shelleyk

I have come up with this tentative itinerary for a second trip to Japan in Nov. Plane tickets have not been purchased so adjustments can be made.

1-Fly into Fukuoka
2-Visit Dazaifu Temple and National Museum-overnight Fukuoka
3-Train to Kumamoto-overnight Kumamoto
4-Visit the castle and Suizenji-Overnight Kumamoto
5-Train to Kagoshima-overnight Kagoshima
6-Take the ferry to the volcano island-overnight Kagoshima
7-Spend the day traveling from Kagoshima through the mountains to Nagasaki. Does anyone know if this can be done in one day using sightseeing trains and buses. The bus from Kumamoto to the onsen town sounds scenic and fun. However I don't know if I can connect with a bus that continues north. Any help here would be appreciated.-overnight Nagasaki
8-Sightsee one day in Nagasaki-overnight Nagasaki
9-Train to Hiroshima-overnight Hiroshima
10-Revisit Miyajiima-overnight Hiroshima
11-Train to Okayama-Visit gardens-overnight Okayama
12-Ferry to Naoshima-spend the day in Naoshima and overnight in Kurashiki
13-Train to Himejii-visit castle-overnight Himeji
14-Train to Nara- revisit Nara-overnight Nara
15-Train to Kyoto stopping at Uji-overnight Kyoto
16-18 (3 more nights in Kyoto
19-Train to Nikko-overnight Nikko
20-Sightsee Nikko-train to Tokyo
21-Tokyo
22-fly home

Any suggestions for additions, subtractions, or improvements in scheduling would be most welcome.

mayith

Hi!
Are you travelling with a Japan Rail Pass?

3+4: I wouldn't spend more than 1 day in Kumamoto. If you take the shinkansen (bullet train) it takes less than 1 hour from Fukuoka to arrive and the castle as well as the city is small, 1 day should be plenty of time!

7: Best way to travel from Kagoshima to Nagasaki is by train (also is the fastest way). Bus connections are not that well developed and some routes do not work everyday. To do a slow sightseeing trip, it would be better to hire a car. As "onsen town" do you mean Beppu? I think it's slightly overrated...I visited in summer 2014 and the city itself looks old and the hot spring parks are expensive. Try http://www.hyperdia.com/en/ to check for train timetables

8: Nagasaki is really nice city! I spent only 1 day and didn't have time to see everything, it'd be worth another day if you have the time!

12: It takes some time to go and come back from Naoshima, I'd say its worth it to spend a night there and have some more time island hopping from Naoshima as well as sightseeing the island not in a hurry. There's a hotel there (might be a little expensive) but there's also 1 hostel. You could also visit the public onsen in the island which also has art inside

While in Kyushu Aso Mountain (volcano) is also a nice place to visit if you like nature.

This website has good updated information on transportation and other: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e627.html you should check it!

I don't know what you visited in your first time in Japan but I'd say it's a good plan, depends also in your interests. I'd try to check if the dates in Kyoto happen to meet momiji season (maple leaf season).

Have fun!

russ_in_LA

Hi Shellyk,

This looks like a great trip! I'm sure the Kyushu veterans will chime in on that portion of the trip, so I will focus my comments on days 11 - 13:

1) We loved Kurashiki and could have spent the entire day there, instead of just the late afternoon and evening. I think that if you are spending that day in Naoshima, which seems to have a lot to see, then you won't see Kurashiki at all.
2) We also felt that Kurashiki had a lot more to offer than Okayama, once we had seen the garden, which takes about 90 minutes at a leisurely pace
3) Himeji is an hour to the east of Okayama and 75 minutes east of Kurashiki, so you will be back tracking quite bit to go to Kurashiki. Also, the ferry from Uno to Naoshima is much closer to Okayama and Kurashiki than to Himeji

Given the above, I would suggest going from Hiroshima to Okayama, seeing the garden and the moving to Kurashiki in the early afternoon, seeing the town and spend the night. Spend the entire next day at Naoshima and either spend the night there, or back in Kurashiki. Then move Himeji the next day, which puts you on the way to Nara without back tracking.

