Fukuoka to Yufuin: Yufuin no Mori or bus

Hi everyone,

I have a question about getting from Fukuoka Airport to Yufuin.

My wife and I will be arriving to Fukuoka Airport from abroad on September 23, 2019 and we would like to proceed to Yufuin, where we have a ryokan stay booked. We will be getting our Japan Rail Passes upon arrival. Ideally, we'd like to take the wonderful Yufuin no Mori train but are afraid we might not be able to get seats on the day. Is it a common occurrence for the train to be fully booked? Is there any way to book the seats online? I have found the JR Kyushu seat reservation site but it doesn't work with our exchange orders for the rail pass.

If we won't be able to get seats on the train, we will probably have to resort to taking a highway bus. So I'm wondering, is it common for highway buses to be sold out for same-day departures? I wouldn't want to be stuck in Fukuoka with no way to get to Yufuin.

Is there any other solution to this problem that I am missing?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Very common for the train to be booked out.

Can only use JR Kyushu passes/exchange vouchers to pre book, not JR 7/14/21 nation wide passes.

You can get direct bus from airport.

You can also take the Yufu Express which has reserved and non reserved seats. But said express is not a Joyful train like the Yufuin no Mori.

As hakara14 wrote, it is highly possible that Yufuin-no-mori is sold out since 23th Sep is a national holiday. You may find some idea about going to Yufuin from Fukuoka Airport in the link below.

https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/?p=0&xpd=1&from=Fukuoka+Airport+Int...

As hakara14 wrote, it is highly possible that Yufuin-no-mori is sold out since 23th Sep is a national holiday. You may find some idea about going to Yufuin from Fukuoka Airport in the link below.

https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/?p=0&xpd=1&from=Fukuoka+Airport+Int...

Hakata14 and frog, thank you for your replies. As I feared, we may have to resort to taking the highway bus. Oh well, I�fll try to get seat reservations for the way back to Fukuoka instead.

Regarding the bus, would they likely sell out as well given that it is a holiday?

As I feared, we may have to resort to taking the highway bus. Oh well, I�fll try to get seat reservations for the way back to Fukuoka instead.

No. You can take bus to JR Hakata station and then take Shinkansen to Kurume and then transfer to JR Kyudai line to Yufuin. It will take longer than highway bus though. There are also direct train "Yufu" from Hakata to Yufuin other than Yufuin-no-mori.

Regarding the bus, would they likely sell out as well given that it is a holiday?

You can check by yourself.

https://global.atbus-de.com/route_lists/?locale=en

At present, all buses (23 times a day) have vacant seat for 23rd Sep). Also you can check the vacancy for Yufuin-no-mori and Yufu though this service is only in Japanese.

http://www1.jr.cyberstation.ne.jp/csws/Vacancy.do

At present all four direct trains (Yufuin-no-mori and Yufu) have vacant seats for 23rd Sep.

You can book online, you'll just have to pay for it, which is not huge at 1750 per person.

frog1954, once again thank you for a very helpful reply. I will keep an eye on the websites you linked as we approach our arrival date.

..., do you know which website I can use to buy them online? Either the tickets or even just the seat fee that you mention? The only one I managed to find was the JR Kyushu website, but I can only use it with a Kyushu Rail Pass.

Yes, you can use the JR Kyushu site without a pass. You can also use the JR West one.

Perfect, thank you! Just one more question, I tried both sites and it appears I am able to book just the seat fee on JR West. If I did that, could I then use the rail pass to cover the base fare?

Yes.

Thank you and everyone else for all your help!