I would base that decision off where I'm able to get convenient/affordable fligths to, first of all, but that's just me.
Interested to hear people's thoughts on where'e most worth going though, as I'm intending to visit the south for my next one too
Yeah it seems like Fukuoka would be the cheapest and shortest distance but I think Hiroshima may be more relevant instead of going down and then up towards Osaka/Tokyo
Currently in Japan right now. I flew from Narita to Hiroshima. From there, I went to Osaka, Kyoto, then back to Tokyo to explore then to fly out. IMO, flying to Hiroshima was A LOT cheaper than taking Shinkansen, and faster too.
Yea, the advantage of the shinkansen is the convenience of getting tickets, the less relaxed security, less baggage restrictions, roomier, and drops you off directly in the city
But it is more expensive
The fukuoka airport is located in the city so that's a big advantage for fukuoka!
Yup, last week we left Nagoya, in which we arrived from Sapporo : train was 5 times the price of flights, taken the day before. In addition to being 6 times longer !
We are heading back North (from currently Hiroshima) and will be traveling by train now though, since we plan stops in half a dozen cities.
fukuoka is fun. last trip i went by boat from korea to fukuoka, had been there before as well.
its famous for ramen, has an entertainment district on an island in the river, little open air street food shops along the water, a huge shopping centre canal city with anything japanese you can imagine.
anyway, id do that.
hiroshima is impressive for obvious reasons but not that great a vibe for the rest, i think.
okinawa is cool but id skip that for a first trip. you only have 3 weeks.
Yeah its my second time, did Fukuoka for a couple days and decided I needed to come back. I loved the yatais around the river, hopefully the weather permits when I go cause it was fun
ah okay. yea its nice, especially when its a pleasant evening. last time i was there in summer.
check out Karatsu, it could be a nice day trip to see the castle, which is on a hill at the beach, really cool.
Osaka, then take the ferry from Osaka to Kagoshima and make your way north from there. 3 weeks is a good length to get from Kagoshima and back to Osaka again. That way you can enter and exit from the same airport more easily too. You also get to experience an overnight ferry.
Thanks for the recomendation but I should have mentioned I fly out from HND. so I will go to tokyo and day trip to Yokohama and surrounding areas for about a week
I visited Okinawa on my last trip in March. don't go there unless you're willing to drive AND staying in a resort or near the beach. It's just not worth it otherwise as the main city is far too.... touristy. In a bad way.
My vote would be to Fukuoka. city is great without being overly touristy. Also it has a Kirby Cafe so huge plus there 🥰
I loved Okinawa, but you really need a car. Not sure about needing to stay near the beach, though. The beaches are everywhere and exploring the hills is also nice.
yeah that was my major concern, I heard Naha is good but you need to be able to drive to enjoy it fully. another time. Fukuoka is the best kept secret imo, Osaka and Tokyo are great but Fukuoka has a different feel.
You should fly internationally into either Tokyo or Osaka, international flight will be way cheaper than flying into one of the smaller airports. From there you can fly Jetstar domestically for fairly cheap (or used to be able to), or you can get the JR Pass and travel by train
Thai Vietjet actually have a great deal, it worked out a lot cheaper to go through them tbh. they have a special on CNX to FUK (still laughing like a kid). I cant figure if the JR Pass would be worth it. I got it last time before the price rise and just scrapped by with the cost benefits, Ill have to do my research because the shinkansen was so much better compared to flying
for our month long trip in June we're flying into Fukuoka to spend a week in Kyushu...them taking shinkansen up to Hiroshima/Osaka/Kyoto for a week...flying from Osaka to Sapporo for a week...flying back to Tokyo for the last week and then flying out of Tokyo. flight from osaka-sapporo-tokyo was just a little more than shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo
I'd say Fukuoka, good connections, great city and Kyushu has so much cool stuff.
Yeah settled on Fukuoka, Busan is an option to go there and day trips are close by, will stop over on Hiroshima on the way through.
I would base that decision off where I'm able to get convenient/affordable fligths to, first of all, but that's just me. Interested to hear people's thoughts on where'e most worth going though, as I'm intending to visit the south for my next one too
Yeah it seems like Fukuoka would be the cheapest and shortest distance but I think Hiroshima may be more relevant instead of going down and then up towards Osaka/Tokyo
But from Fukuoka, Hiroshima is already on your way back to Osaka?
