A onsen trip for the whole family! 6 recommended hotels and ryokan for families in Unzen / Nagasaki

Unzen, located on the Shimabara Peninsula in Nagasaki, is a land boasting beautiful scenery and was the first in Japan to be designated as a national park. The nature that you cannot see in the city is sure to blow away your daily fatigue. In addition to seeing the nationally famous "Unzen Jigoku," we also recommend riding the "Unzen Ropeway" for a panoramic view of the Shimabara Peninsula! There are also spots that children will enjoy, such as Hyakkadai Park, which has more than enough playground equipment to play with in one day.

Unzen has plenty of recommended lodgings for families with children, as well as tourist spots that both children and adults can enjoy. If you stay at a lodging that rents out baby goods, you can bring less luggage and have a more comfortable stay. Also, lodgings with rooms with open-air baths or private baths allow adults and children to relax and unwind without worrying about the people around them. In this article, we will introduce some recommended lodgings in Unzen for families with children, so please use them as a reference.

Oshidori Pond spreads out at the foot of Mt. Unzen. Located on the lakeside, this Japanese resort ryokan allows you to enjoy onsen from its own source and delicious food while taking in the beautiful waterside scenery. There are plenty of Japanese-style rooms and rooms with onsen baths, making it perfect for families with small children. There is also a wide selection of baby goods available for rental (for a fee), so it is recommended that you make a reservation in advance. Set off on your trip with less luggage!

"Suien," which overlooks the Mandarin Pond outside the window, is a room with a semi-open-air bath that uses natural hot spring water. It's great that you can give your kids a quick bath when they're in a good mood♪ In addition to the bedroom, there is also a Japanese-style room, so families who are worried about putting their kids to bed can rest assured. Why not enjoy a relaxing bath after the kids have fallen asleep? The whole family can feel refreshed and stress-free.

How about taking turns going to the large public bath the next day before the kids wake up? You can take a bath from 5am, so you can enjoy a moment of solitude while taking in the spectacular view of the ever-changing color of the Mandarin Pond. Gazing at the serene scenery, your daily fatigue seems to melt away. There is also an open-air bath, so it's fun to enjoy a morning bath in the crisp morning air.

One of the attractions of this inn is the kaiseki cuisine, which uses seafood from the Ariake Sea and vegetables from Unzen and Shimabara. The familiar cuisine, which combines Western flavors with Japanese tastes, is served on beautiful Arita ware and is a feast for the eyes and the tongue. Children's meal are also available, so please inquire in advance. The colorful dishes may just whet your whole family's appetite!

Unzen onsen Yuyado Unzen Shinyu is a long-established ryokan founded in 1908, and is the only inn in Unzen with four hot springs on its premises. It is about a two-minute walk from Unzen Jigoku, so it is easily accessible even if you get tired from walking around the hells. There is also a toy museum a 15-minute walk away, so it is a great inn to keep in mind as a base for sightseeing when traveling with children.

Among the mainly Japanese-style rooms with tatami flooring, we recommend the "Tatami Superior -TATAMI-" room. With a spacious space of 10 tatami mats + 6 tatami mats + a wide veranda, you can relax and unwind. As it is a tatami room, it is safe for babies who are just starting to crawl or walk. It is also a good place to relax and kick up your tired legs after a long walk.

The biggest attraction of this inn is the only 4 private hot spring sources in Unzen onsen. Each hot spring source has a different type of hot water, so you can tour around the inn. In addition, "Madoka", which uses the first hot spring here, is a private family bath (for a fee), so it is recommended for traveling with children! The cloudy hot water is called “beautiful skin hot water”, so even tired mothers will be happy.

This inn has made a "Shimabara Peninsula 15-mile declaration," and only uses locally-sourced ingredients caught within a 15-mile (25km) radius of the inn. Enjoy the finest kaiseki cuisine, including the "Gasen Kaiseki," which features a fresh fish platter and Nagasaki beef teppanyaki. There is also a "kids' lunch," so children can enjoy meal.

This inn welcomes you with the Mikado Gate, which conveys the history of Unzen and was built using an 800-year-old precious tree. You can spend a leisurely time in the extraordinary scenery surrounded by nature. The inside of the building is also filled with the warmth and fragrance of wood, so the whole family can forget about the hustle and bustle of everyday life and be healed.

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There are plenty of Japanese-style rooms available (photo is an example of a room). Natural wooden pillars are used in each room, allowing you to feel the strength of nature on the Shimabara Peninsula. There are two types of rooms with open-air baths, but we recommend the room with the open-air bath made of cypress. There is also a large terrace, and in the summer you can borrow an inflatable pool and hammocks for children to spread out on the terrace and play (reservations must be made the day before). It would be fun to stay for several nights and relax at the hotel.

