JR East offers a direct highway bus service to Aizu-Wakamatsu. The service runs between Aizu-Wakamatsu Bus Terminal (located opposite Aizu-Wakamatsu train station) and Shinjuku Highway Bus Terminal (located near the New South Exit at Shinjuku train station). It takes about 4 hours with 2 rest stops along the way. A one way ticket costs around \2,500 and can be purchased at any JR ticket office.
The castle lookout is a good place to envisage exile: Shiba Goro writer of Remembering Aizu left this place of his dreams with the other exiles of the Aizu culture who were made scapegoats for the resistance to the Meiji restoration. A fellow reader has included a summary of this classic autobiography at http://toshogu.blogspot.com/2008/12/remembering-aizu-testament-of-shiba.html. Amazon Books had,at the time of writing, extensive extracts for free from Remembering Aizu if you want a sample.
'''Oyakuen Botanical Garden''' - built in 1670 as a garden for a teahouse for the lords of Aizu. The garden is well known for growing medicinal herbs - around 400 different kinds of herbs are still grown today.
'''Mt. Iimoriyama''' - After being defeated in a battle against the imperial forces, twenty young men of the Byakkotai, also known as the White Tiger Band, retreated to this hill. When they saw the Tsuruga Castle burning, they thought it had fallen to the enemy, and committed suicide. Their graves are located on Mt. Iimoriyama where incense is always burnt on their behalf. Visitors can walk up the many steps to see the graves, or take the escalator for \250. There are two Byakkotai memorial museums, including the usual tourist shops.
'''Akabeko''' - In the local Aizu dialect, "Akabeko" literally means "red cow". Akabeko has become the symbol of the Aizu region due to two local legends. First, during the construction of the Enzo-ji temple, red cows worked tirelessly to help move wood. Second, children who possessed a wooden toy Akabeko survived a plague that killed thousands of children. Wooden Akabekos similar to those featured in the latter legend can be bought. The most common design features a "bobbing" head mechanism where the head of the cow bobs. A large Akabeko can be found outside Aizu-Wakamatsu train station.
'''Agemanju'''
"Age" means deep-frying and "Manju" means Japanese style bun stuffed with adzuki bean paste. Therefore, Agemanju means deep-frying Japanese style bun stuffed. It is a traditional sweet in Aizu-Wakamatsu and it is sweet and soft, but it has high calories because of frying. It is especially popular among children and older people. There are a lot of shops which sell Agemaju about 100 yen near the Aizu-Tsurugajo which is a temple in Aizu-Wakamatsu.
Inawashiro - beach resorts, swimming, camping, boating
Kitakata - famous for delicious ramen