Fukuoka
Don't be put off by the windowless, colonnaded facade of burnt-orange stone and copper-green rebar. The lobby is as glossy as black lipstick, and the 62 rooms are slick and soothing, with stone-slab tile accents, locally woven throws and spacious bathrooms. Staff couldn't be warmer, and you're just steps from Nakasu-gawa and Tenjin hot spots, secluded off the river.
Internet reservations can offer cheaper rates.
8.74 MILES
Among the countless visitors to the grand, sprawling Tenman-gū – shrine and burial place of poet-scholar Tenman Tenjin – are students making offerings and…
9.04 MILES
Built into the tranquil eastern hills of Dazaifu and reached through more escalators than can be found at the average airport, this striking structure …
26.48 MILES
Nicknamed Maizuru-jō (Dancing Crane Castle), this elegantly proportioned white castle (built 1608, rebuilt 1966 and refurbished 2017) is picturesquely…
0.35 MILES
Spread over three machiya (traditional Japanese townhouses), this folk museum re-creates a Hakata nagare (neighbourhood unit) from the late Meiji era…
0.36 MILES
On the upper floors of the Hakata Riverain mall, this large museum houses the world-renowned Asia Gallery, and additional galleries for special…
27.19 MILES
Karatsu-yaki is defined by the work of 14 generations of the Nakazato family. Walk through the shop, which feels like a museum unto itself, and cross the…
26.79 MILES
This fabulously restored late–Meiji period villa of a local trader is built in a mix of Japanese and Western styles, with lantern-filled gardens, a…
29.76 MILES
This colourful morning market for squid, fish and produce animates the quaint, dwindling fishing port of Yobuko (呼子) each day, drawing visitors from all…
0.21 MILES
Built in 1910, this historic French Renaissance–style building, a nationally registered important cultural property, can be found just across the river…
0.26 MILES
Some attractive historic Western architecture populates this park near city hall, most notably the French Renaissance–style Kihinkan, dating from 1910 and…
0.29 MILES
The intimate Kushida-jinja, municipal Shintō shrine of Hakata, traces its history to AD 757 and sponsors the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Matsuri, in which…
4. Hakata Local History Museum
0.3 MILES
On the grounds of the Kushida-jinja shrine, this old-school museum has many displays about the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Matsuri, as well as swords, ancient…
0.3 MILES
Inside this unique building are a tourist-information centre (1st floor), cultural-information centre (2nd floor) and craft gallery. The building itself…
0.32 MILES
There's no particular reason to visit Fukuoka's boxy skyscraper of a city hall, but the large building is good for orientation, just west of Tenjin-chūō…
7. Hakata Traditional Craft & Design Museum
0.32 MILES
This compact museum displays stellar examples of local crafts, Hakata-ori textiles, Hakata ningyō (Hakata dolls), papier-mâché Daruma and lion figures,…
8. Hakata Machiya Furusato-kan
0.35 MILES
Spread over three machiya (traditional Japanese townhouses), this folk museum re-creates a Hakata nagare (neighbourhood unit) from the late Meiji era…