Last Updated on 31 January 2026 by Cycloscope
What to See When Cycling in Kyushu
A bicycle touring or backpacking itinerary
This article is part of our Rough Guide for budget travel in Japan. Check the first part in the link above for hints, hacks, and tricks to make your dream trip to Japan a reality.
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Here’s the first stage of our bicycle trip itinerary on the island of Kyushu. We spent one whole month cycling in Kyushu in a big loop. We think ours was an exhaustive itinerary of this beautiful island, so we decided to share it with our fellow travelers.
It contains most of the highlights and best things to do in Kyushu, at least in our opinion. This was for us a two-month journey; we rode it all, bicycle-touring Japan at a slow pace. It can be done way faster with any other kind of transportation.
Links in the articles take you to the full travel journal articles about each destination in Japan. Unfortunately, some of those are still only in Italian, so use your translator.
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Check also part 2:
A great travel itinerary for Honshu and Shikoku
A map of our bicycle touring itinerary,
Below is the map of our bicycle trip to Kyushu. It’s the complete GPS recording of the journey.
Click on the track to get the elevation profile. You can also use the search tool to find a specific location and display the GPX track of reference.
Kyushu was probably the highlight of our bicycle trip in Japan; there wasn’t a single day without saying “Mamma mia, che posto incredible!” (“Oh my mother, what an incredible place”). We planned a tour to see the most active volcanoes and the best part of the coastline.
Cycling from Fukuoka to Southern Kyushu
From Fukuoka harbor (reached by ferry from Busan, South Korea), we he aded to Kumamoto, crossing a small range of lush green hills.
Then to the Amakusa islands, a spectacular archipelago in the Ariake Sea (the enormous gulf of western Kyushu), mostly connected by bridges. Stunning views, quiet roads, and a lovely beach with crystal clear water.
From there, we took a ferry to the island of Nagashima (ferry route Ushibuka – Kuranomoto, 750 Yen, 30min), another beautiful island with stunning beaches and many weird statues of Shinto gods. Then we followed the spectacular coast and cut along a river to Kagoshima and its nervous volcano
Volcanoes of South Kyushu
Then north to the Kirishima volcanic range, nice uphill to 1000 msl with a lot of shade and water. We spot here the only wild onsen (hot spring) we saw in three months in Japan, so hot that it looks like another planet.
Hiked Kirishima and Onami Lake; we cut through the prefecture of Miyazaki, its lovely countryside and stunning views of Kirishima, all the way to the east coast. Where endless beaches and a rough ocean famous for surfing (named the best Surfing spot in Japan) are to be found.
Cycling the verdant and wet northeast of Kyushu,
Then, inside again from Nobeoka, along the Gokase Gorge with its big waterfalls to Takachiho (you could also skip this very touristic spot if you have already ridden the gorge, even though admission is free). Then to Mount Aso (in Italian), the biggest volcano in Kyushu. Here, there are rare Japanese pastures.
On our way to Taketa, we visited the inspiring shrine. It is a thousand-torii shrine dedicated to Inari (the fox god). Look for the huge tori in the center of town and follow them.
Beppu and ferry to Shikoku
Then to the steaming town of Beppu (in Italian), surrounded by a steep monkey-monkey-crowded forest. The famous Gigoku (the Hells of Beppu) is too touristic, with separate, expensive entry fees (400Y each).
Visit the one with more ponds if you are on a budget. Anyway, if you saw the previously mentioned wild hot spring, you’ll have an idea.
What makes Beppu so special is to imagine how the place would look without the town in it. Dante’s hell, I think. Very close to Beppu is the city of Hiji, where you could have a silent retreat in a Zen fashion.
From here, the ride to Oita is flat, with a good coastline until the city and the ferry jetty a little further. Here runs the cheapest ferry to Shikoku (to Misaki jetty in the Sadamisaki peninsula, can’t remember the price, not so cheap anyway).
This big loop of Kyushu took us almost one month; we went very slowly (an average of 50km per day), but never spent two nights in the same place.
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