Fukui City in Fukui Prefecture

Day 1

We took a train from Himeji Station to Tsugura and transferred there to the Hapi-Line Fukui to Fukui Station. We could use ICOCA for the first part of the trip, but on the Hapi Line we had to buy tickets as they didn't take ICOCA. It took about 4.5 hours to arrive, which is probably one of the longer travel times we've had in Japan despite Fukui not being exceptionally far from our region. When we arrived we used the evening mostly to visit the nearby Yokokan Garden and what little remains of Fukui Castle.

Day 2

Our first full day we rode the Echizen train with a day pass to Katsuyama Station and transferred to a bus that took us directly to the museum. Many dinosaur fossils have been found in Fukui Prefecture, and their museum is quite famous. It had 4 floors and animatronic dinosaurs!! It was definitely worth a visit.

Day 3

We went from Fukui Station to Mikuni Station and switched to a bus heading to Tojinbo, both accepted ICOCA and took about an hour to get there. Tojinbo is a stretch of cliffs along the coast north of Fukui City. The road from the bus stop to the cliffs is filled with souvenir shops and restaurants. There was also a tower that you could go up for 500 yen to get a view of the area, but you actually can't see much of the cliffs themselves from that location. When we visited it was very hot! I was glad when we ate lunch and had some A/C to cool down.

Day 4

We wrapped up our last day by visiting Maruoka Castle before having to make our 4+ hour trip back home. This castle is one of only a handful in Japan that still has an original keep. It was a great way to wrap up the trip.