Atami Onsen — photo: Drivephotographer · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
The 3 best onsen stops between Tokyo and Kyoto
If you are travelling between Tokyo and Kyoto or Osaka and want to break the trip with a night in a hot spring town, stop at Atami, Tsurumaki or Itō. All three add little to the journey, all three can be reached by train without a car, and they are the three best-known towns that pass both tests. The surprise is where they are: all three sit at the Tokyo end of the route, within about 100 km of Tokyo Station. That is not our taste showing. It is where the hot spring towns on this corridor are. Below is why each one made it, how to fit it into the day, and the towns that only just missed — including the famous one we could not include.
Why these three, in one paragraph
We did not pick by taste. Our travel data gives each onsen town a rough journey time from Tokyo Station and from Kyoto or Osaka Station, whichever is closer. Among the 240 best-known towns within about three hours of Tokyo and the 240 best-known within about three hours of Kyoto or Osaka, 82 appear on both lists. We kept the 64 you can reach without a car. The express train between the two cities takes a little over two hours, so to count as a stop "on the way" we kept towns where the two estimates add up to four and a half hours or less: 30. Then we removed the ones that are not really between the cities: city baths within 50 km of Tokyo or Kyoto Station, or inside Tokyo and Osaka, and towns north of Tokyo that only look close because the estimates are rough. That left 15. Finally we ranked them by how often each town's Wikipedia article is read, as a measure of how established a town is. The top three are Atami, Tsurumaki and Itō. The full method, with numbers, is at the end.
Why they are all near Tokyo
Of the 15 towns that passed, eight are in the hills and coast where Kanagawa meets the Izu Peninsula, within about 100 km of Tokyo. Six are in the long middle stretch through Shizuoka, Aichi, southern Nagano and Gifu, and only one, Nagahama on Lake Biwa, is at the Kyoto end. The middle-stretch towns are small: the best known of them, Miya near Gamagōri, came fourth. So the practical choice is usually this: stop early, on your first or last night in the Tokyo area, rather than halfway.
1. Atami: the stop the Shinkansen already makes
Why it made it. Atami Onsen is the most looked-up town in the pool: 1,227 in our count, just ahead of Tsurumaki at 1,087. It is also the quickest stop of the three. Our estimate puts it under an hour from Tokyo and about two hours from Kyoto or Osaka, the smallest total of any town that passed.
The town. Atami is a seaside resort town on steep slopes above a bay, with its onsen hotels spread up the hillsides and along the shore. It is a big, busy place rather than a quiet village, which is exactly why it works as a stop: plenty of rooms, and a station on the Shinkansen line itself.
The water. Our records give Atami two water types, chloride and sulfate, which is to say salt water, as you would expect by the sea. We have no temperature or pH figures for Atami, so we will not guess at them. The water sign in the changing room tells you how each bath is run.
Getting there. 熱海 (Atami) Station is on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, and our route data lists the town as a short walk from it. The fastest trains, the Nozomi, do not stop there; take a Hikari or a Kodama. The JR Pass covers the trip.
Good for: the simplest possible break in the journey — get off, stay, get back on the next morning. Watch out for: the hills. The station is at the top and many hotels are further down, so ask your hotel about the last stretch if you have heavy bags.
2. Tsurumaki: a small spa on the private line out of Shinjuku
Why it made it. Tsurumaki Onsen is second at 1,087. Our estimate puts it about an hour from Tokyo and about three hours from Kyoto or Osaka, with the station a short walk from the baths.
The town. This is the smallest place of the three: our records list three inns. It sits at the foot of the Tanzawa hills in Hadano. Mount Kōbō, a low hill with walking trails, is 2.5 km away, Ochihata Shrine 0.7 km, and Odawara Castle 18.4 km, on the way west.
The water. Tsurumaki is chloride water, weakly alkaline, recorded at 26.3 to 37.3 °C at source. That is below bath temperature, so the baths are heated.
Getting there. Take the Odakyū line from Shinjuku to 鶴巻温泉 (Tsurumaki-Onsen). It is a private line, so the JR Pass does not cover it. To continue west the next day, stay on the Odakyū line to Odawara and change there for the Shinkansen.
