From Kansai to Kyushu: 14-Day Tour — Osaka, Hiroshima, Beppu, Aso & Kagoshima

Arrival in Osaka · 300 min

Land at Kansai Airport and transfer to your hotel in central Osaka. First evening under the neon of Dotonbori — takoyaki from the stand with the longest queue.

Osaka — Castle & Street Food · 480 min

Osaka Castle and its moats in the morning, the retro alleys of Shinsekai at lunch, then Kuromon market and an evening food crawl through Namba. Osaka feeds you properly before the road begins.

Kyoto Day — Fushimi Inari & Kiyomizu · 480 min

The ten thousand red gates of Fushimi Inari before the crowds, Kiyomizu-dera's wooden stage, tea on Ninenzaka, and Gion at dusk. Back to Osaka by private car — no luggage moves today.

Nara — Deer & the Great Buddha · 480 min

Japan's first capital: bowing deer in Nara Park, the Great Buddha of Todai-ji in the world's largest wooden hall, and the lantern path of Kasuga Taisha.

Himeji Castle & Kurashiki Canal · 480 min

West along the Inland Sea. Climb the white keep of Himeji — Japan's most beautiful surviving castle — then wander Kurashiki's willow-lined canal quarter, where Edo-era storehouses hold cafes and craft shops.

Hiroshima & Miyajima · 480 min

Morning at the Peace Memorial Park and museum — heavy, necessary, unforgettable. The afternoon answers it: the ferry to Miyajima, where the great torii floats on the tide and deer doze on the sand.

Shinkansen to Fukuoka — Yatai Night · 480 min

Cross to Kyushu by bullet train. Evening among Nakasu's riverside yatai stalls: tonkotsu ramen, yakitori, and strangers who become drinking companions. Fukuoka is Japan's friendliest food city.

Dazaifu & Yanagawa Canal Boats · 480 min

The scholar's shrine of Dazaifu Tenmangu and its plum trees, then a slow punt through Yanagawa's castle moats — the boatman sings, the willows trail, and lunch is steamed eel over rice.

Beppu — The Eight Hells · 480 min

Drive across to Japan's onsen capital. Tour the 'hells' — cobalt-blue boiling ponds, red iron pools, spouting geysers — then check into a ryokan and soak in the real thing. Steam rises from street grates all over town.

Yufuin & the Aso Caldera · 480 min

Morning in the artisan onsen village of Yufuin under Mt. Yufu. Then the Yamanami Highway across the Kuju highlands into the Aso caldera — one of the largest on Earth, with whole towns and grasslands inside it.

Kumamoto Castle to Kagoshima · 480 min

Kumamoto's great black castle, rebuilt stone by stone after the 2016 earthquake, then south by shinkansen to Kagoshima — the 'Naples of Japan', with Sakurajima volcano smoking across the bay.

Kagoshima — Sakurajima & Sand Bath · 480 min

Ferry across to the volcano itself, lava fields and shrine gates buried to the lintel in ash. Back over the bay for Sengan-en garden, then down the coast to Ibusuki to be buried — happily — in naturally heated sand.

Back to Fukuoka — Free Day · 480 min

Shinkansen back up the island. A free afternoon in Fukuoka: Canal City, Daimyo's boutiques, one last bowl of ramen at the airport ramen street or the stalls — dealer's choice.

Departure from Fukuoka · 300 min

Fukuoka's airport sits ten minutes from downtown — the easiest departure in Japan. Private transfer, and time for mentaiko shopping in the terminal.