3 weeks to visit the South of Japan
My wife and I will have 3 weeks in Japan in April.
We visited Japan once before and spent all our time exploring Tokyo and Kyoto, this time we'd like to get more off the beaten track. We will start and end in Osaka, but does anyone have any top recommendations or itineraries to mix cities with time spent walking in the countryside?
We are interested (on first sight) in spending most of our time in Kyushu which we heard is quieter in terms of tourism and has beautiful landscapes.
Any advice is appreciated!
Lots of great information including suggested itineraries = http://www.japan-guide.com
If you're interested in ceramics, the towns of Arita, Hasami, and Imari might be of interest. For history, Nagasaki and Kagoshima have a lot to offer. The Yoshinogari Historical Park archeological site is worth a visit. For shopping, the area around Hakata station has many options. There's a fun undersea pedestrian tunnel between Moji-ko "retro town" and Shimonoseki.
Great, thank you, that is indeed very helpfull!
Often travelers from Europe describe western Japan as south. There's only 1 degree or 2 latitude difference between Osaka and Ksyushu/Shikoku. It's like London - Dover difference.
Yes I meant the islands south of Honshu, I guess more acurately described as south-west
'We are interested (on first sight) in spending most of our time in Kyushu which we heard is quieter in terms of tourism and has beautiful landscapes.'
While Kyushu doesn't get the volume of tourists that Tokyo and Kyoto get, it's very popular among South Korean, mainland Chinese and Taiwanese visitors, partly because of frequent direct flights.
