Oku-Hida Onsen Villages



The Oku-Hida Onsen Villages (奥飛騨温泉郷 Oku-Hida Onsengō) are a group of 5 remote hot spring villages, nestled deep in the Japan Alps of Gifu Prefecture.

From north to south, the five villages are Shin-Hotaka (新穂高), Tochio (栃尾), Shin-Hirayu (新平湯), Fukuchi (福地) and Hirayu (平湯). They are administered as part of Takayama City.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a multilingual guide site.

Get in
The easiest option is a direct bus from Shinjuku in Tokyo (4½ hr, ¥5700). Alternatively, take a train to the nearest stations Matsumoto (if coming from the east) or Hida-Takayama (if coming from the west), then hop on a bus for the final leg (1½ hr and ¥2,300-2,800 from Matsumoto, 50 min from Takayama).

Get around
Infrequent bus services connect the villages, but to free yourself from limited bus schedules, this is one of those few places in Japan where renting a car may be a good option. Still, the scenic mountain roads are slow, twisty and tiring to drive, and are not a good place to learn to drive on the left.

See
Every village has an open-air bath (露天風呂 rotenburo) open to the public for free or a token fee. Note that these are communal and mixed, ladies wishing to retain their modesty may wish to bring a bathing suit.



Do


Being located in the heart of the northern Japan Alps, there are copious opportunities for hiking in the area, but do your research beforehand as many of the mountains are quite tough and the climbing season is very short &mdash; many peaks will still be covered in snow in June. A popular, if fairly challenging, three-day course is to scale all three peaks listed below in a row, crossing over from Oku-Hida to Kamikochi (or vice versa).



Eat
The Hida region is well known for its fatty, well marbled beef and you are practically guaranteed to get a taste of it at dinner. Prices tend to be fairly stratospheric though.

Sleep
There are plentiful accommodation options in the villages, but most of it is distinctly high-end. Pretty much the only budget option is camping... but, then again, if you're going to splurge one on your Japan trip this is quite possibly the best place to do it. Unless otherwise noted, all prices listed below are per person with two meals included.

Go next

 * Takayama
 * Kamikochi
 * Matsumoto
 * Hida
 * Gero
 * Shirakawa-go
 * Gujo
 * Toyama
 * Nakatsugawa