My family will be visiting Japan in June – my wife and I and our 9-year-old.
We’ll be starting in Tokyo and ending in Osaka, but in the middle we want to visit Kyushu. We have some friends who live in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture that we want to see for a couple of days.
I’m trying to fill in the middle of our itinerary in a way that:
* Evens out the train travel and minimizes transfers.
* Gives us some good sites to see on the way, especially family-friendly stuff. Castles, scenic parks, and anything appealing to kids is great.
* We’d like to ride a scenic tourist train at least once.
* Gives us a good home base somewhere around Oita for 2-3 days.
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Here’s a current proposal I’m thinking, but we’re wide open. Ideally we’ll leave Tokyo on Tuesday and get to Osaka on Sunday.
**Tuesday -** take the shinkansen from Tokyo to Okayama, then explore the city (maybe a museum?)
**Wednesday -** See Okayama castle & environs.
**Thursday -** Check out of hotel, take shinkansen to Kumamoto, see Kumamoto Castle (and whatever else is in town).
**Friday -** Check out of hotel, ride the ‘Aso Boy’ train (or even just the Odan Tokkyu) to Beppu. See Beppu and meet up with our friends.
**Saturday -** Meet up with friends, explore the Takasakiyami Zoological Park / Aquarium
**Sunday -** train to Osaka.
But we’re open to suggestions. I considered Hiroshima instead of Okayama, but my concerns are that it might be more appealing to the adults than the kiddo, and we’d really like to do it more justice than a short stopover.
We could book more time in Beppu, but I’m not sure if it’s really worth it if we’re not doing the onsen thing. I like onsens, but we’ll be there in the warm/rainy season, and our kiddo’s more into regular pools.
I’m very open and thankful for any suggestions, though!
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by wild_b_cat