If you haven't seen it, I talk about Kurashiki in detail in my most recent Japan trip report. Have a great time!

someotherguy

You could switch Kagoshima and Kumamoto, then use the ferry from Kumamoto to Shimabara, from where it's 90 or so minutes by train to Nagasaki. Shimabara is historically important (Shimabara rebellion) and has a decent castle. I've taken that ferry if you want more info. Lafcadio Hearn's place in Kumamoto is worth a visit.

I've been to Kagoshima a few times but have never gone over to Sakurajima. What do you want to do there? It looks great from a distance (e.g., as borrowed scenery at Senganen) and is actively erupting at the moment. Depending on your interests, there are other things to see and visit in the neighborhood. There's a massive reconstructed Jomon site to the north, the Kamikaze museum in Chiran, and in town there are sites associated with Saigo Takamori (the Last Samurai) and the Meiji Restoration.

kja

Here's shellyk's initial thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ons-needed.cfm

Rather than spending your nights in Hiroshima, you might consider staying in Miyajima. I say that for three reasons: (1) Miyajima is particularly enchanting after daytrippers leave; (2) I was very glad to see Miyajima's "floating torii" (part of Itsukushima shrine) at both high and low tides, which is difficult to do with a day trip, and (3) after the emotional experience of Hiroshima, I was very glad to spend a quiet, contemplative evening on Miyajima. That said, I think we all have different ways of responding to powerful moments and so my way might not work for you.

FWIW, I was disappointed with Okayama's Korakuen, but I'm sure that could have just been a fluke.

I loved Kurashiki. I spent two nights there and found it surprisingly charming. Consider making time for the Ohara Museum.

Uji is also lovely. Be sure to visit Byodo-in.

I was very glad that I spent overnight in Nikko. Consider including a visit to Kegon-no-taki and maybe a bit of Lake Chuzenji.

Enjoy!

MinnBeef

Totally agree with kja's comments re. overnighting in Miyajima vs. Hiroshima. I wouldn't have missed Hiroshima for the world and am fine with my decision to spend one night there, as seeing the A-Bomb dome at twilight was eerie, haunting and sadly beautiful all at the same time. But you could also arrive early in the a.m. in Hiroshima, spend most of the day there and then after seeing the A-Bomb dome at sunset, take an evening ferry to Miyajima to spend your 2 nights there. I loved my one night on Miyajima as the island was so much more serene and romantic (even though I was there by myself. )

My only other observation, and it is just that having not visited Kyushu is that other than Kyoto, you have no other locations where you are overnighting more than 2 nights. If that works for your travel style, that is perfectly fine. But for me, that would be a lot of moving around over the course of 3 weeks. JMO.

Mara

I haven't studied your itinerary in detail so I will say I agree with someotherguy about taking the ferry from Kumamoto - I did it in 2012, I think, and it was great fun. I also visited Lafcadio Hearn's home - I was the only visitor and the person in charge was so happy to have a visitor - he let me sit at Mr. Hearn's desk and took a photo of me....;-)

I also think you are moving around a lot. If you have a JR Pass you could travel fairly easily from one place to another using one base. Going from Hiroshima to Okayama is between 40 and 80 minutes depending on the train.

I stayed in Kurashiki, which I didn't like that much contrary to others' opinions, but it was convenient as I took day trips to Okayama, Hiroshima and Onomichi....you might consider something like that rather than moving so much...

shelleyk

Thanks for all your great input.

Mayith-I am planning to use a 21 JR Pass.

russ-I read your TR re Kurashiki The town does look interesting to me. I'm trying to fit it in between seeing the gardens in Okayam and getting to/from Naoshima. I haven't figured that out yet. Anny concrete suggestions?

someotherguy and Mara-How long is the ferry ride to Shimabara? If it is longer that half an hour to 45 minutes, we can't do it as DH gets sea sick.

