- Obori Park (大濠公園): tranquil and beautiful park for a morning walk or coffee. The museum attached to it sometimes has good temporary exhibitions. 

- Nakasu/Gion/Tenjin Areas (中洲・祇園・天神): the center of the city and its nightlife. Be sure to try out the food stalls that run till the morning (the most famous: ramen). Nakasu is also Japanese for ‘Mesopotamia’, so the rivers are very nice to walk along at night. 

- Atago Shrine (愛宕神社): I’d recommend going here by car, as it’s on a sizable hill (in the UK, it’d be a mountain). The view of the bay is amazing, absolutely amazing. If you use the highway on the drive in, that view is also amazing. 

- Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine (太宰府天満宮): particularly relevant to us, it’s a shrine in the suburbs renowned for the Shinto god of studying, it attracts millions of students from across the country (especially in Japanese exam season). Side note: the Starbucks near the shrine, designed by Kuma Kengo (隈研吾) is beautiful. 

- Being the biggest city in Kyushu and located at the Sea of Japan (日本海) and in close proximity with both the Ariake Sea (有明海) and Setonaikai (瀬戸内海), Fukuoka is one of the most delicious cities in the country.

- The classics are ramen (ラーメン), gyoza (餃子), and motsunabe (もつ鍋), which you can find in izakayas (居酒屋) and the food stalls (屋台).

- And of course, its sushi (お鮨) is phenomenal. 

- To and from: Another reason I love this city is its airport is located right near the city center. It’s an hour and a half flight from Tokyo and Seoul (yes, Seoul), and an hour flight from Osaka. Using the Hakata station (博多駅), it’s an hour to Hiroshima by shinkansen (新幹線), and you can access most big cities in Kyushu. 

- Within: the city’s metro system is better than that of Sapporo, you can do fine, but a car would be most ideal.

- In the Nakasu/Gion/Tenjin Area