Visit Aso, Japan

Located in the heart of the world's biggest caldera, Aso is a great place to base yourself for exploring nearby Mount Aso.

The flat floor of the caldera with the lines of hills creating a perfect wall around is an incredible sight. Nearer to Mount Aso you can wander or hire horses to ride through the grassland scenery at the foot of the still-active volcano.

Viewing the volcano

If the weather and the activity inside the volcano permits, you can take a cable car to the rim, but otherwise you can see what's going on inside the mountain through the live camera display in the Volcano Museum. The lack of English signage means that the rest of this rather expensive museum holds little interest to the foreign visitor, but if you do go in the 15-minute film show is a must for connoisseurs of tack!