kyushu spring itinerary

i posted previously about my plans to go to tokyo and kyushu in late spring 2025. It will have to concide with golden week because of work. I'm still debating whether to do tokyo or kyushu first, but here are 2 rough itineraries. Would appreciate any feedback.

4/17: fly to Tokyo
4/18: land in NRT mid afternoon, connecting flight to Fukuoka and overnight Fukuoka
4/19: Fukuoka, overnight Fukuoka
4/20: Fukuoka, overnight Fukuoka
4/21: Kagoshima day trip
4/22: rental car, Itoshima, Karatsu, Okawachiyama pottery village, overnight Takeo or Ureshino Onsen
4/23: Mifuneyama Rakuen, Yutoku Inari Shrine, Huis Ten Bosch afternoon/evening, overnight Takeo or Ureshino Onsen
4/24: Nagasaki Bio Park, overnight Nagasaki
4/25: day in Nagasaki, overnight Nagasaki
4/26: Kumamoto via Shimabara/Kyusho ferry, overnight Aso
4/27: day in Mt Aso, and overnight Aso
4/28: day in Takachiho Gorge, overnight Aso
4/29: Kuji Flower Park and Kurokawa onsen, overnight Yufuin
4/30: Yufuin/Beppu, overnight Yufuin
5/1: Kawachi Fujiuen, return rental car and late afternoon flight to HND, overnight Tokyo
5/2: Disneyland, overnight Tokyo
5/3: Tokyo AM, fly home in late afternoon


4/16: fly to Tokyo
4/17: land in NRT mid afternoon, overnight Tokyo
4/18: Disneyland, overnight Tokyo
4/19: fly to Fukuoka, rental car, Itoshima, Karatsu, overnight Takeo or Ureshino Onsen
4/20: Yutoku Inari Shrine, Huis Ten Bosch afternoon/evening, overnight Takeo or Ureshino Onsen
4/21: Okawachiyama pottery village, Nagasaki Bio Park, overnight Nagasaki
4/22: day in Nagasaki, overnight Nagasaki
4/23: Kumamoto via Shimabara/Kyusho ferry, overnight Aso
4/24: day in Mt Aso, and overnight Aso
4/25: day in Takachiho Gorge, overnight Aso again
4/26: Kuji Flower Park and Kurokawa onsen, overnight Yufuin
4/27: explore Yufuin/Beppu, overnight Yufuin
4/28: Kawachi Fujiuen, Kitakyushu/Shiminoseki, return rental car, overnight Fukuoka
4/29: Fukuoka
4/30: Fukuoka
5/1: Kagoshima day trip
5/2: fly to Tokyo, later afternoon flight home


My main concern is Disneyland during Golden week vs. how busy the 2nd half of my Kyushu itinerary might be during Golden week
Is Takeo or Ureshino Onsen a good area to base in Saga?
What about around Aso?

Disney was your main concern? I'd have the very rushed itinerary was the main concern.

Kagoshima is 2 hours away from Fukuoka. Then trams/buses and ferries to get to its sights.

Nagasaki thru Shimabara, use ferry, thru Kumamoto to Aso. Both Shimabara and Kumamoto need a day to explore, and you are doing it in one day with a slow ferry.

Your days around Yufuin section of the itinerary are also very rushed.

I'd honestly give Disneyland and Kagoshima the flick so you can have additional time at these rushed locations.

This year the real golden week will be from 27th April to 6th May (10 days) for many workers of Tokyo. So 2nd May will be rather crowded in Tokyo Disneyland. You may better choose 18th April.

Kyoshu is rural place as compared to Tokyo, but some places are not easy to drive, due to heavy traffic (Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Kagoshima), tram lines (Nagasaki) and overtourism (Yufuin). These places are easy to go by public transport so you may better go there with JR trains.

https://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/railpass/railpass.html

7 day pass is extremely cheap (25000 yen) as compared the 3 day vershion (20000 yen).

Unless you buy a flight from Kyushu to your home country as one ticket (with stop in Tokyo) I would not fly on a different ticket in the morning to Tokyo when you have your flight home in the afternoon. It might all work out perfectly but if your flight from Kyushu is delayed / cancelled you loose your flight home.

