Things to do in Oita
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Oita
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best overall, with mid November maples at Yabakei and Kokonoe, Kinrin mist and seki saba coming into fat.
Cherry blossom in late March to early April and comfortable hiking, plus the Beppu onsen festival in April.
Rainy season in June to early July, when views and hikes lose their point even though the baths stay good.
Hot, humid and domestically packed around Obon, with typhoon risk building into September.
Cold air and the best soaking and fattest seki saba, against short days and possible snow in the Kuju heights.
Golden Week in late April to early May is a domestic crush across every pick.
What's on
- Beppu Hatto Onsen Matsuri first week of April, around 1 to 5 April
Onsen thanksgiving with the Ogiyama Fire Festival, free baths, parades and a water splashing finale.
- Beppu Hi no Umi Festival late July, typically 25 to 26 July weekend
Fireworks over Beppu Bay with food stalls and summer dancing at Matogahama Park and Spa Beach.
- Oita Godo Tanabata early August, around 7 August
Oita City's summer festival in the central arcades, its liveliest street weekend of the year.
- Usuki Gion Festival July
One of Oita's three great Gion float festivals, a natural pairing with a Usuki stone Buddhas trip.
- New Year Sunrise at Beppu Ropeway 31 December to 1 January
Special sunrise ropeway runs up Mt Tsurumi to start the year above Beppu Bay.
Best things to do in Oita
Oita Prefectural Art Museum
A Shigeru Ban glass museum in central Oita, built like a living room, with strong Oita art and serious touring shows.
Oita Art Museum
The older city museum on a hill, quieter and more local than OPAM, with Oita focused painting and crafts.
Takegawara Onsen
Beppu's historic 1938 bathhouse, famous for its sand bath and its single very hot communal tub.
Hyotan Onsen
Japan's only three-star onsen, with many bath types, a sand bath and reservable private family baths.
Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden
About a thousand wild macaques come down to a feeding ground with no cages between you and them.
Oita Marine Palace Aquarium Umitamago
A strong Bungo Channel aquarium with jellyfish, walrus shows and touch areas, paired easily with the monkey park.
COMICO Art Museum Yufuin
A calm Kengo Kuma museum in Yufuin showing major contemporary artists, and a quiet break from the shopping street.
City Spa Tenku
A large rooftop onsen complex at Oita Station with open air baths over the city toward Beppu Bay.
Where to stay in Oita
Oita City Station and central arcade
first nights, transport and value
Covered arcades, the station for Beppu and Yufuin, and City Spa Tenku for bathing without leaving town.
Beppu Kannawa, Kitahama and the hills
onsen first trips
Eight onsen districts, the Hells and steam in the streets, with Kannawa atmospheric and Kitahama convenient.
Yufuin station street and Kinrin basin
one slow splurge night
Small private bath ryokan under Mt Yufu, lovely at dawn and after day trip crowds leave, quiet at night.
Best restaurants in Oita
Yamada Ya
Usuki's flagship fugu ryotei, serving full courses of sashimi, hotpot and rice porridge at the source.
Seki Aji Seki Saba Kan
The harbour restaurant for Saganoseki's brand mackerel and horse mackerel, eaten as sashimi by the water.
Yufu Mabushi "Shin" Yufuin Ekimae Branch
Clay pot rice topped with Bungo beef by Yufuin Station, eaten in three stages with condiments and dashi.
Jigokumushi Kobo Kannawa
Steam your own vegetables, chicken and seafood in natural onsen steam at this volunteer run Kannawa kitchen.
Toyoken
The Beppu restaurant credited with inventing toriten, still serving the canonical fluffy batter version.
Grill Mitsuba
A small Kitahama grill keeping the original toriten taste, with a homemade sweet sauce and a local crowd.
Kogetsu
A long running Beppu reimen shop near Beppudaigaku Station, serving cold noodles in a light chilled broth.
Okamotoya Shop
The Myoban shop credited as the originator of jigoku mushi pudding, custard steamed in onsen steam.
Outdoor things to do in Oita
Hells of Beppu
Seven look only hot springs in blue, red, mud and geyser form, toured on one combined pass in Kannawa.