Good for: a quiet first or last night if you are staying on the west side of Tokyo. Watch out for: it is a small spa, not a resort town, and the few inns fill up. Book ahead.
3. Itō: a big-flow town on the Izu coast
Why it made it. Itō Onsen is third at 609. Our estimate puts it about an hour and a half from Tokyo and about three hours from Kyoto or Osaka. It is the furthest detour of the three, but still within our limit.
The town. Itō is a seaside town on the east coast of the Izu Peninsula, bigger and more spread out than Tsurumaki. The MOA Museum of Art is 13.2 km away, back towards Atami; Nirayama Castle is 13.6 km and Mount Amagi 16.1 km, inland.
The water. Our records give Itō two water types, simple and chloride, and a total flow of about 34,000 litres a minute. That is a lot: of the 425 towns in our data with a flow figure, only 12 reach 10,000, and Itō sits in the same range as Kusatsu (about 32,300) and Yufuin (about 38,600). We have no temperature figure for it.
Getting there. From Atami, take the JR Itō line to 伊東 (Itō); our route data lists the town as a short walk from the station. There are also direct limited-express trains from Tokyo. The JR Pass covers the JR part of the trip. Going on to Kyoto, you go back to Atami for the Shinkansen.
Good for: anyone with a spare day who wants the sea and more town to walk around. Watch out for: it is a branch line off the route, so it costs you the most time of the three.
Which of the three?
- Want the least time off the Shinkansen: Atami.
- Staying on the west side of Tokyo, want somewhere small: Tsurumaki.
- Have a spare day, want the sea: Itō, or combine it with Atami.
- Travelling on the JR Pass: Atami or Itō. Tsurumaki is on a private line.
The towns that only just missed
Hakone would have been first, at 1,275, and our estimate puts it about an hour from Tokyo. It is left out because our data does not record whether you need a car, so we cannot say it passes; Hakone is a whole mountain district, and the answer depends on which part you stay in. It is the obvious alternative to Atami; our Hakone guide explains which area to stay in. Yugawara (777), next to Atami, also missed on the car test: our data has a taxi from the station.
Miya near Gamagōri came fourth at 524: chloride water at 35 °C, nine inns, and a short walk from Mikawa-Miya Station on the JR line. It is the only reasonably known town that passed in the middle of the route, about an hour and a half from Nagoya. Izusan, part of Atami, was fifth at 269.
Gero in Gifu is the best-known town anywhere near the route, at 2,959, with an 84 °C alkaline simple spring. It failed the detour test: our estimates add up to about five and a half hours, because you leave the Shinkansen at Nagoya and ride north into the mountains. If you have a whole day for the stop, it is worth it; see our Japanese Alps guide.
How we picked these three
- Starting pool: the 240 best-known onsen towns within about three hours of Tokyo Station and the 240 best-known within about three hours of Kyoto or Osaka Station in our travel data. 82 are on both.
- No car needed: 64 of the 82 are reached by train and a short walk or local bus.
- Little detour: the two time estimates add up to four and a half hours or less: 30. The express train alone takes a little over two hours.
- Actually between the cities: we removed 9 city baths within 50 km of Tokyo or Kyoto Station or inside Tokyo and Osaka, and 6 towns north of Tokyo — in Saitama, Tochigi, Niigata and Fukushima — where the rough estimates make them look closer than they are. 15 remain.
- Known: ranked by how often each town's Wikipedia article is read. Atami 1,227, Tsurumaki 1,087, Itō 609. Next are Miya 524 and Izusan 269.
- Not used: scenery, inn quality, price, tattoo policy or how good the food is. We have no data that ranks those fairly, so we did not pretend to.
- About the water: Tsurumaki is recorded at 26.3 to 37.3 °C and is heated. We have no temperature figures for Atami or Itō. The water did not decide the ranking.
- Travel times are rough estimates from station locations, not a timetable. Check the route on Google Maps before you go.
For every town in range, see onsen near Tokyo, onsen near Kyoto and Osaka and onsen on the JR Pass. For a night at either end instead, read the 3 best onsen towns near Tokyo and the 3 best onsen towns near Osaka and Kyoto. New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. Tattooed? Read going to an onsen with tattoos before you book.