Also, I was going to take the ferry to Sakuajima to do some walking along the foot paths on the island. In retrospect, the time may be better used by walking through Senganen Garden which looks interesting on japan-guide.

kja and MinnBeef- On our last trip I spent most of a day at the A bomb Museum and from 9am to 6pm on Miyajiima seeing the tori at both high and low tides. We used the Hotel Gran Via in Hiroshima for 2 nightsas our base. On this trip I am not going back to the museum, but I did want to spend a full day hiking and revisiting Miyajiima.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for a scenic train
ride to incorporate into this itinerary. And Is it worth including adding some extra days to go to Matsue and Izuma?

Again, many thanks for your help.

russ_in_LA

Regarding your Okayama/Kurashik/Naoshima portion:

Trains from Hiroshima to Okayama take between 46 and 80 minutes. You could take the 8:06 train which arrives at 8:52 and take taxi to Korakuen garden. If that's too early for you, the 9:00 train arrives at 10:19. We taxied to the garden, so I can't comment on time to get there by bus.

You could spend an hour exploring garden (two tops, including the castle), exiting through the south gate for look at the castle across the river. If you are looking for lunch there is a charming tea house just outside the south gate of the garden.

There are trains from Okayama to Kurashiki every 10 - 20 minutes. The ride is about 15 minutes. We arrived about 2pm to Kurashiki, which gave us about 3 hours to tour around town and go to the Ohara Museum, before going for dinner at our ryoken and a night time stroll afterwards.

I would probably spend the next night on Noashima so as to not make for a super busy round trip, but if you wanted to stay two nights in Kurashiki, you could catch the 8:03 train to Uno, which takes a bit over an hour (or leave an hour later if staying the night). There's a ferry at 8:22 and another at 9:22, which take 20 minutes each.

There looks to be a lot to see on the island, so you will need to be selective if you are doing a day trip. Note that many of the museums have a last entry at 4pm.

There's a 5:40 ferry back to Uno, which connects to the 6pm Train to Kurashiki, in case you want to do it as a day trip. That will put you back about 7:16pm. Let us know how it goes!

Mara

According to my transportation spreadsheet,the ferry from Kumamoto to Shimabara was thirty minutes.

Have you done the math to see if a 21 day pass is really necessary? There are a few other passes that may work better....here's a list:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

mrwunrfl

>> And Is it worth including adding some extra days to go to Matsue and Izuma?

Oh yes, it certainly is. Great place to visit and Izumo Taishi is amazing. Matsue is worth adding even if it meant subtracting from some more obvious destination. Before Matsue I visited Hagi which I enjoyed but understand if others suggested skipping it.

Flying into Fukuoka with a connection at the same airport (i.e. no NRT/HND tranfer) is a great idea. You'll be there too early for the sumo tournament (Kyushu Basho) which doesn't start until the 13th. I've had three short visits to Fukuoka but not yet visited Dazaifu.

Shimabara is on my wish list. I would definitely want to spend a night at Unzen Onsen.

I liked the garden and castle in Okayama and didn't much care for Kurashiki (maybe it was me, that day, I was beat) except for a chopsticks store that I found. You should consider basing in Okayama for a few nights. The first place I would look would be the Granvia.

A couple of itin options:
- skip Nikko and Tokyo altogether, fly home from Osaka
- go to Nikko first* then fly HND to Kagoshima, home from Osaka

*I've looked into going to Nikko from NRT and recall that it was not particularly easy (certainly not as easy as getting from FUK to a Fukuoka hotel). IIRC, the best plan was to spend the first night in Utsunomiya and go to Nikko next day. And the bus from NRT may have been longer than I would like.

mrwunrfl

Kumamoto port to Shimabara port is 30 minutes on a high speed ferry.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4451.html

russ_in_LA

For the sake of clarity, when I refer to Kurashiki I'm really referring specifically to the Bikan Historical Quarter, also referred to as the Canal Area. Here is a link to see if this looks like something where you want to spend much time:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5751.html

This is the only part of town we explored and it worth 3 or 4 hours IMO, even if you don't spend the night there.