City or Nature

Hi everybody,

I am planning a 20 day trip to Japan in November, now I am wondering about the following choice I have to make: at the end of the trip we will have more or less 5 days available, and I would like to know if you would recommend to spent those days partly in Fukuoka and then depart for 2 or 3 days in one of the national parks above Tokyo or to skip Fukuoka entirely.

The others cities which are on the list so far are: Tokyo (5 days), Nagoya (1 day), Koyto (3 days), Osaka (2 or 3 days), Hiroshima (2 days), and after Hiroshima comes the question mark of to go further down or go back up.

Thanks in advance.

That is really up to you. Fukuoka is a city. And Kyushu has some wonderful nature sights to see.

There is also many nature sights between Hiroshima and Tokyo you do not list also.

My question maybe was not very clear, what I would like to know is if Fukuoka is interesting enough to make journey to the south since it it takes in total 3 days extra and are cities more interesting to spend those 3 days.

Oke, tips for nature between Tokyo and Hiroshima are very welcome!

Out of 20 days you are spending more than half in cities. As much as I love Japan, the cities there are not particularly attractive. If you love concrete passionately, then Japanese cities are the place for you. If not, I'd consider spending those 5 days somewhere else. If I was stopping at Hiroshima and then working back toward Tokyo (bearing in mind that Hiroshima is quite a smoggy city unless you get off the coast to Miyajima), I would be looking to spend some time in the mountains, eg a run through the alps on the way back.

A really nice run is Nagoya to Takayama to Kamikochi to Matsumoto, then possibly Nagano and Karuizawa.

Fukuoka is an interesting city. But you don't need 3 days there. 2 days you be ample. But most would use Fukuoka as a connection to northern Kyushu other sightseeing locations. Nagasaki, Beppu, Yufuin, Mojiko/Kokura etc etc.

Again without knowing what you are really wanting or your interests are. Only you can decide what you wanna do.

The reason Hiroshima is on the list is for coast (the plan would be to go to Itsukushima island).
The reason for 3 days in Koyto is that I would like to explore the mountain area above the city for 1 full day.

The run through the Alps sounds and looks beautiful.
The other nature area I was think of is the area left of Sendai or Lake Towada, are you familiar with this area?

@hakata14
Thank you for the tips.

My preference would be to do 50/50. Because I do really want to see the landscape and Japan as authentic as possible, not only the cities and not only the nature since my husband is more of the nature and I am more of the cities/architecture/art. So I am trying to figure out a mixture which is interesting to both of us.

I was even contemplating to Tokyo in total and come back for separately for this experience multiple weeks in the future.

If your using a JR pass then traveling to Hagi in Shimane Prefecture (past Hiroshima) would be a fantastic 3 days. It's reasonably difficult to get to, but because of that it's very preserved and less tourist infested than the majority of Japan. In general, I see Hagi as the best 'full preserved town' in Japan - period. The clan graves at two temples are also highly unique.

https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-3291
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-3292
https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-3293