My husband and I are going back to Japan for the 3rd time and want to explore Kyushu since we’ve never been. We just made a rough itinerary of our 15 day trip as a starting point and was wondering if our timeline seems realistic. We don’t want to feel too rushed but we do enjoy doing active things when we travel. Ideally we plan out our trip so that it feels balanced with activities and down time where we’re just walking around and taking in the sights.
Specific questions I have are:
1) Is visiting Hakone worth it? We’re not interested in staying at a ryokan but is it fun to visit anyway? If we skip Hakone we could potentially extend our stay in Kyushu
2) Is day 6 too much? Originally we were going to stay in Kumamoto for a night then visit the gorge the following day but there’s not much I want to see in Kumamoto other than the castle.
Below is our rough timeline- would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions!
Day 1 – Land in Tokyo in the evening, grab dinner
Day 2 – Relaxed day in Tokyo, light shopping, trying a few restaurants that are on our list
Day 3 – Fly to Fukuoka, pick up rental car, walk around Fukuoka, eat at food stalls at night
Day 4 – Drive to Nagasaki, visit Kouraku Kiln on the way, Mt. Inasa
Day 5 – Explore Nagasaki, Chinatown, Mt. Nabekanmuri Park, a museum?
Day 6 – Drive to Takachiho Gorge, visit Kumamoto on the way, boat ride under waterfall, check into hotel in Aso
Day 7 – Explore Mt. Aso
Day 8 – Drive back to Fukuoka, return rental car and take train to Hiroshima, visit atomic bomb dome
Day 9 – Do part of the Shimanami Kaido
Day 10 – Train to Kyoto, spend the day exploring/relaxing
Day 11 – Train to Hakone, explore Hakone loop
Day 12 – Train back to Tokyo
Day 13 – Mt. Fuji day tour
Day 14 – Chill day in Tokyo, do some souvenir shopping
Day 15 – Free day
Day 16 – Leave Japan 🙁
by Ok_Comfortable5425