls & Cape Sata* */OR/ Sakurajima* */OR/ Ibusuki & Kagoshima Flower Park*\*\*\*, Stay in \[D\]|**Aso**\- Aso Kuju National Park, Mount Aso nakadake crater, Kusasenri, Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu shrine, Stay in \[C\]|
|**Day 6 (Sun, Jan 8th**|**Kagoshima to Kumamoto**\- Sengan-en (KIV), Kumamoto Castle, Suizenji, Tatsuda Nature park, Kumamoto ferry to Nagasaki (?)\*\*\*\*, Stay in \[E\] Kumamoto or \[E\] Nagasaki|**Aso to Kumamoto**\- Takachiho Gorge, Amanoiwato shrine, Drive to Kumamoto, Stay in \[D\]|
|**Day 7 (Mon, Jan 9th**|**Kumamoto & Nagasaki**\- Kumamoto ferry to Nagasaki (?)\*\*\*\*, Shimabara castle, Unzen+, Unzen+, Stay in \[E\] Nagasaki|**Kumamoto to Nagasaki**\- Kumamoto Castle, Suizenji, Tatsuda Nature park, Kumamoto ferry to Nagasaki (?)\*\*\*\*, Shimabara castle/Unzen+, Stay in \[E\] or \[F\] Nagasaki|
|**Day 8 (Tues, Jan 10th**|**Nagasaki**\- Dejima, Glover garden, Chinatown, Meganebashi, Museum of 26 martyrs, Stay in \[F\] Nagasaki|<- same|
|**Day 9 (Wed, Jan 11th**|**Nagasaki**\- Peace park, Atomic bomb museum, Urakami cathedral, Mt. Inasayama ropeway, Stay in \[F\] Nagasaki|<- same|
|**Day 10 (Thurs, Jan 12th**|**Saga**\- Yutoku Inari shrine kashima, Arita Porcelain park, Kouraku kiln (KIV), Okawachiyama Village, Imari Noritake outlet, Takeo (KIV), Stay in \[G\]|<- same|
|**Day 11 (Fri, Jan 13th**|**Saga to Fukuoka**\- Yoshinogari historical park, Tosu premium outlet, Fukuoka+, Fukuoka+, Stay in \[A\]|<- same|
|**Day 12 (Sat, Jan 14th**|**Fukuoka**\- Marinoacity/Torius, Fukuoka+, Fukuoka+, Fukuoka+, Stay in \[A\]|<- same|
|**Day 13 (Sun, Jan 15th**|**Fukuoka**\- Fukuoka+, Fukuoka+, Depart|<- same|
*Notes:*
Don’t mind the places with +, it just means I’ll fit in somewhere to visit or something to do.
* \* If we visit it on Day 1, it won’t be on Day 2 anymore.
* \*\* I’m not sure it’s worth stopping in Miyazaki, but it seems like the fastest ways to get to Kagoshima would be through Kumamoto or Miyazaki, so if we’re passing through we might just stop by and see it.
* \*\*\* Which would you prefer/pick/fit together? Do these options even make sense?
* \*\*\*\* Not sure if we can make it for the car ferry to Nagasaki after driving from Kagoshima. What do people recommend? 1. Taking the ferry to Nagasaki in the evening and staying the night around Unzen. or 2. Staying the night in Kumamoto and taking the ferry to Nagasaki the next morning. And depending on what time we’d need to reach the Kumamoto port, we might skip Sengan-en and/or etc.Would also like to know if anyone has any experience with the car ferry from Kumamoto to Nagasaki. How long does the ferry take? What’s the likelihood of a delay/cancellation if there’s fog? How much fog is there in January? If the ferry doesn’t work out, will we have to resort to driving up to Saga and then back down to Nagasaki?
Also in regards to it being too fast- or too slow-paced, let me know which places from the above (and below) you would or wouldn’t recommend to visit in winter time, for me to remove or add, things you would change or anything like that.These are some extra locations I’ve researched that I ended up removing from the itineraries above.
* **Saga** \- Ureshino and Karatsu
* **Nagasaki** \- Gunganjima, Confucius shrine, Huis ten bosch
* **Aso** \- Volcano museum
* **Miyazaki** \- Udo Jingu, Aoshima Shrine, Cape toi, Kojima island, Obi castle town, Taketa
* **Kagoshima** \- Izumi samurai houses, Chiran peace museum
* **Kitakyushu**
**And in conclusion: Do we go to Kagoshima? Or avoid the south for now?**
Thank you for your time!!!! Sorry it’s such a long post!!!!