13D12N in Kyushu

[VD]

was previously trying to squeeze both Gankajima and Huis Ten Bosch on a full day. But Gankanjima only have 2 trips each day. otherwise do the island in the morning then Huis Ten Bosch in the afternoon portion?

 

[evilerniex]

was previously trying to squeeze both Gankajima and Huis Ten Bosch on a full day. But Gankanjima only have 2 trips each day. otherwise do the island in the morning then Huis Ten Bosch in the afternoon portion?

it will be better to have a whole day for the theme park.


how long does gankanjima takes? I haven't been there before.
if it takes only half a day, then how about swapping gankanjima to day8 afternoon, then u can have the whole day 9 for huis then bosch.


alternatively, u can put huis ten bosch on day 9, and gankanjima on day 10. leave for fukuoka on day 10 evening/night so u still have almost the whole day for gankanjima. and u can visit the places in Nagasaki city on day 8, such as peace park and mount inasa

 

[VD]

Gankanjima tour starts from 9am to 12pm+ and 1pm+ to 5pm+. Need to decide. Maybe check out early on Day 10 then do Gankanjima and leave for Fukuoka.

thanks for your recommendation.

 

[crntbs]

here is my final itinerary, abit relaxing.. alot of chilling time and do some shopping.

Day 1 - Fukuoka and transfer to Beppu (activate 3 days Northern Kyushu pass), visit Kitsuki
Day 2 - Beppu, day trip to Yufuin, Beppu ropeway
Day 3 - Beppu, Jikugo tour, try jigokumushi and maybe sand spa
Day 4 - Beppu to Kagoshima (activate 5 days all kyushu pass), maybe travel to ibuski
Day 5 - kagoshima, go Sakurajima
Day 6 - Kagoshima to Kumamoto
Day 7 - Kumamoto, castle visit
Day 8 - Kumamoto to Nagasaki, go Huis ten bosch
Day 9 - Nagasaki, Gankanjima
Day 10 - Nagasaki to Fukuoka, stay in Fukuoka until we leave on Day 13.

Decided not to do Mt Aso because the ropeway is not fully in operation.

Hi VD, I've just return from Kyushu trip. Here's my inputs regarding your itenaries.

Beppu jigoku: personally, I think not worth going. I've went for blood and tonardo and decided to skip the rest. would suggest going on a day trip to usuki Buddha statue instead.

Nagasaki, gankanjima: think you'll need to book gankanjima in advance. I've tried to book about 1-2 mths before my trip and wasn't able to get a slot as it was fully booked
You could only visit gankanjima ran by one of the 3 tour operators.

If you have time, would recommend going unzen jigoku which is within Nagasaki prefecture. There's an express bus that goes there from Nagasaki bus terminal but only have 3time slot. IMO, unzen jigoku is much better than the 2 beppu jigoku I've visited and moreover, admission is free

Fukuoka: i've splited shopping into 2days of about 4hrs each day. Have went tenjin on first day and hakata canal city on 2nd day. regretted that I did not allocate more time for shopping. 4hrs is not enuff >.<
Need at least one day on each location. Do note that shops closes mostly ard 8pm-9pm. Restaurants closes mostly ard 11pm-3am.

Kagoshima, sakurajima: would suggest you to make this itenary flexible. I have to change my itenary a bit as it was raining on the day I was suppose to visit sakurajima.

 

[VD]

already looked into weather forecast, thanks for your input.

 

[kifo]

Seriously, I think the best transport for tourists in Kyushu is rental car. The drives are scenic and stress-free, many places are simply hard to get to with trains and buses.

 

[VD]

I like to but I don't have licence , my wife has but I think I will be more stress letting her drive. anyway, just make do and enjoy my trip. I also forgo Gankanjima, AM slot too early.

 

[crntbs]

already looked into weather forecast, thanks for your input.

Eh, tv weather forecast said it was supposed to be sunny on the day we went. It started to drizzle when we've board the ferry. Then downpour when we've reached. So decided to cancel and took the ferry back almost immediately after landing. >.<

Agreed with kifo that driving would be the best way to enjoy Kyushu scenics. I didn't have license and my friend wasn't a confidence driver but we've managed to survive driving although it could be quite stressful to drive thru mountain roads. Maybe you could workout doing one day driving along nichinan coastal area at miyazaki prefecture. It's really nice and the road is really easy.

 

[VD]

no choice when it comes to the weather. it does rain frequently during autumn. on the driving part, although I agree but I wouldnt want to stress out the missus, plus too near to try to change plans. I don't mind not visiting certain places.

 

[martin]

how did the trip go. I will want to do a kyushu trip next year, either apr or nov. i too don't drive so would be great to hear how you manage with public transport.y

 

[rrr2015]

no choice when it comes to the weather. it does rain frequently during autumn. on the driving part, although I agree but I wouldnt want to stress out the missus, plus too near to try to change plans. I don't mind not visiting certain places.

may i know if the leaves have turn yellow/red during your trip?

you should try driving ... drove from kumamoto -> beppu, very scenic & beautiful mountain roads. there weren't much cars until you reach a major city (e.g fukuoka). speed limits about 20 ~ 30km/h

 

[VD]

Mostly green, ginko seem to be dropping leave though

 

[VD]

how did the trip go. I will want to do a kyushu trip next year, either apr or nov. i too don't drive so would be great to hear how you manage with public transport.y

can I say too short? not much autumn mood in Kyushu. one thing for sure, it rains alot, compare to Osaka/Kyoto trip in 2012.

We landed in Hakata, then travel to Beppu, then to Kagoshima, where we experienced our first 7.0 earthquake at 6am, visited Sakurajima and it was pouring the whole day. Tried Chicken sashimi but missus refuses to try the horse meat . Went to Kumamoto then up to Sage and Nagasaki, and finally back to Fukuoka. Changed 5 hotels, transport was fine, standard practice to book your rides in advance. This time we took quite a buses, taxi and especially alot of walking. But like I said, too short, would definitely prefer to stay at least 3 nights in one city. We lose half a day on days we traveling to the next city, night fall starts at 5ish. Not as cold as we like, humidity was quite high too, due to the high rainfall.

If you like shopping, avoid Canal city in Hakata, the place was packed with Ah tiongs. Still processing the photos, so have to wait till I have finished looking thru them.

 

[martin]

Thanks. Looking forward to your photos. Looking thru your thread, you did make changes to your itinerary based on feedback from others. Now that you are back, which places you liked most and would highly recommend and those that you would suggest can do without?

Did you go Unzen Jigoka?

 

[VD]

ya, did adjustment because of the weather too. But totally skip Mt Aso due to the recent volcanic alert. Gankanjima was out too, spend an entire day of rain at Huis Ten Bosch.

 

[rrr2015]

Mostly green, ginko seem to be dropping leave though

ok thanks! I was in Kumamoto in mid Oct & ginkgo trees were in full autumn colors around kumamoto castle, but trees in mountain area seems only about 30%. looking forward to your photos

 

[VD]

5DM32416 Panorama_s by Simon Sng, on Flickr
No time to upload the photos, try one first

 

[evilerniex]

5DM32416 Panorama_s by Simon Sng, on Flickr
No time to upload the photos, try one first

nice! taken from mt inasa?

 

[VD]

yes, best place to view the entire city

 

[VD]

More pano shots

5DM30892 Panorama_s by Simon Sng, on Flickr
Shot from my room in Beppu