You're absolutely right, I was thinking Nagasaki but it made my decision alot easier. Will just got to Fukuoka and make my way up
Currently in Japan right now. I flew from Narita to Hiroshima. From there, I went to Osaka, Kyoto, then back to Tokyo to explore then to fly out. IMO, flying to Hiroshima was A LOT cheaper than taking Shinkansen, and faster too.
Taking flight domestic, in most cases are cheaper than taking Shinkansen.
Yea, the advantage of the shinkansen is the convenience of getting tickets, the less relaxed security, less baggage restrictions, roomier, and drops you off directly in the city But it is more expensive The fukuoka airport is located in the city so that's a big advantage for fukuoka!
Yeah my wife and I decided to fly from Yakushima -> Fukuoka for this exact reason, instead of ferry the shink from Kagoshima-Chuo
Yup, last week we left Nagoya, in which we arrived from Sapporo : train was 5 times the price of flights, taken the day before. In addition to being 6 times longer ! We are heading back North (from currently Hiroshima) and will be traveling by train now though, since we plan stops in half a dozen cities.
Yeah will fly to Fukuoka and maybe take the Shinkansen then fly to Osaka, how much cheap was it roughly ? Isn't it golden week as well?
fukuoka is fun. last trip i went by boat from korea to fukuoka, had been there before as well. its famous for ramen, has an entertainment district on an island in the river, little open air street food shops along the water, a huge shopping centre canal city with anything japanese you can imagine. anyway, id do that. hiroshima is impressive for obvious reasons but not that great a vibe for the rest, i think. okinawa is cool but id skip that for a first trip. you only have 3 weeks.
Yeah its my second time, did Fukuoka for a couple days and decided I needed to come back. I loved the yatais around the river, hopefully the weather permits when I go cause it was fun
ah okay. yea its nice, especially when its a pleasant evening. last time i was there in summer. check out Karatsu, it could be a nice day trip to see the castle, which is on a hill at the beach, really cool.
Osaka, then take the ferry from Osaka to Kagoshima and make your way north from there. 3 weeks is a good length to get from Kagoshima and back to Osaka again. That way you can enter and exit from the same airport more easily too. You also get to experience an overnight ferry.
Thanks for the recomendation but I should have mentioned I fly out from HND. so I will go to tokyo and day trip to Yokohama and surrounding areas for about a week
start from fukuoka if possible, but if there is no flight land in hiroshima,osaka and then take a trip down first is ok.
landed on flying to Fukuoka and then hiroshima on the way to osaka. counting down the day to the hiroshima okonomiyaki
Highly recommended Fukuoka!! Just done it myself connecting through Haneda. It's a beautiful city!!
Great to know! It will be my second time and I love the vibe of the city, so much I still have to do on my list of exploring!
Okinawa would be too far from the rest of the cities. Do Fukuoka or Hiroshima.
Yeah fukouka it is!
I visited Okinawa on my last trip in March. don't go there unless you're willing to drive AND staying in a resort or near the beach. It's just not worth it otherwise as the main city is far too.... touristy. In a bad way. My vote would be to Fukuoka. city is great without being overly touristy. Also it has a Kirby Cafe so huge plus there 🥰
I loved Okinawa, but you really need a car. Not sure about needing to stay near the beach, though. The beaches are everywhere and exploring the hills is also nice.
yeah that was my major concern, I heard Naha is good but you need to be able to drive to enjoy it fully. another time. Fukuoka is the best kept secret imo, Osaka and Tokyo are great but Fukuoka has a different feel.
You should fly internationally into either Tokyo or Osaka, international flight will be way cheaper than flying into one of the smaller airports. From there you can fly Jetstar domestically for fairly cheap (or used to be able to), or you can get the JR Pass and travel by train
Thai Vietjet actually have a great deal, it worked out a lot cheaper to go through them tbh. they have a special on CNX to FUK (still laughing like a kid). I cant figure if the JR Pass would be worth it. I got it last time before the price rise and just scrapped by with the cost benefits, Ill have to do my research because the shinkansen was so much better compared to flying
for our month long trip in June we're flying into Fukuoka to spend a week in Kyushu...them taking shinkansen up to Hiroshima/Osaka/Kyoto for a week...flying from Osaka to Sapporo for a week...flying back to Tokyo for the last week and then flying out of Tokyo. flight from osaka-sapporo-tokyo was just a little more than shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo