A wintertime retreat on this Kinosaki Onsen Extension presents a particularly unique, therapeutic experience: a hot spring soak outdoors coupled with (perhaps) a shower of delicate snowflakes. Add in a gorgeous Ryokan, like the Nishimuraya Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei, amazing kaiseki food, and your Onsen experience is complete.
Kinosaki has been a hot spring destination for over a millennium. The cosy atmosphere and seven natural hot springs draw people from all over looking for the perfect place to relax and unwind. In Japan, bathing is about so much more than just getting clean, encouraging an almost meditative appreciation of one’s body.
During the colder months in Kinosaki Onsen, the clip-clop of geta (wooden sandals) mingles with the soft crunch of fresh snow as wintertime visitors brave the chilly breeze on their way to one of Kinosaki’s Seven Mystic Hot Springs. Each natural hot spring boasts different benefits depending on the minerals in its water: iron-rich springs are meant to soothe painful joints; sulphur helps to manage blood pressure and prevent the hardening of the arteries; and hydrogen carbonate smooths the skin. At Kinosaki, the waters are teeming with sodium, chloride, and calcium, which are thought to help reduce fatigue, digestive issues, nerve and muscular pain, and bruising.
You will spend two nights in the gorgeous Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei Ryokan, which houses both private and public onsen and is located within a fantastically spacious forest garden exceeding 160,000 square meters in size.
This Kinosaki Onsen Extension gives you a quieter and scenically beautiful side of Kyoto Prefecture and is a great way to wind down your holiday in Japan. It is only just over two hours by express train from Kyoto, but it feels a world away.
This is the perfect extension to end our ‘Kyoto: Deep Dive with Plum Blossoms‘ tour.
Start Point – Kyoto
Finish Point – Osaka / Kyoto
Tour Style – Onsen Extension
Accommodation – Boutique Onsen Ryokan
Meals – As per itinerary
Transport – Private Van transfers, Train
Max Group Size – Booked on a person-by-person basis
NOTES:
– This private extension is only available with the scheduled ‘Kyoto and Plum Blossoms’ tour, or as an add-on to a private tour.
– All of Kinosaki Onsen’s seven hot springs are tattoo-friendly.
23 February 2025 – 25 February 2025
Twin Share: *TBC per person
Single Room: *TBC per person
*Rates are (from) per person based on Twin Share or Single Room.
*There are limited Single Rooms available – these will be booked on a First Come / First Served basis
This morning, we transfer to Kyoto Station and board our express train from Kyoto to Kinosaki. The train is approx 2.5 hours. You will be travelling in First (Green) Class with reserved seating.
Kinosaki is the quintessential onsen town, has been loved by Japanese for centuries, and was the home of many famous writers and artists. Many small ryokans line both sides of the Maruyama River. Although each ryokan has its own bath (onsen), the town’s biggest drawcard is the seven public baths. You will see many people slip on a yukata in the evening and stroll around the town, hopping from one bath house to another.
Your accommodation for the next two nights is the Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei, a combination of modern hotel & traditional ryokan nestled against a lush 30-acre mountain forest. A trail from the ryokan winds up to a Japanese-style garden,
with blue skies above. The seasons bring their own beauty: soft greens in spring, lush shade in summer, colorful leaves in autumn,
and dazzling snow in winter.
Non-smoking Japanese-style rooms, kaiseki dinner, free shuttle service, complimentary Wi-Fi, private onsen spas, open-air (outdoor) baths, sauna & aroma massages are just some features to make your stay a relaxing one. The hotel onsen Bath is divided into men and women. Both baths feature a large indoor & outdoor onsen bath, a cold bath, and a dry sauna. (All guests receive a free pass to the public hot springs of Kinosaki Onsen.)
On arrival at Kinosaki Onsen Station, there is a free shuttle available from 12:51 to 18:00. The shuttle bus is called “Checkin Shuttle Bus” and is operated by the local ryokan association. The shuttle bus will transfer you to your Ryokan.
Once you check in, you will be escorted to your Japanese style room, with tatami mats, and you cna change inot your Yukata. Spend your afternoon relaxing in your gorgeous Ryokan, soak in one of the onsen, book a massage, or grab a drink in the bar. *Note: you will be sleeping on a Futon (not a western style bed), but you do have a private toilet in the room. Bathing is via the onsen.
Tonight’s dinner will be a snow crab Kaiseki course. The Matsuba-gani, or snow crab, is a local delicacy caught in the waters just north of Kinosaki from November to March. Locals and tourists alike praise the taste of snow crab for its unique sweetness and ability to go with a variety of other dishes.
Overnight: Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei (D)
Kinosaki Onsen is built around the idea that the entire town is one large ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. All 7 hot spring bathhouses, or onsen in Japanese, are placed within walking distance of each other; it only takes 20 minutes to walk from the train station, or “ryokan’s entrance”, to the other end of town.
