Hi Fodorites!

im planning the first basic itinerary for our family trip to Kyushu next Easter (via South Korea) to present to the others before we start booking travel and accommodation but itineraries are slightly hard to come by for Kyushu. FWIW second trip to Japan (first was in 2019 so I appreciate a lot has changed) 2 adults and two teens in tow - the 14yr old has requested shopping and cafes, the 17yr old wants to go to Mount Aso and check out Hashima Island. I want us to have a balance of the massive variety of culture Japan has to offer but also get out in nature which we didn’t really do last time.

so any thoughts on places and length of stay to start building?

Fukuoka - 1 night
travel direct to Yakushima via Ibusuki - 3 nights
travel to Kumamoto via Kagoshima - 2 nights (incorporate days trips to Aso and Takachicho)
Nagasaki - 2 nights
Fukuoka - 2 nights

we have an additional 2-3 nights going spare and more if we cut down Yakushima, I’m just aware moving every 2 nights can be a bit exhausting so wondering what’s best. Probably going to skip Beppu as my teens aren’t interested in Onsens though we could of course tag on another night in Kumamoto and get the train over there for a day to see the Seven Hells?

we are currently Planning only 3 nights in South Korea (2 in Seoul and 1 in Busan before getting the ferry across) so also if making that trip longer is recommended I’d def look into it especially if it means incorporation Boseon for the matcha obsessed teen!

Should say this itinerary is based on getting the train but I wonder if we’re missing out by not driving and therefore missing Miyazaki and the eastern coast? So I guess another option could be to switch the order and do Fukuoka - Nagasaki - Kumamoto hire a car to take in Mount Aso and Takachicho Gorge on the way to Miyazaki and make our way to Kagoshima before dropping the car to go to Yakushima then train back up to Fukuoka?

I think I was just planning on getting to Yakushima first to offset potential freneticness of Seoul - Busan - Fukuoka

but very open to suggestions! We have 12-13nights ti play with

Hard to comment, as I thought 4 weeks in South Korea (with about 1 week in Seoul and 3+ days in Busan and about 1/2 day in Boseong) barely sufficient for my interests.
4 wonderful solo weeks in South Korea

I’ve read your trip report and it’s amazing! But a proper trip to South Korea will have to keep for another time, our focus this time was Japan but flights worked out that we could squeeze in South Korea at the start and fly home via Singapore - and I’m still tied to school holidays!

This plan is ...ambitious.

>> missing Miyazaki and the eastern coast?

Don't be concerned with missing out by skipping Beppu, Miyazaki, etc. You are already at risk of missing out on actually enjoying the places that are on your itinerary.

You need 3 nights for what you want to do in Nagasaki. That will give you one full day for the city and another full day for the island. You can then have time in Nagasaki for the ropeway, Dejima, etc.

You need 3 nights for Kumamoto. That will give you time for the driving trips while also enjoying the city, like the awesome Kumamoto Castle.

You can skip Yakushima. Or fly to and or from there. Your route: ferry + night in Fukuoka, train, and ferry is very time-inefficient and might not save you much money.

You can fly from Busan to Kumamoto (KMJ). That airport is aka Aso Kumamoto Airport. It is about half-way between Kumamoto and Aso. About 33 min drive from KMJ to Aso. There is an airline called Eastar Jet that flies Busan to KMJ nonstop for about $60 but assume there are add-on charges. Would be maybe $160 for connecting flights on Korean or Asiana for PUS-ICN-KMJ (or maybe use FF miles).

After Aso, you could go to Yakushima (flight would be from Kagoshima).

If you go to Busan first, or skip it, then your options for flying from Seoul to Japan at low cost expand greatly.

Sigh you’re probably right. We were really hoping to avoid yet more plane travel as it will take two to get us there and two to get us home but it might be the only way to make sure we get to Yakushima (which I’m really keen to do) and not feel like we’re racing around….

You don't really want to take that ferry to Fukuoka, do you? It takes 11.5 hours.

I think you would be better off by flying from Korea to Kumamoto or Kagoshima or Yakushima.
Fly or ferry between Kagoshima and Yakushima.

For example, fly to Kumamoto and get a car. Drive 33 min to Aso. Takachiho is not far at all.
Drop the car off at Kagoshima Airport and fly to Yakushima (40 min for $75)
Or take JR to Kagoshima and then ferry.

From Yakushima, fly to Fukuoka nonstop and inexpensive. Flying to Nagasaki would be more expensive and have a connection. You could fly to Fukuoka and take the train to Nagasaki the same day.

Japanese airports are easy to use.

How to get to and around Yakushima: Access, Transportation and Orientation

Thankyou - I appreciate the detail. I would prefer not to take more flights than we have to (we’ve avoided plane travel for the last few years to do this trip and it’s already 4 flights just to get there and back) but I do take your point about the trip from SK to JP. I doubt we’d do any more flying within Kyushu, we actually enjoy trains and if we were to hire a car would want to make the most of the getting to out of the way places with it. But I’ll look at Seoul - Fukuoka. I think we started planning the ferry from Busan before they cancelled the quicker line sadly

The Fukuoka airport is quite convenient. There is a shuttle from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. From there, you can take a subway to Hakata Station where you can get on the shinkansen to Kumamoto or Kagoshima. Or take bus/subway/taxi into the city from there.

Taxis from the international terminal to the city can be affordable. Quick, painless, and not expensive.

The Daehan Dawon Green Tea Plantation near Boseong is indeed a highlight of Korea.