Agree with rushed itinary and Disney land in GW

I was going to go from Nagasaki straight thru to Kumamoto via ferry, skipping Shimabara and Unzen and spending a half day in Kumamoto. I'm aware half the day will be transportation.

The spouse wants to go to Disney. I figured we had to base in Tokyo at some point before or after the long haul flight. It probably makes more sense to do it before flying out, but then we run into GW, hence the dilemma.

I was hoping to get a 3 day rail pass for the time we are in Fukuoka and go by shinkansen to Kagoshima. I realize it is 2 hrs each way. Probably just wandering around the city rather than going across the channel to the actual volcano. I realize it is still a long day, we've done Miyajima as a day trip from Osaka and I likened it to that.

I agree that some of your days are too crowded (at least, they would be way too much for me), but Kagoshima is definitely a practical day trip from Hakata if you have a rail pass. There are more things to do there than you will have time for, but you don�ft need to settle for �gwandering around.�h If you use the available public transit in an organized fashion you can stop at quite a few places.

After a number of enjoyable trips to Kagoshima (including overnight stays), I finally got out to Sakurajima on the ferry on my most recent trip. I was surprised at how fast (and cheap!) it is to get out there, and it makes for an enjoyable boat ride just to go and come back fairly quickly. (In other words, you don�ft have to take several hours out there to �gdo�h things if you don�ft want to.) The ferry terminal is very close to the aquarium, which is not on the same scale as a place like the Kaiyukan in Osaka, but I really liked it. You could easily do those two things, visit Senganen, and still �gwander around�h some (Tenmonkan would be a good place to do that and maybe have lunch).

Kagoshima is one of my favorite cities in Japan, and it can be a good home base for a multiple-night stay, but as a day trip in itself it is a good choice, I think. Just don�ft expect the train ride on the Kyushu Shinkansen to be overly stimulating. (LOTS of tunnels�c But it�fs fast!)

You have some places like Kitakyushu & Shiminoseki listed in one plan, and not listed in your other plan - only you know what you prioritize the most. If you really want to go to a Disney park, avoiding GW would be smart. The theme parks are jammed during holidays - and I suggest you consider going to Disneysea instead, which is unique, and not a Disneyland clone. Also I presume you are aware that you are throwing the dice on some of this - it is impossible to know when the wisteria will be at their height for next year. I went last year to Kawachi Fujien and finally, that time I got lucky - arrived right around the peak. I also went early in the morning, and there were fewer people. When I was leaving around noon time, the long line of people waiting to get in was like for some huge rock band at a stadium.
Your timing for Mifuneyama Rakuen may be good. Nearby is another very good place, the Keishuen Garden at the Yoko Museum. Also not far off is one other very good place for azaleas - Daikozenji in Kiyama. Since you are going around GW, it's too bad you'd miss the Dontaku festival in Fukuoka. For Yutoku Inari, don't miss their shrine garden as well. For Saga, if you can fit in Arita Porcelain Park comfortably somewhere, it is also quite a place to see.
You should also be aware that the crater rim area at Aso is currently off limits. It could be open by the time you go there, or not. There is no way to know. If driving, there are other good nearby sights, like the Daikanbo Lookout, Nabegataki Falls, Kikuchi Gorge, and Kamishikimi Kumanoza Shrine.
https://goo.gl/Q843Bg

Fukuoka:
You can buy Fukuoka bus pass = 1200 yen
Or kitakyushu nishitetsu bus pass = 1200 yen
Or nishitetsu bus nd rail pass 1 day =2800yen

I'm going to go with the 2nd itinerary and do Disney in the beginning of trip and avoid Golden week.

We could fly from Fukuoka back to Tokyo on 5/1 so as not to risk the long-haul flight home. That being said, seems like there are flights between Fukuoka and Narita every 1-1.5 hrs on Jetstar or Peach. Our departure time from Tokyo would be close to 6pm.

I realize I may need to get 1-2 things from our time in the Saga area so as not to be rushed.

I think we could cut Kuju Flower Park or Kurokawa onsen depending on the conditions on 4/26 to spend more time in Yufuin/Beppu if needed.

Lastly, I could move this trip a few more days up to end in early May to be able to be in Fukuoka during the Hakata Dontaku. That sounds like even more of a travel headache though..