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This inn also has a large public bath called "Tenku no Yu" where you can enjoy a view of the ocean. In addition to stretching out your legs in the large bathtub and enjoying the natural hot spring onsen, you can also soak in a unique bathtub carved out of natural stone! It's also nice to enjoy a morning bath while watching the sun rise over the Amakusa Islands.

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Dinner is served buffet style, a great option for families with children. Both adults and children will be satisfied as they can eat as much as they like of whatever they like! In addition to fresh seafood caught in Shimabara, this inn offers a wide variety of menu items, including grilled domestic beef, tasty crab, and seasonal obanzai. They also have a wide selection of dishes that are easy for even small children to eat, such as Goto udon and Nagasaki oden.

Popular spots such as "Unzen Jigoku" and "Unzen Bidro Museum" are within a 10-minute walk from this inn, making it the perfect base for sightseeing. The lobby has a retro, relaxed atmosphere, and in the winter you'll be greeted by a blazing fire in the fireplace. There is also a space within the building where you can enjoy table tennis, and if you inquire at the front desk, they will lend you nostalgic games and play equipment for free to play in your room.

In addition to the main building, this inn also has a new building, the Yamatera Annex, which has a terrace and a free-flowing open-air bath. The new building has seven rooms with open-air baths, and this Shin room is one of them. The spacious room has tatami mats so babies can stretch out comfortably. There is also a miniature garden and a terrace, so mom and dad can enjoy a relaxing time with a free drink from the fridge and feel the night breeze.

This inn has a large communal bath, an open-air bath, and two other private baths. Guests can use the "Santaro no Yu" bath for free! Even if you're not using a room with an open-air bath, it's nice to be able to spend some private bath time with your family.

Let's have dinner at meal inside the inn. The charm of this inn is that you can taste fresh seafood caught in the sea off the Shimabara Peninsula at its most delicious. You can enjoy a variety of kaiseki cuisine. What's more, they also have a "children's lunch" that the kids will love.

This inn has an impressive Japanese garden that spreads across a vast 20,000m2 site. Once you pass through the imposing "Nagayamon" gate, you will see a beautiful and extraordinary sight. There are only 14 guest rooms, all of which are detached buildings built in the Sukiya style. When traveling with children, you may be concerned about the eyes of others, but if you stay in a detached room, you won't have to worry.

In the detached rooms, you can spend a peaceful time with your family in a quiet atmosphere. In addition to the 12 two-story detached buildings, there is also a special one-story room with an open-air bath that is only available to two groups per day. You can also borrow yukata, baby chairs, and baby buckets for children, so you can rest assured.

The "East Bath" here is a large public bath where you can enjoy an indoor bath, an open-air bath, a sauna and a cold bath. In addition, the "West Bath" here can be reserved for private use for free. You can make a reservation when you check in, so it's perfect for traveling with children when it's hard to predict the schedule!

This inn offers activities such as "forest bathing buggy experience" and "shower climbing" in the beautiful natural surroundings. It is a rest house that only accepts one group per day, so it is perfect for traveling with children. The first floor is a restaurant space, and the second floor is a guest room.

This guest room is like a hideaway nestled in a quiet forest. It is equipped with a living room, a Japanese-style room, a bedroom, and more, so you will feel like you are staying at a villa rather than at a hotel. Only one group per day is allowed, so you can make memories with your family without being disturbed. It's okay if the kids make noise!

This is a private bath that requires a reservation, so mom and dad don't have to worry about others around them and the whole family can enjoy a wonderful bath time. Outside the window you can see the magnificent view created by nature, and you can relax surrounded by the scent of wood. The bath is "rice bran bath" which is expected to have skin-beautifying effects, so it will revitalize tired mom's skin!

Enjoy some delicious food at the restaurant on the first floor. There are a variety of options, including a Western-style course where you can enjoy pasta and pizza that are easy for children to eat, an Unzen Wagyu beef shabu-shabu plan, and a Japanese-style course where you can enjoy seafood caught in Tachibana Bay. Enjoy a leisurely dinner at your own pace with your family.

What did you think of the "recommended hotels for families with children" in Unzen that we introduced this time? We hope that those who have given up on going on trips or traveling because they have small children will enjoy their trip. In Unzen, there are many wonderful inns that will fully support parents who are anxious about their first trip with children. Let's go on a trip to Unzen with the whole family to spend a relaxing holiday in the great outdoors!