Sublime Soaks from Aso to Zaou
OnsenJapan.net
Independent onsen reviews, hot spring recommendations, Japanese onsen photos, guided onsen spa tours.

Onsen Tours of Japan

          www.OnsenJapan.net generally offers 2 group hot spring trips per year, one in the fall and one in the spring, the latter timed to hit the cherry blossom viewing season (if possible!), when many baths are at their most beautiful. Our tours are intimate, between 6-12 people, and are geared less towards luxury and more towards learning to love and understand Japan while luxuriating in some of the country's finest onsen. We use small or medium sized Japanese-style inns, many of them with their own onsen baths. We do not use giant buses or impersonal, chain hotels. Long distance travel within Japan is done on the Shinkansen, the bullet train. Our tours are competitively priced and are longer than most high-end tours, as we understand that to truly appreciate Japan you must be jet-lag free...which takes 1-3 days. All tours, dates, and prices are subject to change due to any number of conditions, and do not include airfare to or from Japan. A 50% deposit is required to reserve a spot in a tour, refundable only if OnsenJapan.net is unable to offer the tour. If you must cancel after the full payment deadline, no refunds are given but you may use up to 50% of the fee paid towards a future tour.

Spring/Fall 2010

Onsen Secrets in the Kumano Region (Fall 2010)
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This tour will highlight some of the best "secret" onsen in Wakayama Prefecture, near Osaka, including a stop at Shirahama Onsen, with its stunning oceanside rotenburos, Ryuujin Onsen, one of the three top "Bijin No Yu" (Beautifying Waters), Rakuda No Yu Onsen (a magnificent soak by the oceanside), and many others. Walks along the UNESCO listed pilgrimage roads, river excursion, and visits to shrines or markets are also part of the fun. Breakfasts, dinners, lodging, and transportation within Wakayama will be included. With the Persimmon trees ripe with fruit and the air just starting to hint of autumn, you can't find anything more special than soaking in an onsen and looking up at the full moon. Come explore this magical and still unknown part of Japan -- the Kumano Kodo area onsen tour with OnsenJapan.net.Register now for our 2010 Autumn tour!
Springtime Secrets (Spring 2011)
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This tour will focus on quirkier, more rustic onsen that many people -- Japanese and foreigners alike -- feel capture the true essence of what an onsen should be. Timed to include autumn leaf viewing, this tour will uncover the best-of-the-best onsen in Southern Japan. Highlights may include Shirahama Onsen, Ibusuki, in Kagoshima, Shironoyu, in Kirishima, where one can bathe in a hot mountain stream, and Kurokawa, currently one of the top rated onsen villages in all of Japan.
Private Guided Tours/Interpretation/Itinerary Planning:
If a group tour is not for you, OnsenJapan.net can also arrange private guided trips or find interpreters at reasonable rates. For "Do-it-Yourself"ers who do not want a guide but who are unfamiliar with Japan's myriad of buses and trains, we are happy to arrange itineraries, verfiy bus and train schedules, and provide detailed hotel information for around USD$10 per onsen/destination, or up to 5 onsen/destinations for USD$40.

 

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