Hi everyone! I am currently planning my third trip to Japan. It will be in mid September. I have previously visited Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Hakone with day trips to Yokohama, Nara, Kobe, and Himeji castle. For this upcoming trip I am planning to do a mix of visiting my favorite spots + exploring new places.
**About me:**
* Late-20s female solo traveler. MAJOR foodie, probably my biggest priority
* **Activities/what I like to do:** I like checking out the typical main attractions of places I visit and most enjoy activities that are more experience-based or involve a view. My stand out memories from prior trips are teamlab borderless/planets, viewing Tokyo from a skyscraper, exploring different Tokyo neighborhoods, visiting the Pokemon centers/buying Pokemon cards, staying in a ryokan, the kyoto monkey park/bamboo grove, Higashiyama in Kyoto, and the fushimi inari taisha. I remember Osaka was kinda boring to me, the food/night life was the best part by far. Shrines aren’t a big priority to me, but I do really like Japanese gardens. Shopping is fun in moderation. I found theme cafes (like maids, gudetama) to not be that great.
* **Nightlife:** Can be fun, especially to meet people, but not most nights because I usually like to get up early for activities when traveling. I went to a couple bar crawls in Tokyo/Osaka my first time and while they were touristy I had fun and met some cool people at each of them.
* **Travel style:** I am not the type of traveler to plan out all of my activities/sightseeing in advance so my below itinerary is more of an outline of where I plan to be and for how long. I prefer to have the flexibility to explore and decide what sounds fun each day. The exception to this is if I need to book something in advance or if it’s best to do an activity at a certain time, so please call these things out. It’s also still helpful to understand the activity/food options in advance.
# Itinerary
I’m going to leave out Tokyo/Osaka because I don’t have any questions or need suggestions for these.
**Day 1 – Osaka -> Hiroshima**
* Arrive in Hiroshima in the afternoon
* Get some okonomiyaki
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**Day 2 – Hiroshima -> Fukuoka**
Do the main Hiroshima activities this day (everything related to atomic bomb + Miyajima island)
* Visit the Peace Memorial and Peace Museum
* Travel to Miyajima Island and visit Itsukushima Shrine (I read afternoon is best)
* Travel to Fukuoka after
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**Day 3 – Fukuoka**
I intend to stay in Fukuoka and take 1 or maybe 2 day trips to other cities. I don’t know much about Kyushu as I’m still in the research phase so this is what I would like the most suggestions on.
Potential activities:
* teamlab forest
* Canal City / eating tonkotsu ramen
* Ohori Park
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**Day 4 – Day Trip to Beppu:**
* Seven hells
* Hyotan Onsen
* Steam some food
* Maybe sand bath
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**Day 5 – Day Trip to Kagoshima (maybe):**
* The main appeal here for me is the volcano since I really like volcanoes
* Looking for more suggestions on what to check out here
**Day 6 – Go back to Tokyo**
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# Questions
1. The only question not related to the itinerary: Is a day trip to Hakone from Tokyo to visit the main tourist attractions (Open Air Museum, Hakone Ropeway) worth it? My main goal here is a chance to see Fuji so if another place would be better I’m all ears. On my first visit to Hakone I spent the whole time enjoying my Ryokan so I didn’t see anything else (the ropeway was closed).
2. Is 1 night enough time in Hiroshima? Am I missing any of the main attractions? I’m most interested in seeing everything related to the atomic bomb + Miyajima Island.
3. What are your recommendations for things to do in Fukuoka?
4. A couple questions on Beppu:
1. Would it be better to plan to stay for a night in a Ryokan?
2. I have seen Yufuin (or Kurokawa) recommended above Beppu a few times in this sub. I really want a nice onsen experience because I didn’t have that on my prior trips. Would it be better to go there?
5. Is Kagoshima worth it or would I be better off spending more time in Fukuoka?
6. Do I need to rent a car? This is something I don’t really want to do. I don’t speak any Japanese and while I’m a very confident driver, that’s on the right side of the road. Figuring all of it out in Japan on my own sounds a little taxing so I only want to go this route if it will really improve my experience.
7. In general is this enough time in the Kyushu region or should I consider shaving one more day off Osaka or Tokyo?
2 comments
1. The Open Air museum was amazing and well- worth the trip, in my opinion. My mom also loved it. If you get there early, you can beat the crowds – we enjoyed a good hour with it basically empty. We also enjoyed the ropeway and boat circuit – although we didn’t see Fuji because of the clouds. This is the second time I’ve been to Hakone and not seen Fuji, so I wouldn’t bet on seeing it.
5. For Kagoshima, I have a friend who lived there. The general consensus was its lovely, but VERY out of the way. She lived in a very small town, though. Another option for a day trip from Fukuoka might be Nagasaki?
I’d do two days in Hiroshima. Also, I didn’t like Beppu. I much preferred Unzen.