Welcome! This guide will take you up to the famous Kinosaki Onsen in Hyogo Prefecture, my favorite onsen town in all of Japan. If you would like to learn more, get some tips and tricks on how to navigate the town, please purchase this guide for your next trip!

This trip is for those who love: hot springs ♨, crabs 🦀, relax 🏞️🛏 and want activities within walking distance 🚶. 

Japan Onsen Tour ♨️ Kinosaki Onsen Guide

Kinosaki Onsen is located on the Sea of Japan side of the main island, in Hyogo prefecture (on the opposite side of Kobe City).

This is a beautiful Japanese town all year round, and no matter what time of the year you come, it will still be extremely charming.

However, Kinosaki Onsen is particularly busy in the winter as the Sea of Japan area (where Kinosaki is) in general has its crab 🦀 season from November to March. If you stay during this time, most Japanese Inns and Restaurants will offer you a menu with crab or some option thereof. 

Staying 2 nights might also be a good idea if you want to explore some nearby areas or hit all the onsen available in town. All the onsen rotate their closing days on a weekday, mostly on Wednesdays and Thursdays - so be wary if you are making travel plans for these days of the week!

If you are staying longer than two days, I recommend doing a day trip to Izushi. There are local buses that have somewhat frequent service to this quaint countryside town:

If you plan to stay for one night, most if not all accommodations will give you a two-day pass (or how many ever days you will be here) to use on arrival included. 

Now, the million dollar question: which ones are worth going to?

If you opt to do the day trip instead, you can purchase the day pass for the seven onsen for 1300 yen. You can purchase these at the actual onsen on arrival. 

To get here, you can take the "Kounotori Limited Express" from JR Osaka Station. This ride will take around 3 hours. It is quite a journey for just a day trip.

Here is more information on Kinosaki Onsen and a very detailed and helpful guide on how to wear a Kimono/Yukata for your overnight stay:

Kinosaki Onsen English Pamphlet

I have been to almost all of the touristy onsen towns, plus some more. And I still have yet to encounter another town that has the entire package and more.

Yes, there are other towns with arguably more beautiful and wider variety of hot springs. So while the hot springs themselves are rather average - you get to taste test a bunch of them without extra travel. See if you enjoy outdoor baths, indoor high temperature bath, etc etc... And there's no other towns that is this photogenic, have various activities to do, remains lively up until late evening, and everything remains within walking distance - all in one! 

This is one of few onsen towns that encourages you to walk around the town in your hotel-provided Yukatas. And while many bigger onsen towns will charge you to privately rent their public baths at their accommodations, there are accommodations here (provided you are staying the night with them) that will allow you to block out an hour of the bath to use privately - all included in the accommodation fee.

There are also various foot onsens you can partake along the road. They are all free. Make sure you take a small towel with you 

If you are not staying at an accommodation, ⚠️ make sure you have a hand towel ⚠️ with you so you have something to wipe yourself with! The onsen will charge you for rental or will make you purchase one.

I stay at Morizuya almost every time I go to Kinosaki Onsen. I absolutely love this inn!