Hi Reddit,
My girlfriend and I are planning a return trip to Japan in Spring of 2024. This will be her 2nd trip to Japan and my 3rd time.
She generally prefers big cities and a slower pace, and I tend to enjoy nature and new experiences, so for this trip we tried to incorporate both elements in different phases.
We’d really appreciate some advice on what we have so far.
The tentative itinerary:
# First Phase (Kyushu, Hiroshima, Shimanami Kaido)
The goal of the first phase of our trip is new places and experiences. Our unskippable plans for this part are Hiroshima / Miyajima and the Shimanami Kaido. We added in other parts of Kyushu to fill in the days, but would be open to other suggestions as well.
General questions for this part:
* We’d probably need to rent a car to see Mt. Aso, Takachiho Gorge, and Kurokawa Onsen. Would it be better to take a trip down from Kumamoto to Kagoshima / Mt. Sakurajima instead?
* We’re staying in Fukuoka mainly to minimize travel the next day to Onomichi. If we do a one-way car rental, we could go through Beppu and take an overnight ferry to Matsuyama, and then do the Shimanami Kaido backwards. Not sure if that’s better though?
* Does the pace seem too rushed here?
**Day 1 (3/14) – Tokyo**
* Plane arrives late at night to HND.
* We want to start in the south but it’s too late for any connecting flights, so our plan is to just go into the city and book a cheap hotel for a night.
**Day 2 (3/15) – Nagasaki**
* Take an early flight to Nagasaki.
* Spend the entire day in the city, see the Peace Park.
* See the view from Mt. Inasa at night.
* Could probably skip Gunkanjima unless we have extra time as it doesn’t seem that interesting to either of us.
**Day 3 (3/16) – Nagasaki – Shimabara – Kumamoto**
* Finish up in Nagasaki, then take either bus or JR to Shimabara Peninsula (2 h)
* Not sure what to see here, Obama Onsen and Unzen Jigoku?
* Take the ferry to Kumamoto when we’re done
* **Is it better to skip this and go straight to Kumamoto if we’re already seeing Mt. Aso?**
**Day 4 (3/17) – Kumamoto – Takachiho Gorge**
* **Pick up rental car from Kumamoto**
* See Suizenji Garden and Kumamoto Castle if time.
* Drive from Kumamoto to Takachiho Gorge (1.5 h drive) and look around. (anything else we should see along the way?)
* Spend the night at Takachiho Gorge, there’s a dance at Takachiho Shrine at 8 PM.
**Day 5 (3/18) – Takachiho Gorge – Mt. Aso – Kurokawa Onsen**
* Drive from Takachiho Gorge to Mt. Aso Visitor Center (1 h 10 min drive) and view the crater.
* Go to Kurokawa Onsen and spend the night.
**Day 6 (3/19) – Kurokawa Onsen – Kumamoto – Fukuoka**
* Return the rental car in Kumamoto
* Take the JR up to Fukuoka, and spend time in Fukuoka
* **Could we save time here by doing a one-way rental and dropping off in Fukuoka?**
**Day 7 (3/20) – Fukuoka – Onomichi**
* Spend time in some parks and get food around Fukuoka.
* Take the JR to Onomichi, spend the night in Onomichi.
* **We don’t have a lot of time in Fukuoka, should we do Beppu / Yufuin instead?**
**Day 8 (3/21) – Onomichi – Shimanami Kaido**
* Look into luggage forwarding to our next hotel in Hiroshima
* Bike the first half of the Shimanami Kaido, and spend the night at a ryokan on one of the inner islands.
**Day 9 (3/22) – Shimanami Kaido – Imabari – Matsuyama**
* Finish the Shimanami Kaido at Imabari
* Take either bus or train from Imabari to Matsuyama.
* Spend the night in Matsuyama.
**Day 10 (3/23) – Matsuyama – Hiroshima**
* See Matsuyama castle, Dogo Onsen if we have time?
* Take a 1 h ferry from Matsuyama to Hiroshima
* Look around Hiroshima and spend the night in Hiroshima
**Day 11 (3/24) – Hiroshima – Miyajima (Day Trip)**
* Take a day trip out to Miyajima from Hiroshima to see Itsukushima Shrine
* Return to Hiroshima
* Check out the Peace Park, Mazda Museum if time
* Spend the night in Hiroshima
**Day 12 (3/25) – Hiroshima – Himeji – Kyoto**
* Take the Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Kyoto
* **See if we can get luggage forwarded directly to Kyoto hotel**
* Stop along the way to see Himeji Castle
* Spend the night in Kyoto
# Second Phase (Kyoto and Tokyo)
The goal for this part is to slow down the pace and visit places we liked before.
**Days 13 – 16 (3/26 – 3/29) – Kyoto**
* Revisit Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kiyomizu-dera
* Look for good places to see cherry blossoms.
* **Considering a side trip at the end to Kanazawa / Takayama – too little time?**
**Days 17 – 20 (3/30 – 4/2) – Tokyo**
* Inokashira Park, Kichijoji, and the Ghibli Museum
* Go around to various other parks to see cherry blossoms
* Cafes and food
* **Day trip to Fuji Five Lakes – too little time?**
1 comment
Not even a full day in Nagasaki is really not much. Nagasaki have a lot to offer. I think that two full day would be good even without Gunganjima.
Going to Unzen Jigogu is possible, but if you want to do that, you leave early and will get thare just before lunch time. It take time by bus. I personally stayed for the night in Unzen before going to Kumamoto. Unzen was really cool as you can walk in the volcanic area with the steam coming from the ground. I had rain in Mount Aso so cannot really comment on it.
While technically it is possible to do Takachiho, Aso and Kurokawa without a car, doing it by car will be much more straightforward, like you would not be able to do it at your pace by public transport.
Yes you could drop car in Fukuoka, but just check the cost of dropping in a different prefecture compared to the cost of taking the train.
Between Fukuoka/Beppu/Yufuin, you go for completely diffent thing. Fukuoka is a big city, they have teamLab exhibition, great history museum, lot of good food. Yufuin will be one more small onsen town (you already have Kurokawa), Beppy is a big onsen town, first time I went I did the tour of the 7 hell… that is ok but less impressive than Unzen hells if you ask me, then second time I wanted to stay in the city and when I asked for recommendation, it was like… onsen ? … ok… actually my highlight of Beppu was Beppu Brewery. And if you decide to go to Beppu or Yufuin, an option is to cross to Shikoku on a ferry and go to Matsuyama from first.
Onomichi is an interesting city, it’s unfortunate that so many people only use it as a start for the shimanami kaido. As you would be there in the weekend, there is a [cool hidden bar](https://en.japantravel.com/hiroshima/hand-craft-bottle-cafe-yes/69710)if you are interested.