We are 3 friends visiting Japan for the first time, from 15. October to 3. November. We limited ourself to southern Japan consciously. Currently, we are planning the rough itinerary (which places and how many days we want to spend there). We will think about the day to day activies in more details later on. Therefore, we wanted to ask for a second opinion on whether our itinerary is too tight, if we miss out on any must see places or if you see any room for general improvements.
(We have done a month of Interrail together in europe last year and during this trip we felt that our schedule was too tight. So we tried to take it rather relaxed for our trip to Japan).
We are planning on getting JR pass aswell.
Our trip starts in Fukuoka, as we are arriving with the ferry from South Korea on the 15. October:
**15.10-19.10: Fukuoka**
15.10 arriving in Fukuoka
16.10 visiting the city and taking a good meal
17.10 maybe Uminonakamichi Seaside Park
18.10 day-trip to Takachiho Gorge on 18.10
19.10: heading to Kagoshima
**19.10-21.10: Kagoshima**
19.10 arriving in Kagoshima
20.10 visiting the city and visiting Senganen Garden
21.10: taking the ferry to Yakushima in the morning
**21.10-24.10 Yakushima**:
22/23.10 doing various hikes: visiting Oko no taki Falls, Going to beach etc.
We also thought about renting a car for Yakushima. We are 19 years old and therefore researched if we are allowed to rent a car. It seems to be possible, any experiences?
24.10: going from Yakushima to Beppu.
**24.10-27.10 Beppu:**
24.10: arriving in Beppu
25.10: relaxing a full day: do some wellness: visit different springs
26.10: maybe visit Mt. Tsurami
27.10 in the morning: Beppu -> Osaka
**27.10-29.10 Osaka:**
27.10: arriving in Osaka; visit osaka castle
28.10: explore dotombori district
29.10 in the evening: Osaka -> Kyoto
**29.10-2.11 Kyoto:**
29.10 arriving in Kyoto
30.10 Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine, Ginkaku-ji Temple
31.10 Kinkakuji Temple, explore Nanzen-ji Temple
1.11 visit Gion and Southern Higashiyama
2.11 in the evening: taking the train to osaka and then taking the night train (Sunrise Seto/Izumo) to Tokyo – arriving in Tokyo on 3.11
We would appreciate, if you could give us a feedback on our itinerary.
Thanks in advance!
3 comments
Depending on your exact hotel location, Kyoto is only about 40mins from Osaka (only 15mins by Shinkansen). Unless you really like booking in and checking out of hotels just add one more night to the Kyoto hotel and just do a day trip to Osaka.
Dotomburi is only good in the Afternoon/ Evenings so go to the Castle first.
I would even go to Fushimi inari as early in the morning as you can handle (it gets super crowded after about 10am) and then go to Osaka Castle and then Dotomburi.
I don’t know what the age requirement is for renting a car in Japan. But I would say that renting a car in Yakushima was crucial for my experience there. It’s not a large island (but not small either) and having a car let me go to any activity/sight on my own schedule.
There are buses but I can’t attest to how convenient they are. My research led me to choosing the car rental.
Osaka Castle is a postwar concrete reconstruction. Himeji Castle is the real deal and is an easy stop on the Shinkansen. From memory, Kumamoto Castle is also an original castle.
Dazaifu is a good day trip from Fukuoka.