The Japanese city that has it all: Mountains, sea and excellent seafood

Some travellers spend months planning their itineraries, creating spreadsheets and compiling lists of restaurants. Others, like me, take more of a spur-of-the-moment approach, figuring it all out as they go.

The best shortcut I've found to making the most of a spontaneous trip? The expert local knowledge of a recommended guide. They know the place inside out and will lead you to all the best spots.

And so it is that I find myself on a chilly November evening in the lobby of Hotel JAL City Fukuoka Tenjin shaking hands with a tall Dutchman. In 1984, Jaap Mulder and his wife Marijke set out in their sailboat to explore the world. They ended up in Fukuoka, Japan, where they have been happily living on their boat for more than 20 years.

Why Fukuoka? "It's an awesome city," Jaap says. "It has it all: The city, the sea, the mountains, easy access and great fresh food."

The sixth-largest city in Japan, Fukuoka is located on the northern shore of Kyushu Island. I've arrived by ferry from Busan, South Korea. Closer to Seoul than to Tokyo, Fukuoka is a quirky mix of old and new, traditional and modern. For the next four hours, Jaap is going to show me the highlights.

We begin with a subway ride from Tenjin to the main station, Hakata. As Jaap quietly translates the public announcements, I'm already learning about local mores. Talking should be kept to a minimum and bulky backpacks must be worn on the chest. Courtesy and consideration are paramount.

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Eating is high on the list of priorities, too. Fukuoka is a great city for foodies. There's an entire floor at the Canal City shopping centre dedicated to ramen restaurants, but we are headed first to a local izakaya for casual homestyle cooking.

As plates of fried burdock root, karaage chicken and sashimi are placed on the table, Jaap explains the etiquette of sharing food in Japan. Turn chopsticks upside down to serve from a communal plate if you don't want to offend fellow diners. He encourages me to taste the jagged, green leaf on the sashimi plate. Shiso leaves, from the same family as mint, are thought to ward off unwanted bacteria. I'd always assumed they were merely decorative. After dinner, we stroll the moonlit city streets, passing a Santa village and Christmas markets. Along the river banks, people line up at open-air food stalls known as yatai, where the competition between chefs is stiff for best chicken yakitori, hot pot and ramen.

Jaap tells me about the Hakata Gion Yamakasa summer festival, celebrated here each year in July. The Kushida-jinja shrine is the starting point for a spectacular race in which groups of men compete to push enormous festival floats through Fukuoka's Hakata district. Calm and peaceful as the shrine is this evening, it's difficult to imagine the sweaty chaos to come.

People come from all over Japan to have their fortunes told at the shrine. I drop a 100 yen ($1) coin in a wooden slot to receive a scrap of paper with a prediction of my future. It says I'm lucky, like a flower blooming out of season. It also advises against acting impulsively, as impatience will lead to loss. Point taken.

The writer travelled with assistance from Visit Kyushu and InsideJapan. The Japan travel specialists at InsideJapan can tailor a cultural adventure of Kyushu to include a street food tour of Fukuoka. See insidejapantours.com.

Pictures: Shutterstock; Visit Kyushu