Road trip to Kyushu Day 1

The big debate in my mind was how far south to go on our road trip.  We have been to southern Japan before, but really wanted to show my parents Kyoto and Hiroshima.  Further south still is Nagasaki, but was their time to go that far?  It turns out we managed to squeeze it in...and I am very glad we did, but we had a very quick trip down there....

Our first stop was Himeji castle...a very large fortress castle well worth the stop.  We stopped however, on a Japanese holiday and it was packed!

on our way

never ending tunnels

Built in 1333, it was entirely constructed of wood and is made up of 83 buildings.  Sometimes referred to as the white heron castle for its beautiful white exterior

taking a ride in the castle moat

beautiful white exterior

wax figurines depicting castle life

walking the grounds

castle visitor

Himeji at golden hour

Parts of the castle were closed for renovations, and we really needed more time to see the full extent of the grounds, but well worth seeing.  Next stop, Hiroshima.