(Chirihama Beach Driveway, Ishikawa. A very unique beach you can drive on. Taken in Summer 2019. )
Hello, Kenny here. I would like to share my experiences and some photos of my secret resort, the Nanao Peninsula in Ishikawa. The region is quite rural and is less heard by tourists when comes to traveling choices. But it is a very relaxing town with quite a few attractions to create a fun experiences. Here I am sharing some spots I personally liked and also some tips for travelling around Noto.
Wakura-onsen
My first recommendation is this public bath located in Wakura. Wakura is famous for onsen (hot spring) and has plenty of premium choices when comes to onsen hotel. But as a student travelling on a budget, this public bath is a must go to experience the hot spring of Wakura. Noting too fancy or stunning about the bath but it is definitely an one of a kind experience with its spacial bath and old, yet clean interior design. A single bath here is 440 yen with is a great deal considering the popularity it has. But remember to learn about manners around onsen before heading in if you are unfamiliar. The public bath also has English posters explaining some basics of it so get relax while caring about the rules and steps.
There are also a few parks and resting areas with little foot bath or hand-washing areas with the water from the hot spring. Really worth some time to just sit and relax after a day of traveling. The little space near the above park has festival in mid-summer and early-spring, where it attracts tons of local teenagers to date, have fun and watch one of the biggest firework shows in Ishikawa.
This is quite a weird recommendation to make but it is a burger place steps away from both the Public Bath and the park. Very good and tasty burger, well designed interior with a very strong American theme. It might be weird to not have Japanese food around but this is also a good try! I will be posting a review on it soon so please check it out for some foodpics and detail reviews.
It will be quite long for me to list all my favorite so here are a few more that I will be posting reviews and photos soon:
Mitone - A Japanese restaurant famous for its seafood. But I was on a “sweet hunt” (Wakura desert tour) for its “black sesame ice-cream”.
Mizu - A very local place for meals of good value, cheap and in decent amount. There literally tons of options to choose from and seasonal seafood is also something you don’t want to miss.
Notojima Aquarium - Very lovely aquarium located in the coast of the Noto Island, penguins patrols around the park that you can interact with them in a very very close distance.
There are also a few local restaurants I had a great time in but can’t list too detailed here, have a few click around the Wakura town and you might have some surprised finding!
Hakui-City
(Cosmo Isle Hakui, Hakui-City)
This is by far the most impressive space-related museum. I personally like SF movies a lot and this is one of the most stunning exhibition I’ve visited. To be honest, the exhibition space was not too big and is not as content-rich as some might expects but most of the items are real prototypes or even the actual thing! None of those are replica! The exhibition also have detailed written content and explanation of items in both Japanese and English. It is a must-go to stop by the “town which alien visits”.
The header picture of this post is taken on the Chirihama beach. It is one of very few beaches around the world where it is also a driveway. Due to the special weathering condition, the sand is firm enough to support vehicles running on it. A lot of bike lovers come by in the weekend to take cool photos of their ride and many ads for autos are filmed here too. However, it would be quite hard to go if you are not driving on your own.
Some extra tips when traveling to Noto
Noto Peninsula is not a well-known travel spot and is located in a quite rural area. Local people might not be fully capable in speaking English so a certain level of Japanese skills is highly recommended when traveling because you might be on your own for quite a lot of time. Traveling within Noto is also quite hard without a car because railways are not as frequent as big cities. If you’re interested, Kanazawa, the capital of Ishikawa which is a more modern and metropolis area is also greatly recommended. Despite the rural location of Wakura and Nano, there are a few Shinkansen from Osaka, Kyoto and Kanazawa going in and out daily, so you can plan to connect your visit with west-Japan regions. If you’re traveling from east-Japan, there are 2 set of flight going HND(Haneda) >< NTQ(Noto) daily which is also a good route to take. *Special discount pack for traveling in and out the airport is available around the whole Noto region.
Lastly, I will be posting some more reviews on Google Map around Ishikawa and West-Japan but I still need some time to get them all ready and finished. I am writing this post early as I am excited about the experience and great time I had in Ishikawa. I will try to write and share more about some hidden and less well-known spots for a more cultural-connected traveling ecperience in Japan. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below and I would really like to try help answering as much as I can. Thank you for your time reading! See you again soon, in my next post. 