Having visited Lake Toya 4.5 years ago on a summer trip from Shanghai to Hokkaido, we were especially excited to visit this beautiful area again. Toyako is situated just a 2 hour drive south of Hokkaido’s capital Sapporo and famous for having hosted the G8 Hokkaido Summit at the Windsor hotel on a mountain top…
Tag: Travel
Okayama Castle & Garden – Summer Illuminations
Not knowing what a spectacular evening we had ahead of us, we thought we’d pay Okayama Castle a quick visit after we returned from our cycling tour in the Kibi Plain. As it was approaching 5 p.m. – the usual closing time of museums and castles in Japan – we didn’t even expected being able…
Hydrangea Season in Japan
Even after two years of living in Japan, it still amazes me how we casually move from one beautiful flower season to the next. Just a few weeks ago, the streets were lined with pink azaleas and before that, colourful tulips were out in a beautiful display at Yokohama Park. I didn’t realise until this…
9 Days in Kyushu: Kumamoto
Kumamoto is famous for it’s castle dating back to the 17th century, which is why we made sure to stop there for one night on our way up the west coast of Kyushu towards Nagasaki. Although Kumamoto is actually quite a large city (with over 738,000 residents), the castle is definitely the central attraction for…
9 Days in Kyushu: Kagoshima
While things took off in Europe Corona-wise, life went on as normal in Japan at the end of March and we were lucky to be able to take a 9-day holiday in Kyushu. When it came to planning our trip, I found it a bit more tricky than planning trips to the more widely known…
In Search of Mount Fuji: Lake Kawaguchi
It was my second birthday celebration in Japan and once again, the weather was rainy and rather chilly. But nonetheless, we went ahead with our plan to spend the weekend in a traditional Japanese guesthouse by Lake Kawaguchi, one of the Fuji Five Lakes! Having spent my birthday on a weekend trip away to Hangzhou…
Autumn Foliage in Korea: Gyeongju
Gyeongju, once the capital of the 1,000-year-long Silla dynasty, is known to be a history museum without walls and often recommended for its autumn foliage. Wanting to see a bit of Korea’s countryside and smaller towns, we decided to do a day trip to Gyeongju from Busan by train. (Read about our trip to Busan…
Maokong Gondola: A Scenic Viewpoint with Tea Plantations in Taipei
When we boarded the train to Taipei Zoo station to get on the Maokong Gondola, we had no idea what to expect and were completely blown away by the whole trip, leading up to stunning mountain views. This was easily one of our best day trips in Taipei! As Taipei’s summer weather changed from raining…
Cycling in the Taiwanese Countryside
On arriving in Tainan by high speed train from Taipei, our first thought was: Another big city… How can we visit that beautiful countryside we saw on the train? After a bit of online research, we found a blog article with itinerary suggestions for cycling through the countryside north of Tainan and followed most of…
Art & Architecture on Naoshima Island
About a year ago, one of our former colleagues told me about this ‘art island’ in Japan and I immediately added it to my bucket list for our travels through Japan. As it’s not too far from Hiroshima, it was a no brainer that we should go and visit. Below are some tips for you,…
Jitensha Adventure 