There are seven hot-spring baths and you get a complimentary pass to all of them. Kinosaki was the first place in Japan to introduce the concept of onsen-hopping, and still the most successful. The result is a lively town, where visitors stroll about in yukatas from café to craft shop to bathhouse, traditional crafts are still active, and where locals still shop. On winter nights, shop windows add a golden glow to dark evenings.
A leisurely walk through Kinosaki’s snowy town center presents you with scenery unique to a Japanese hot spring town. Pedestrians clad in a haori (winter coat for kimono) with a winter-themed yukata (light cotton kimono) underneath can escape the cold for cozy cafes with toasty beverages. Before entering one of the public bath houses for a hot spring dip, you can also warm their feet in one of the free foot baths dotted throughout the town.
Surrounded by women of all ages and body types, mostly unafraid of their nudity, there is a wonderfully egalitarian feeling within these spaces. The shared mood resembles that of a Japanese tea ceremony: a ritual for which you enter a small, humble space and everyone, regardless of their stature is equal and treats each other with the same symbols of courtesy. And because you’ve already washed, your purpose is not soaking to get clean as you would in a typical bath; instead your mental efforts are extended elsewhere. For one, there’s a meditative process that sets in while you’re sitting in water, doing little other than waiting to soften.
Read our OUR GUIDE TO RYOKAN & ONSEN ETIQUETTE here.
For those interested in venturing out into Kinosaki’s nearby forested winter wonderland, you can visit the tranquil and secluded Onsenji Temple, a Buddhist place of worship enveloped by snow-capped trees in the winter. In the past, visitors to Kinosaki Onsen would first pay their respects at Onsenji Temple before entering any of Kinosaki’s hot springs. Travelers who don’t mind the brisk mountain wind are encouraged to continue this tradition.
The town also hosts many small art and craft galleries and interesting bars and cafes.
Tonight, you dine in-house again.
Overnight: Nishimuraya Hotel Shogetsutei (B / D)
After breakfast, you will check out.
Departure options:
– Take an express train back to Kyoto
– Take an express train back to Tokyo – Shinagawa Station via Kyoto
– Take an Express train to Osaka Station, and taxi to Itami or Kansai airport.
– Private Transfer to Itami
– Private Transfer to Kansai
Please be assured, wherever you are going or doing after this, we will assist you with your transfers until you are safely onboard your departure flight home. (B)
While we will always do our best to accommodate the dietary needs of our guests, not every hosted tour can accommodate special dietary requirements. This tour offers limited value for people who have a broad range of intolerances or dislikes.
We can accommodate vegetarian diets if you let us know when you book, but only if we are aware.
This extension offers the best value and experience for guests with a broad palette and a sense of culinary adventure. Crab dishes will feature prominently during this extension, and we suggest you enjoy all kinds of fish, shellfish, + seafood in particular.
As part of the booking process for all of our tours, you will be required to provide detailed Special Dietary Requirement (SDR) information.
We are not able to accommodate SDRs at short notice, so it is vital that accurate and detailed information is provided at the time of booking.
SDRs and ‘preferences’ are different.
We will pass on all SDR information you provide to our suppliers.
Please note that this extension includes sleeping on a futon mattress on the floor. Ryokans are Japanese-style inns that involve sleeping on futons or mattresses on tatami mat floors, with bedding often packed away during the day. Attached bathrooms/toilets will usually be quite small, and many ryokans will have additional shared bathing facilities with certain hours. *Your Ryokan will have a Private Toilet, but bathing is in the onsen.
This trip is for an open-minded traveler who is eager to try onsen, the ultimate bathing experience. Onsen can be confronting for first timers, but, it gets easier! You do not wear bathers, or in fact any other clothing. The onsen are divided into Women’s and Men’s’.
February is a great time of year to visit Kinosaki. Kinosaki Onsen is a must-visit winter retreat when you next find yourself in Japan. A cosy town of just 3500 residents, it boasts 74 ryokans (Japanese inns) in total, a fact that has resulted in locals considering their home as one giant ryokan.
February is when the plum blossoms begin to bloom and when the annual Setsubun rituals are held throughout Japan at local shrines and temples. Large camellia flowers and plum trees, once preferred for flower viewing even over the now-famous cherry blossoms, begin to bloom and brighten the more bare winter landscapes with their white, pink, and red petals. You can also enjoy the unique experience of exorcising evil spirits, praying for good health and luck, and eating the ceremonial beans—one for each year of your age, plus one for the next year depending on your area’s customs.
And February is the perfect time to relax and unwind in a traditional Japanese hot spring bath, or onsen.
You may cancel on or before TBC and receive a full refund minus a $1,500 AUD/NZD per-person admin fee. If you cancel on or after TBC there is a 100% cancellation fee and all funds paid are non-refundable.
Once you send through your Booking Form, a deposit invoice is sent and due to be paid within 72 hours.
Please ensure you read through our full Terms and Conditions which includes our cancellation policies.
If you have any further questions about this Japan journey, please feel free to contact us.
You can also read more FAQ’s here.
