I will be travelling for 10 days in mid May (11-20 May 2024), mainly via public transport. Context is that I am with my mother (60 yrs old) and would like to avoid too much bus rides and walking up slopes. She likes onsen so I will be trying to incorporate that for her as and when it is convenient.
Just like to get some recommendations if there is a better way of planning this trip to utilise the JR pass fully (e.g. staying 2 nights in some city other than Fukuoka), or switching some itinerary/skipping some cities to avoid the 4 hour transport when we do daytrips.
Would appreciate if there are some recommendations for food/other fun things to do as well. Thanks in advance!
Day 1 – Land 8am in Fukuoka, Visit Dazaifu
Day 2 – Fukuoka (Base) daytrip to Huis Ten Bosch **(Activate 7 day All Kyushu JR pass – Day 1)**
Day 3 – Fukuoka(Base) daytrip to Nagasaki – Atomic Bomb Museum, Inasa Slope Car and Mt Insayama Observatory **(JR pass Day 2)**
Day 4 – Fukuoka to Beppu (Change base to Beppu) – Visit Hells and Onsen/sandbath **(JR pass Day 3)**
Day 5 – Beppu (Base) daytrip to Yufuin (Bus so JR pass not utilized) **(JR pass Day 4)**
Day 6 – Beppu back to Fukuoka – half day in Fukuoka to visit teamlab and Yatai **(JR pass Day 5)**
Day 7 – Fukuoka (Base) daytrip to Kagoshima – Sakurajima and Onsen **(JR pass Day 6)**
Day 8 – Fukuoka (Base) daytrip to Kumamoto – Castle, Suiznenji and find some other things to do? **(JR pass Day 7)**
Day 9 – Fukuoka (Base) daytrip to places which are nearby – Nanzoin and Uminokamichi Seaside Park
Day 10 – Early Flight back
Other places which I am not going due to time constraint, anyone thinks I should try incorporating them into my itinerary anyways?
Yoshinogari Historical Park in Saga, Mifuneyama Rakuen in Takeo Onsen, Unzen Jigoku in Nagasaki
6 comments
Personally I think there’s more things to do in Nagasaki and worth stay there overnight
Perhaps another day in Nagasaki ? Don’t have to go back to Fukuoka on Day 3, just stay in Nagasaki overnight and perhaps check out the Unzen Jigoku (it has some history and documentary films about it). I saw that place in a live stream once and its in my bucket list when I visit Kyushu.
I would *seriously* think about staying overnight in some places as, otherwise:
a) You’re going to miss out on a lot of local atmosphere if you’re just there for a few hours in the daytime; and
b) You’re going to spend hours travelling back and forth from Fukuoka to your destination and back again.
As a couple of examples, it takes 1.5 hours to get from Fukuoka (Hakata) station to Nagasaki station and then takes extra time to get around Nagasaki. It takes 1.75 hours to get from Fukuoka to Kagoshima station by shinkansen. So, you will lose a lot of time in travelling back and forth to Fukuoka.
Also, as someone else said, Nagasaki deserves more than part of a day. It’s a really lovely city with a lot of interesting history, as it was where Christianity entered Japan and, for a couple of hundred years, it was the only place where foreign traders were permitted to enter Japan during the Edo period. Plus, of course, it is one of only two cities to be devastated by a nuclear bomb. We spent 2.5 days in Nagasaki, and loved the food, the people and the general feel of the city.
Plus, Mt Inasa (Inasa-yama) is best in the late afternoon and evening. Head up the cable car (ropeway) in the late afternoon, watch night fall over Nagasaki, enjoy the city lights and then head back down for dinner.
Not sure if this is something that concerns you but I went to the hells in beppu and one of the spots had animals kept in terrible conditions. I wished I’d never paid them money.
Are you getting the JR Kyushu pass? It’s 25,000 yen, half the price of the full JR pass. I’d recommend using the Design and Story trains. They’re almost all reserve seating and super fun! I’d recommend staying at least a night in Kumamoto so you can check out Mt Aso, which is reachable by train. There are two special trains Aso Boy and Kawasemi Yamasemi for that route. When you get to the Aso stop, there’s a bus that’ll take you up to the crater.
However, I recommend the team labs exhibit. I just recently visited but the whole experience could take you from 15-45 depending on how much time you spend sitting around. It’s not as cohesive as Tokyo’s exhibit. There’s not much else in that area to do.
Also, the sand baths in Beppu were hard to find and had pretty bad reviews. Plus the one that used to be by the ocean closed down. I found a great hotel by the Beppu station that had a beautiful bathhouse and a rooftop pool that was open from 06:00-22:00 and pool was hot spring water that was 32-33 Celsius. If you need any info let me know. I was there last week.