Onsen recommendations

We will be spending one month travelling in Japan from early April to early May next year.
We plan to spend as many days as possible visiting onsens. I understand there are thousands of onsens all over Japan. I have visited a few in the past 20 years all over Japan. We are trying not to revisit those places, hence would very much like to request recommendations from you members. We would not mind travelling as far as Hokkaido, especially if the onsen is to "die for". We love rotenburos with beautiful scenery, possibly one surrounded by hanami? We have budgeted $500 per day/ stay to $1000 for our anniversary.
Please recommend.

I like the following scenery onsen at Nigorigo and Iya.

https://www.tripadvisor.jp/Hotel_Review-g788306-d1075222-Reviews-Ryoka...

https://www.tripadvisor.jp/Attraction_Review-g1023595-d1425348-Reviews...

What are you more interested in.

Onsen hotels/ryokans?

Atmospheric onsen towns?

Good quality water?

All three are different and potentially give me very different answers. I'm also aware that your a bit more experienced than others because I remember you also helping me with some ideas in the past (unless there is more than one Shinji on the forum)

Mfedley asked the important questions I suppose, but I'll throw in a few suggestions.

Most places with natural looking rotenburo I have stayed at are probably over the budget, although I did stay at Le Grand Kyu at Karuizawa recently (reasonable prices for lovely hotel) and the outside bath was very pretty with good water, but modern style. I believe that they are going to switch to normal water some time mid next year.

I also stayed at Hotel Miyama at Chichibu earlier this year in one of the rooms with a private bath. That was around your budget, the room was huge and the balcony with a pot bath on it overlooking the creek was huge too. It was constantly full which is unusual for private room onsen as a lot of the time you have to wait forever while they fill up through a tap the size of a straw. Probably one of my favorite places to stay though the hotel does look like it needs TLC from the outside, maybe arrive in the dark and you wont notice it.

I am quite the fan of onsen resorts, I think for value you cant go past Hotel Associa at Takayama and I do recommend it at every opportunity, some baths suspiciously smell of chlorine but most seem natural. I also like the Hikone Castle Resort and Spa but I cant remember the price of that one.

https://selected-ryokan.com/ryokan-name

We spent a night at Hotel Iya Onsen once, splurging for a room with a private outdoor bath. https://selected-ryokan.com/ryokan/hotel-iya-onsen_oboke-iya_tokushima_shikoku.html

My personal favorite onsen places are:
(My main interest is rotenburo and nice atmosphere. I don�ft know that much about water quality in order to be able to judge. )

http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/search/label/Onsen+Practicaliti...

Kurokawa onsen: specially yama mizu ki, but I would say the attraction is to visit several. Should be within your budget.

Osorezan: bathing in ph 2 water in front of a temple in a sulphuric plain on top of a mountain. Staying in the monastery was also nice although I wasn�ft a big fan of their dinner. Should also be within budget. (You can also go as day guest). You�fd need to check if they are already open when you go.
http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/2017/10/day-13-hakodate-to-oma-...

Hirayu onsen. I frankly only went to one onsen there (Hirayu no mori) as I had really bad weather when I was staying. But I guess for a real onsen lover you could stay in that valley for a week hopping from rotenburo to rotenburo.

Tamagawa onsen (Akita): there are 2. Shin Tamagawa and the old Tamagawa. I only went to Shin Tamagawa. The rotenburo isn�ft very attractive. But the inside baths are. It�fs like beating in a cathedral of onsen. Water at ph 1. I liked it, my husband found out a bit painful. The landscape around is otherworldly.

Moku moku onsen in the countryside between Koka and Iga Ueno. From the outside it�fs a bit strange, but the rotenburo section is big and gets some landscape.

Ochiairo in Ito peninsula (ochiairo.co.jp). This might be above your price range but is an original ryokan from about 100 years ago. It also has a bookable private rotenburo.

If you don�ft mind mixed bathing, I tried these two and liked both of them:
- Kuronagi onsen in Kurobe gorge. Possible as day visitor or staying guest. Also has a small female rotenburo.
https://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/2017/10/day-27-kurobe-gorge.ht...

- Fukeno yu in Hachimantai (close to Tamagawa onsen). Bathing practically directly in a mud volcano. It also has a female only section and maybe also a male only section. I only went to the mixed one.

If you are also staying a few days in Tokyo, I like these two:

-Yumorinosato in Chofu ( there is also a nice temple close by with famous soba)
Yukaisoukai in Kurihira. Good dark water and very different temperatures

And if you are flying out of Narita, I can recommend the Narita view hotel. It has an onsen with 3 different rotenburos and onsen water. (One was closed now in November but is planned to reopen in December). The hotel itself is one of those large airport hotels, but for a last soak the morning before your flight, it�fs ideal.


None of these per my knowledge have private onsen (unless otherwise stated) but then for me it�fs about many different onsen, rather than having one for me alone. Most should be very well inside your price range.

Links to all these onsen are in the first link I gave above.

Enjoy the soak.

I recommend Nyuto Onsen https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3650.html , in particular Tsurunoyu Onsen https://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/ryokan-single/?ryokan=Tsurunoyu+On... in my opinion one of the best onsen Japan has to offer

I had bookmarked myself a few thread with interesting onsen options:

https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+169544

@  biwakoman
Thank you for your recommendation. Iya onsen is also my favorite, would revisit maybe in the future. I will have a look at the one in Nigorigo, again many thanks.

