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Plan a trip

Most hot spring inns are out of town, and the hard part is not choosing one but working out whether you can get there. Start from where you are.

Onsen near Tokyo (529)Onsen near Kyoto and Osaka (360)Onsen you can reach without a car (987)Onsen on the JR Pass (960)

Short on time? Our top 3 picks

Three towns each, chosen by distance, water and how well known they are, with the reasons written out.

The 3 best onsen in AkitaTamagawa, Nyūtō and Yuze: the three best-known onsen in Akita, and all three reachable without a car. The most
The 3 best onsen in AomoriSukayu, Asamushi and Komaki: the three best-known onsen in Aomori, and all three reachable without a car. The
The 3 best onsen stops between Tokyo and KyotoAtami, Tsurumaki and Itō: the three onsen towns that pass a simple test for breaking the Tokyo–Kyoto trip — li
The 3 best onsen in ChibaYōrō-keikoku, Shirako and Kameyama: the three Chiba onsen that pass a simple test — no car needed and the best
The 3 best onsen in FukushimaIizaka, Bandai Atami and Dake: the three best-known onsen in Fukushima Prefecture, all reachable without a car
The 3 best onsen towns in GunmaKusatsu, Ikaho and Shima: the three Gunma onsen towns that pass a simple test — no car needed and the best kno
The 3 best onsen towns on the Izu PeninsulaAtami, Shuzenji and Izu-Nagaoka: the three Izu onsen towns that pass a simple test — no car needed and the bes
The 3 best onsen in NaraDorogawa, Totsukawa and Nosegawa: the three Nara onsen that pass a simple test — no car needed and the best kn
The 3 best onsen towns near FukuokaUreshino, Takeo and Yuda: the three onsen towns near Fukuoka that pass a simple test — about two hours from Ha
The 3 best onsen near Furano and BieiTokachidake, Shirogane and Fukiage: the three best-known onsen towns around Furano and Biei that you can reach
The 3 best onsen near HakubaŌmachi Onsenkyō, Himekawa and Hakuba-Happō: the three best-known onsen towns in the Hakuba Valley that you can
The 3 best onsen towns near HiroshimaDōgo, Yunotsu and Yuda: the three onsen towns near Hiroshima that pass a simple test — within 100 km, no car n
The 3 best onsen towns near KanazawaAwara, Kaga Onsen (Yamanaka, Yamashiro, Katayamazu, Awazu) and Wakura: the three onsen areas near Kanazawa tha
The 3 best onsen near KaruizawaKirizumi, Hoshino and Kawarayu: the three best-known onsen within 25 km of Karuizawa Station that you can reac
The 3 best onsen towns near Mount FujiIsawa, Hakone and Shimobe: the three onsen towns within 35 km of Mount Fuji's summit that you can reach withou
The 3 best onsen towns near NagoyaGero, Hirugami and Yunoyama: the three onsen towns near Nagoya that pass a simple test — about two hours or le
The 3 best onsen towns near NikkoKinugawa, Yunishigawa and Kawaji: the three onsen towns in Nikko City that need no car and are the best known
The 3 best onsen towns near Osaka and KyotoArima, Kinosaki and Ogoto: the three onsen towns near Osaka and Kyoto that pass a simple test — about two hour
The 3 best onsen towns near SendaiGinzan, Akiu and Zao: the three onsen towns near Sendai that pass a simple test — within 50 km, no car needed,
The 3 best onsen towns near TokyoIkaho, Kinugawa and Bessho: the three onsen towns near Tokyo that pass a simple test — about two hours away, n
The 3 best onsen in NisekoGoshiki, Niseko Konbu and Niseko Yumoto: the three best-known onsen towns around Niseko that you can reach wit
The 3 best onsen in OkayamaYunogō, Yubara and Okutsu: the three best-known onsen in Okayama that you can reach by JR train. Why all three
The 3 best onsen towns for skiing in JapanKusatsu, Manza and Zao: the three onsen towns with a ski area within 2 km, no car needed, and the best known.
The 3 best onsen towns in Japan for a first tripKusatsu, Arima and Kinosaki: the three onsen towns in Japan that pass a simple test for a first visit — within
The 3 most unusual onsen waters in JapanToyotomi, Tamagawa and Kusatsu: the best-known towns for each of Japan's three rarest water types — iodine, ca

How these are worked out: the nearest station and the last leg come from each town's Japanese Wikipedia article; station names and whether a line is JR come from Wikidata. Journey times are rough estimates from station locations, and every town page links to Google Maps for the exact route.