Fukui福井

About 1 km of columnar andesite cliffs up to 25 m, a national Natural Monument since 1935. Walk the top, take the 30-minute boat underneath (¥2,000), cross to Oshima island, and stay for sunset.

Two kilometres inland, Mikuni-minato is the old Kitamae-bune port of latticed townhouses. Tōjinbō guide → · Mikuni-minato guide →

Head temple of Sōtō Zen, founded by Dōgen in 1244 and still a working monastery. Walk the covered corridors up the cedar hillside, and join the drop-in zazen at 10:00, 13:30 or 15:30, no booking needed. Eiheiji and the museum →

Japan's leading dinosaur museum, reopened in July 2023 beside the quarry that produced most of Japan's named dinosaurs. Book a timed entry; in season, join a 2-hour dig at the real quarry.

Echizen Ōno is the "castle in the sky", floating above the cloud on still autumn mornings. Maruoka keeps one of Japan's 12 original keeps, under repair to November 2027. Castles guide → · Ōno town guide →

Two ziplines of 480 m and 510 m, up to 60 m above the forest, and a treetop adventure park in the mountains of Ikeda. Zipline guide →

Seventy-four hot-spring sources, a free hinoki footbath (07:00–23:00), a lane of food stalls and ryokan from Beniya, Fukui's only MICHELIN Key, to good-value Mimatsu. Same bus line as Tōjinbō. Awara Onsen guide →

Make washi at Echizen Washi no Sato (from ¥700), watch smiths at Takefu Knife Village, try Echizen lacquer in Sabae and see where 95% of Japan's glasses frames are made. RENEW opens about 121 workshops on 9–11 October 2026. Crafts guide →