Hi, we’re a family of four – parents, kids aged 13 and 7, visiting end of July/early August flying into Fukuoka and out of Nara. We have 2 full weeks.
**Day 1**
Early AM, arrive Fukuoa. Train to Kumamoto.
Hotel near Kumamoto station, visit castle, city until we pass out.
**Day 2**
Pickup rental car. Visit Mifune Dinosaur Museum, Forest Adventure Misato, Gokansho hidden villages (if time).
**Day 3**
Aso. Either Aso Boy if possible, or drive. Hiking. (Other activities there?)
(If we take train, how does one get to hiking trails/top of mountain? Is it possible in a day with kids?)
**Day 4**
Drive to Saga. (Still need to find lodging here, tough to find.)
Arita, ceramic villages.
**Day 5**
Saga
Possibly Huistenbosch or Saga Ninja Village Hizen Yumekaido
**Day 6**
Drive to Fukuoka, fruit picking in Ukiha, drop off car at Hakata. Stay at hotel. (Which part of city?)
**Day 7**
Fukuoka. Maybe day trip to Kitakyushu, as my daughter is really into toilets and there’s a Toto museum there. Otherwise just city stuff, maybe a food tour.
**Day 8, 8-12**
Fly to Ishigaki. Rent car.
Snorkel, scuba, hiking around Ishigaki.
**Day 12**
Fly to Naha. Hotel near Miebashi station
**Day 13**
Okinawa Fruits land.
**Day 14**
AM depart Naha
Thoughts? Stuff to do with kids in Kyushu? We really want to visit the ceramic villages, but it’s tough to find reasonable accommodation in Saga. Would it be better to do those 2 days in Oita or Kagoshima? Realize it will be hot in August, are there things that will be tough to do or that we should consider to get away from heat?
Thanks for any advice!
4 comments
Never been to Mifune dinosaur museum, but another option depending on how dinosaur crazy your kids are is Kitakyushu natural history museum. It’s got more than just dinosaurs but not super big. We normally take our son to it, and it’s a good couple hours. Could probably do it on same day as Toto museum.
I tried to visit Arita for pottery when I was in Kyushu last November. While the Arita museum was open, the stuff on the streets was not on Monday or Tuesday. So best to save that on a weekend if you’re able.
I’m currently in Imari right now. Day trip Hakata, but this requires perfect timing
For getting to Aso from Kumamoto on Saturday or Sunday mornings you can also use the Kawasemi Yamasemi train, but this really needs to be booked in advance (up to 1 month ahead is possible but seats go quickly). Gets to Aso just after 12.
From Aso station you can take the number 8 bus up to the Aso Sanjo Terminal (bus station) just below the active crater. If access to the crater rim is allowed then, from there, take a shuttle bus to the top. We couldn’t do that last bit recently (Feb 2023) because the crater was too active and a 1km exclusion zone had been imposed.
The bus 8 ticket is a return ticket and allows you to stop off at the Kusasenri area (with plenty of places to eat) on the way up or down. It runs about 5 times a day so unless you take the last bus up+down you will have a few options for how long to stop off at Kusasenri and at the top.