Best Onsens of Shikoku

Hi All,

People will probably notice a general pattern in my posts (Shikoku, shikoku, shikoku). As such, I was after peoples suggestions for their favourite/best onsens in Shikoku.

If you have a few suggestions - water quality is important :-)

The two places that seems to jump out in particular are:

1) Dogo Onsen

2) An onsen in the Iya Valley that you can catch a ropeway to

Looking forward to hopefully hearing some suggestions.

Oh how my currently heavily sprained ankle dreams of being in an onsen....

pump. or maybe if you have been there meantime, you could tell me your experiences :-)

I know how you feel. Ever since my operation, onsens have been are blessing to me. Though, to get on a plane just for a sprained ankle seems exaggerated. Just cause onsens are a comfortable and great cure for such ailments does not mean they are the only ones.
Does your current country have any local remedies? medicated oil might do the trick.

I was after peoples suggestions for their favourite/best onsens in Shikoku.

I have visited a few onsens in Shikoku, and would revisit Wanoyado Hotel Iya Onsen any day. However, my Dogo-onsen Honkan experience would be my worst onsen visit ever. It could be my unfortunate timing, visiting the place during the golden week. Still, I would never return.

@liem: really? i am a big onsen fan, so i was actually looking forward to go there, since seems to have a long history...

i will also go around golden week (luckily a little more earlier, but still in the more tourist season)... what was the problem there? too many people?

(actually i read on some japanese pages, that water quality should not be very good, but in this case i would go more for the building anyhow...)

Dogo Onsen is often very busy, and you should go with the expectation that you will be part of a bustling bath house. But during the main travel seasons, such as Golden Week, I can easily imagine it to be too busy to be enjoyable.

We stayed at Dogo Onsen for one night in a ryokan just 5 mins walk uphill from the Honkan.

I can't remember the name of the place we stayed - it was a modern concrete place, but the baths were OK (not exceptional in any way). I seem to remember that there's a hotel there which had one or two rooms laid out by Yayama Kusoi, which looked interesting when I viewed them on the web (but I think that perhaps they were a temporary thing, and it was a few years ago that I saw them, so that info may well be out of date).

I loved our two visits to the Honkan. We weren't travelling in Golden Week (it would have been around Christmas, I think, possibly a few days after Christmas Day), and we visited the baths before closing time and again in the morning as soon as they opened, when they weren't overly busy. The building itself was lovely, and has stayed in my memory.

From what I've been able to find when researching Shikoku on send over the years, as part of trip planning, Shikoku isn't overly endowed with Onsen (other than the ones you mention). In fact, the scarcity of onsen that I could find is a main reason why we've hardly touched Shikoku in our travels.

I'm following your thread with interest in the hope that I find some gems that I'd missed before.

Another big vote for Hotel Iya Onsen. Stay there if you can. We had a rare moment of overindulgence and opted for a room with a private bath. It was stunning, particularly with the snow falling outside.

And I found Dogo Onsen to be overrated. It just felt like an old sento with a nice interior. Give me the ultimate relaxation of a rotenburo any day.

When we did our Shikoku trip we went to Wakayama Pref beforehand and caught the ferry to Tokushima. If you haven't been there before I'd suggest it because there are some very good onsen there, e.g. Yunomine Onsen

Thanks for the unexpected bump for this. The place in Iya seems nice but is out of my price range (they only really charge for doubles - not a single) thus I'll have to give that one a miss.

I'm currently planning on visiting Shikoku during Chinese New Year for 2 weeks, so I'll continue looking for other places along the way. My last trip had plenty of time for research (I was living on the Mongolian Steppe in deep winter with no place to go and nothing to do) but this time I'm busier as I'm also travelling around China.

Wakayama does have some nice onsens - but I prefer Kii-Katsuura over Yunomine for some reason (it must of been the hotel - but the water was also exquisite). I'm a fan of high quality water - not heated water such as Kinosaki Onsen....

Fair enough. It's still worth visiting as a day guest though.

One's experience at Dogo Onsen will also depend on which of the options they choose. I recommend getting the private room and access to the upper onsen (comes with botchan dango). It's nice and relaxing and when I was there, I had it all to myself after the one person up there exited shortly after I entered. I was shocked, because the lower (cheap) area, which you can also visit when you purchase the higher priced ticket, was very crowded and outside of course was crowded with people who just wanted pictures from the outside but never went in.

I don't know if the people who are saying it was disappointing went for the top option or the cheap option, but the experiences are quite different.

Good point Rabbityama.
I can't remember, but unless the expensive option was tear-inducing, I expect we went once with each option.
I think we had it relatively quiet because it wasn't a peak time of year and because we went late and early in the day?

I visited Dogo Onsen last November and yes I had the onsen (Bath of the Spirits) all to myself. Bath of het Gods was more crowded but really not to crowded. I must admit that I did visit Dogo Onsen around Dinner time (7pm)... + the private room is relaxing and worth the price!

If you are there it is also a good idea to try 'Tsubaki no Yu'... it really is just on the other and of a small covered shopping street... almost no tourists and nearly the same bath (something like 'Bath of the Gods'in Dogo Onsen but with only a few people)

Enjoy Shikoku... and don't forget to visit the Shimanto River.

With some peoples cajoling, I've decided to change my accommodation to the Chiiori Trust traditional house and visit Iya Onsen for a day visit. It's actually possible to visit here with what looks like a nice Kaseki meal for the same price as a business hotel (4,000 - 6000 Yen).

I've also discovered some onsens in Kotohira and South Western Kochi prefecture which even includes my elusive Radon bath!

For those interested in the Chiiori Trust House - here is the link.

http://www.chiiori.org

I hope that they confirm my accommodation as it's only a little more expensive than my current accommodation in Iya - albeit it does not include meals.....

Chiiori looks amazing. I'm envious! I don't know for certain but I have a feeling that when we were in Shikoku (Jan 2012) it was closed for renovation or something. Okay never mind the speculation, as I've looked further into their website and found this photo https://www.facebook.com/chiioritrust/photos/a.144727448958556.28511.1...
It's very impressive.

Have you booked accommodation in Kotohira? I'll chuck in a recommendation for Kotobuki Ryokan http://www.japanican.com/en/hotel/detail/7414A05?gclid=CPa0jrzv7skCFQy...