Not many people think of Fukuoka when they think of where to go in Japan but it’s probably one of my favourite places to go in Japan and the only reason we don’t go back a third time is so we can visit other destinations we haven’t been to.  If you have kids and have been to Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa and Japan’s more well-known cities, take a trip to Fukuoka and you’l see why it’s the number 1 city in terms of satisfaction by Koreans, Taiwanese and Chinese visitors.

As with pretty much the whole of Japan, Fukuoka is excellent for kids, particularly younger kids. There’s always facilities around for changing nappies, most restaurants have little kids packs they give you to keep them entertained during dinner and it’s by far the easiest country to take younger kids.  There’s loads of parks, fresh air, nice weather, nice people and not much bad about the place.  We’ve stayed at a couple of hotels in Fukuoka – Hotel Nikko Fukuoka and one out of the city a bit – The Luigans.

Okay so there’s no major attractions or iconic landmarks to see here, it doesn’t have the famous shrines, there’s no beautiful beaches, but if you like Japan, and just want to go somewhere different, there’s enough to do here for a week. Although having said that, I’d say 3-4 days is the perfect amount of time to stay here. You can pig out on Japanese BBQ, Sushi or whatever Japanese food you’re into, there’s great shopping in the city, everything is close, and you can get out of the city and do stuff with the kids, all of which I’ll tell you more about in the info pages. Definitely one of my favourite destinations for kids and well worth a visit.

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