@ mfedley
I have read many of your postings; undoubtedly , you are one of the few who have extensive " travelling experience" in Japan. Thank you for your reply.We are interested in all those "three" you mentioned, but  would like to experience more  rotenburos in stunning, beautiful natural surrounding. 

@ Lazy Pious  I will check those places you mentioned, many thanks.

@ Sal1980 
I agree, Hotel Iya Onsen  is not to be missed, especially for onsen enthusiast. Thanks you for your reply.

@ LikeBike
That is a long list you posted, not to mention the additional onsen options, much appreciated. Will peruse the detail,  again  ‚Ç‚¤‚à‚ ‚肪‚Æ‚¤‚²‚´‚¢‚Ü‚µ‚½!

@Ale345
Tsurunoyu Onsen, I feel the urge to revisit already; maybe one winter in the future. Many thanks.

@Shinji. I guess I have visited a couple of places.

In relation to rotenburos - this is probably my weak suit as I don't do mixed bathing and I don't tend to often stay in expensive accommodation that much anymore. Below are some of my general suggestions with a main focus on good quality water

(1) Kusatsu Onsen. It's got great quality water and one of the public onsens has a nice onsen area outside.

https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2223

(2) Noboribetsu Onsen. The Daiichi is the place to go. The rooms are soso and the meals can be hit or miss (upgraded meal was quite impressive though). You really come here for the onsens - which I called the Disneyland of Onsens.

https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-3066

Kii-Katsuura: There is a hotel here which is in large caves that overlooks the pacific ocean. The rooms are soso but it's great water and close to my favorite onsen in the country

https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2251

I also like the waters around Ureshino and Takeo in Saga Prefecture

https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-2693

Tamagawa Onsen up in Hokkaido allows you to bathe with the geriatrics but it's great water and watching people bake themselves on the volcanic rocks was pretty amazing...

https://www.japan-guide.com/community/mfedley/report-3269

@ mfedley
Thank you for your recommendations. The first three you mentioned are definitely worth visiting, I also would not hesitate to recommend. May want to revisit one day in the future, but not this time.
Ureshino, Takeo in Saga Prefecture  as well as  Tamagawa Onsen  look interesting, I will dig further information, again many thanks.

Hi!

I like rotemboro, but I don't do mixed gender bathing, I like single gender only

I had an amazing time at this small ryokan near Oyu onsen. I am not sure how accessible it is without a rental car though, as my friend was driving us the time I visited.
https://travel.rakuten.com/hotel/Japan-Akita_Prefecture-Kazuno-Oyu_Ons...

I also liked Zao. I don't remember where I stayed, just that I rented a family onsen. The ryokan I stayed in was cheap, and I mostly picked it because I could get it without meals even cheaper. The star onsen in Zao is the public rotemboro which is enormous and is the reason to visit.

I had a great experience in the Hanamaki onsen group last trip to Japan. I did not like the hotel at Hanamaki onsen itself, the one I liked was one of the other onsen in the group. There are 5 or 6, maybe more onsen in the group and each has a completely different vibe. Some of them are quite rustic and I think are mixed gender, just avoid the actual Hanamaki onsen, it is full of tour groups vs. all the other places seemed smaller and quieter. They

I'd like to try Takayu in Fukushima-ken. I'd also like to try Sagae onsen and their rose bath.

I can't vouch for all of these, but these onsen were ranked "the best" by Japanese travel professionals:
https://www.japanican.com/en/onsen/ranking/index.aspx

A lot of these are well know, but I've never seen much on Dake in Fukushima-ken

Good luck!

I agree that Daiichi at Noboribetsu Onsen is the best.

I really liked the river onsen, http://www.hongu.jp/en/onsen/kawayu/sennin-buro/ but it's a winter thing.

Shirahama on the way to Kii Katsura. Amazing rotemburo by the sea.

Marukoma Onsen in Hokkaido. Brilliant bathing right next to/in the lake, overlooking the volcanic cone-shaped hill on the other side.

@ rkold  
Thank you for sharing your experiences, and the recommendations. I love Zao onsen as well, stayed one night last winter, visited a few onsens, a memorable experiences. Also thank you for the Japanican link, lots of information.

@Sal1980Visited the Kawayu Onsen Sennin-buro River Bath 2 years ago, found the place was deserted due to heavy rain the previous day. Could have been an experience of a lifetime.

@ Winter Visitor
Saw the photo of the seaside onsen in Shirahama, still trying to locate the address, many thanks.
Marukoma Onsen, a visit we would never forget. The typhoon Jebi arrived during our stay, very frightening experience. You could imagine what happened to the onsen next to the lake.

Oh no! Did you go to Tsuboyu Onsen while in the area? It's the UNESCO listed onsen at Yunomine Onsen.

Admittedly, my favourite onsen experiences involve rotenburo while it's snowing. That won't help for your trip.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4958.html shirahama info

@ Sal1980  , 
Yes, we did visit the Tsuboyu Onsen. Unfortunately, the onsen was closed due to heavy rain.

@ Sal1980
Thank you for the link. Looks like the Saki-no-Yu Onsen is the most interesting one.

@ Sal1980
Thank you for the link. Looks like the Saki-no-Yu Onsen is the most interesting one.