Fall in Fukuoka: City Tour [2018.11.13]

Last day in Fukuoka! I can’t remember what time we left for our day tour, but I’m assuming quite late since we didn’t really have a lot on our itinerary and we needed to pack everything and check out of our hostel. This is not so much of a city tour since we literally just went to two different areas in Fukuoka.

OHORI PARK

Opening hours: 24 hours
Entrance fee: None

We took the train from Hakata Station to Ohorikoen Station – this takes you directly to the entrance of Ohori Park. My Travefy stated a Fukoka Shrine that’s in here, that we should visit but we didn’t go! All I remember from Ohori Park is that we had to walk for such a long time because this park is so freaking huge!

That lake is right in the middle of the park so you have to go around it to get to the other side. Hence, the walkathon. LOL.

But we managed to take a photo at this pagoda.

There is a japanese garden that’s open from 9am to 5pm, the entrance fee is 240 yen.

FUKUOKA CASTLE RUINS

Opening hours: 24 hours
Entrance fee: None

This was too tiring! We walked here from Ohori Park, looked for the entrance, and then it’s another walkathon from the entrance to here. For me, it’s not worth it but seeing all the photos online, it’s probably best to come here during spring for the cherry blossoms.

We took another route to exit the Fukuoka Castle Ruins because we didn’t really want to walk all the way back to the entrance. The bus stop is also closer from that side so we checked if there was another route and we were successful! But then our next concern was, which bus stop?! There were two bus steps on both sides of the street, and we were waiting at the wrong one for the longest time. After much contemplation, we decided to go to the other side and alas, it was the correct one! The bus we took goes straight to the Fukuoka Tower.

SEASIDE MOMOCHI PARK

Seaside Momochi Park is the waterfront located along Hakata Bay. It is where you can find the Fukuoka Tower, Momochihama Beach, Fukuoka City Museum, and Fukuoka Yafuoko Dome. We didn’t go to the last two, but saw the dome while on the bus going to Fukuoka Tower.

FUKUOKA TOWER

Opening hours: 9:30am to 10pm
Entrance fee: JPY800 (if you wish to go up, better to do at night, I think)

This tower was built in 1989 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Fukuoka City. It stands 234 meters tall and is the city’s highest building and Japan’s tallest seaside tower.

They have this mirror not too far from the tower so it will be easier for people to take a selfie with this very tall tower. It was perfect!

There is a broadcasting station in the Fukuoka Tower called TNC. That’s why there are posters of shows when you go inside on the ground floor, and I took a photo of this Suits poster because of Nakajima Yuto! HAHA!

MOMOCHIHAMA BEACH

Opening hours: 24 hours
Entrance fee: None

Surprisingly, this is an artificial beach! There are restaurants everywhere but most of them are not yet open. I think this is one of those places where you can enjoy it more during sunset until evening.

I love this wooden planks pathway on the beach!

I don’t know what this place is, but damn, it’s so pretty!!!

FUKUOKA CITY LIBRARY

We walked a little away from the seaside and saw this area near the library. So many trees and dried leaves and not a lot of people. We decided to just play around here and throw some leaves around. LOL.

Just trying out a video concept!

That concludes are not-so city tour. LOL. So, there are a lot of options going back to Hakata Station so you can choose any from this.

We did a last-minute pasalubong shopping at Hakata Station before going back to the hostel to pack our pasalubongs, take our luggage, and go to the airport.

Going to the airport, we took the bus from the Hakata Bus Terminal. You need to purchase a ticket beforehand, so I had Celine queue with our bags while I bought the tickets from the machine. It’s really easy! The bus was packed though so we had to stand the entire ride to the airport. It’s not that far though, it’s a direct trip and there was no traffic so I think it last for only about 15 minutes. Luckily, unlike our last trip to Japan, we got there on time and were not left behind. LOL.

The aftermath:

Our Fukuoka trip was so smooth-sailing! We stayed in one accommodation for the entire trip and just did day trips, which is really not that bad. The JR Pass was super convenient and definitely helped us save money! Totally recommendable! Can’t wait to go back to Japan and use what’s left of my 5-year visa!