Hello!
Today's post is going to be about Hanamiyama Park in Fukushima Japan.
I was actually on a 5-Day Rd. trip recently and that's when I had the chance to go to Fukushima. By the way, I started in Osaka. During the five days, I drove about 2000 km but that's a story for a different blog post.
Anyways, during that 5 Day Rd. trip I went to Hanamiyama Park in Fukushima. The reason why was that this road trip was "to chase the Sakura flowers", so when I was looking for places with Sakura flowers in Fukushima, this park came up.
My honest opinion about this park is that I really loved it, and I would love to return whenever I can!
First of all, there was a backstory before we even got to the park. The previous day, my friend, and I went to a very local onsen (hot spring) in Fukushima. When I was there, the local ladies and I had a conversation and when I told them that I was going to this park tomorrow they recommended it so much. Also, just before arriving at the park, we stopped by a liquor shop and the owner of the liquor shop. Also recommended the park.
So at this point, I was really excited because all the local people were recommending this place to me!
I added the address to my phone and drove towards the park. While I was driving, I saw signs that said that there was temporary parking but I wasn't really sure where to go so I just followed the navigation and eventually took me to a place with the guards. They told me to go around so I went around and asked another person who was standing there, but they didn't give me great directions so I ended up having to stop the car and look at the official website to figure out where the temporary parking was.
When I looked at the official website, I was shocked when I saw that the parking was going to be by the riverside and is approximately 4 km away from the park itself. It was written that it was going to be about an hour's walk. I was absolutely shocked when I saw this, however, as I kept reading, it mentioned that there was going to be a bus for crowded seasons and that it would be ¥500 for a round-trip per person.
I don't moment I thought, "Why didn't all those ladies tell me about this?" But honestly, it's all my fault because I didn't do enough research. It was literally right there on the official website which I didn't check for some reason. But anyway, we paid ¥500 per person for the bus and it was about a 10 to 15-minute drive from the parking lot to the park.
When we got off the bus we were at the parking lot for the bus however, it's not actually right by the park entrance itself. There is still about a 10 to 15-minute walk to the park from the bus parking lot as well. So, after another 15-minute walk, we finally arrived at the entrance of the park. Honestly, I was quite exhausted at this point, because it was all very unexpected and I wasn't prepared for this.
Finally, we arrived at the park and there were a few walking horses. The shortest one was 30 minutes and the longest one was I believe 60 minutes. My friend and I both chose the 30-minute course and walked away. However, in reality, it felt like it was about 15 minutes. So thinking back I feel like I may have been able to walk the 60-minute course however, it was quite uphill, so I probably would've been tired anyway. The weather was also very nice so it was quite hot.
We finally arrived at the park and walked to the course and enjoyed it very much. I really loved being surrounded by nature and being able to take photos of the beautiful flowers. There were also a lot of shops from the bus stop to the entrance of the park so on the way back we decided to stop by a few places.
My friend got the "sanshoku dango" which literally means three-colored dango and I got "konyaku" which is made from a type of potato. There was also a psyche shop, and I really wanted to try the plum wine that they had because I love plum wine but since I am driving, I couldn't have any. (I feel like this is the only thing that I don't like about road trips.)
There was also a small flower shop and they had very small tulips so I got some for my grandma as a souvenir.
とても素敵な出会いがたくさんあって、いろんな地元の人と話すことができたり、自然を満喫することができて、個人的にはとてもオススメスポットだなと思いました！
I was able to meet amazing people talk to the locals and also enjoy nature so I definitely recommend this place!
I would love to come back again for the Sakura season, but I also want to come back at a different time to see other different plants and flowers as well!
If anyone is planning to go to Fukushima, I definitely recommend this place!
By the way, there is no admission fee and the parking was also free. However, the bus from the parking lot to the park was ¥500 per person round-trip. (April 2024)
Also, there are a lot of shops along the way so you would probably need some money because who can resist buying things there;)
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I post a lot of photos and videos on my Instagram from my travels, so please check it out! I post more often and usually is more up-to-date!
