The last 4 days are spent in Fukuoka. I decided to keep the car for 1 more day as there are still some places I would like to visit and driving would be the most convenient way to get there. Plus the fact that the train system is not as developed compared to Tokyo.
I will summarise the good places I visited that you can consider adding to your travel plans. Not in chronological order.
Kawachi Wisteria Garden (Kawauchi Fujien)
You like flowers? Beautiful purple flowers lined along two 100-meter-long tunnels. It makes for an excellent photo taking opportunity.
The gardens open to the public twice a year: once during the wisteria season in spring and once during the fall.
Timing is essential. From the pictures, you can tell we are actually bit too early for full bloom.
It actually took us 1 hour to drive from city centre so to be very sure we are not disappointed, we got the friendly hotel staff to call up the Wisteria and double check it was open. 
And because it’s not full bloom yet, tickets are sold at half price. haha! but the trade-off was that it did not looked as impressive.
5 Star Ramen: 拉麺處 丸八 Maruhachi
Another reason why I wanted to have the car for another day. To visit this ramen stall that I saw on YouTube.
They are open only 4 days a week, and they operate only for 4 hours daily. I had to plan my schedule strategically to fit this in.
Check out the reviews online yourself. The ramen to me is one of the best I have eaten. Mostly locals when I visited.
Kora Taisha Shrine
The very famous stairway with lanterns lining. I think it will be a lot more impressive during golden and blue hours.
We did not have much time left to explore the city and to shop so this place was touch and go.
It was beautiful. I should bring along my film camera next time to get a really nice picture of this place.
Dazaifu Tenmangu 太宰府天満宮
Decently nice place to explore. It was quite crowded. I suppose it’s a must visit tourist spot plus it’s easily accessible. (but certainly not as bad as Asakusa)
Found a couple of nice sweets store and they have this cute Miffy specialty store.
You can probably spend about 2-3 hours here.
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PS: if you want a copy of my entire itinerary, leave a comment below with your email, and we will send it to your inbox!
hi hi, read thru your blog from Day1 to day 14. Interesting and comprehensive write up. I am also planning a trip to Kyushu. Can I have the itinerary too? thank you
yes definitely!