You can certainly skip Miyazaki-shi. It is not interesting enough to go that far out of your way.

On your next visit you can fly into Miyazaki then go to Kirishima, Kagoshima, etc. I had a fun day trip from Miyazaki to see the not very impressive (but nice) castle remains in Obi and stopped at Aoshima on the way back. The funnest part was in dealing with a few of the locals in Obi. I stayed at the Sheraton in Miyazaki which was very nice but outside of town (good if you had a car, depending on parking fee). My only memory of being in the city was booking a place to stay in Aso - had a fun time dealing with a travel agent.

Thank you so much, both of you!
x

Kavey, The Shuhokan is a modern building on the outskirts of the town. We had a large Japanese style room with a view of the mountain which dominates the town. Your GPS should take you right there and I believe parking is free with a large lot. This may be a good spot for you to try the onsen experience as they are on the top floor with great mountain views and were fairly uncrowded. We had some of the best food dishes of our trip at the dining room here for both dinner and breakfast

We walked to town although they do have a shuttle to the station. We found that taking the back road to town you walk past working farms, rice fields and quiet back roads. There is a place on this route called Grandmas that we enjoyed as the owners were friendly, its a cafe bakery.
I'd suggest an early start to see the Lake and then walk back through the shop area after they open as the town does fill up with bus tours. You could probably see these sites in a half day then take the car to Beppu or other destinations.

I would recommend stopping at Dazaifu if time and weather permit to see the shrine and the National Museum there. If you timing is right you could see Dazaifu and still get to your hotel past check in time. Night in Fukuoka is a great time to stroll and Nakasu /Tenjin areas are busy and interesting

IMHO the drive through the Aso area is enough to see and experience it.
Pack a picnic lunch from Kumamoto for a scenic stop near the crater and the on to Takahicho.

Your itinerary looks great and I can't wait to hear your trip report

Thank you again, and love the idea of picnic lunch from Kumamoto and also the walk b the lake and past Grandma's place!

There is a grand sumo tournament in Fukuoka in November (Kyushu Bassho). That would a noon (or earler) to 6PM. Showing up as late as 2PM would be ok but stay to 6PM (the last match).

Chikae Fukuoka is a restaurant your guide should know about:
http://www.pbase.com/ryoung88/fukuoka_2010

You can find some reviews of Chikae at tripadvisor.
Lots of FRESH fish.

I tried a local specialty of Fukuoka called mentai. I might never forgive kuranosuke for recommending it, but you might like it.

And Fukuoka is the best place to buy Hakata ningyo:
http://tinyurl.com/nq2ypbg

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/s...katadolls.html

I thought about sumo but it may be one of those things that's pushed to the next visit again -- I'd say that whilst our itinerary isn't rushed, it's still just a taster of Kyushu so not sure I'd want to give an entire afternoon to sumo and miss so much time to do other stuff. Then again, I do want to see a real life sumo tournament some day!

Chikae looks great, I've made a note, thanks!

*sheepish face* I'm not very keen on the Hakata dolls actually. But I will buy lots of other souvenirs!

PS I'm totally having mentaiko!

kavey, good choice.

i missed chikae on my last trip to fukuoka, but won't next time.

bill, give it another try. lol

Tourist

I was just reading Fukuoka Now and saw there was going to be a night illumination the first week of November that looked fun.

http://fukuoka-now.com/event/hakata-light-up-walk-2013/

Also follow the >Events< link to more info on the Saga Balloon Event

Kagemusha, I am indeed a tourist, that's the ENTIRE point of my visit and not the insult you may have intended it to be! We just got back, I was very happy indeed with our itinerary, happy we didn't try and cram more in and will definitely return to see more one day.

We ate well and saw many beautiful things, though not everything we had hoped to eat/ see, so definitely scope for a return visit!