Yunotsubo Kaido
Yufuin's grazing street of sweet shops, croquettes and crafts, running from the station side toward Lake Kinrin.
Lake Kinrin
A small spring fed lake at the end of Yunotsubo, magical at dawn when mist rolls off the warm water.
Usuki Stone Buddhas
Sixty one cliff carved Buddhas in a wooded valley, a National Treasure and the prefecture's great quiet sight.
Beppu Ropeway
A gondola up the 1374 metre volcano above Beppu, for summit views over Beppu Bay and the Kuju range.
Mount Yufu
A proper twin peaked volcano hike above Yufuin, four to five hours, with the basin and bay laid out below.
Kokonoe "Yume" Otsurihashi Bridge
Japan's highest pedestrian suspension bridge over a gorge with twin waterfalls, best in autumn and only by car.
Yabakei
A river gorge cycled on a flat paved path along the Yamakuni River, famous for mid November maples.
Best hotels in Oita
Hotel Nikko Oita Oasis Tower
Oita City's landmark tower hotel, with large rooms, bay views from upper floors and a strong local breakfast.
JR Kyushu Hotel Blossom Oita
The station hotel itself, modern and effortless for rail trips, with City Spa Tenku inside the building.
Dormy Inn Oita Hot Springs
A budget business hotel by Oita Station with a rooftop natural onsen, free night ramen and a serious breakfast.
ANA InterContinental Beppu Resort & Spa
The prefecture's international luxury hotel above Kannawa, with infinity pool, bay views and private bath rooms.
Beppu SUGINOI HOTEL
Beppu's big joyful resort, with terraced bay view baths and a swimsuit waterpark complex that families love.
Beppu Yukemuri-no-Oka Youth Hostel
A real youth hostel in the Kannawa hills with natural hot spring bathing from hostel prices.
Yufuin Gettouan
A forest luxury ryokan where every room has its own outdoor onsen and kaiseki is served in room.
Is Oita expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ¥11,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ¥22,000 a person |
| Splurge | ¥55,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Hyotan Onsen: a few days ahead
- COMICO Art Museum Yufuin: a few days ahead
- Beppu Golf Club: weeks ahead
- ANA InterContinental Beppu Resort & Spa: weeks ahead
- Beppu Yukemuri-no-Oka Youth Hostel: a few days ahead
- Yufuin Gettouan: months ahead
- Yamada Ya: weeks ahead
- Book Yufuin ryokan and Beppu private bath properties two to three months ahead for autumn and holiday weekends.
- Reserve Yamada Ya for fugu, Hyotan private family baths, Beppu golf and the Yufuin no Mori train.
- Go early for Takegawara sand bath, since the list is taken on the day and fills fast.
- Arrive before opening at Yufu Mabushi Shin, because its queue cannot be booked around.
Is Oita safe?
- There is no base area in Oita City, Beppu or Yufuin to avoid for safety, and the real risks are onsen heat and slippery steam wet lanes.
- Enter hot baths slowly, hydrate, and do not bathe after drinking.
- At Takasakiyama, do not touch, feed, show food to or stare down the monkeys.
- Eat fugu only in licensed restaurants, where licensing is the safety system.
Oita travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Yufuin Floral Village and the character cafes on Yunotsubo Kaido are the street's thinnest value.
- Oniyama Jigoku, the crocodile hell, is the one hell many visitors wish they had skipped.
- Yufuin at noon on a day trip is crowded and commercial, while the same town is lovely at 8am and 5pm.
- Old listings for the Beppu beach sand bath may lead to a changed facility, so use Takegawara or Hyotan instead.
Getting around Oita: public transport and more
- JR Nippo Main Line runs Oita to Beppu in about 15 minutes, and Oita to Yufuin is about an hour by JR Kyudai Line.
- Beppu to Yufuin has no direct train, so go via Oita or take the direct bus of about 40 to 50 minutes.
- Oita Airport is about an hour by Airliner bus from Oita City and Beppu, with no airport train.
- Within Beppu, buses from Beppu Station reach Kannawa and the Hells in about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Rent a car for Kokonoe, Yabakei and Saganoseki, and carry cash for small onsen and noodle shops.
Who Oita suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Oita your trip
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