Stay
Ryokan up the valley with kaiseki and private baths, easygoing hotels near the station, and houses you can rent whole.
Most ryokan are in the onsen district and Oku-Yugawara, 10 to 20 minutes up the valley by bus or taxi. A night there usually includes dinner and breakfast, and the baths are the point.
Stay near the station if you'd rather eat out, come and go, or catch an early train. Every place below has photos, the practical details, and a link to book.
To sleep outdoors, The Base has walled glamping cabins with their own hot-spring baths, and Kamiya is a proper campsite on the hill with a hot spring on site. JaCamp, Matt's English-language camping directory, covers more campsites and glamping around Yugawara and Manazuru.
The detached annex of an onsen inn two minutes from Yugawara Station, rented whole: three bedrooms, room for up to 12, and a half-open-air bath fed from the hot spring.
An old house by the Niizawa River in the hills behind Yugawara, rented whole: desks upstairs, wifi, a kitchen, a deck over the river and stays of a month or more, from ¥3,000 a person.
A share house on the hill above Yugawara Station, run by Matt's friend Masato: private Japanese-style rooms by the night, a big shared kitchen, and a roof terrace over the town and Sagami Bay.
A ryokan at the top of the valley since 1933, with a rooftop bath that looks straight down it and kaiseki served in private dining rooms.
19 places
A ryokan at the top of the valley since 1933, with a rooftop bath that looks straight down it and kaiseki served in private dining rooms.
A quiet ryokan in the woods above the river, with rock baths, rooms with their own hot-spring tubs, and dinner by candlelight.
A classic Oku-Yugawara ryokan built around a garden, with kaiseki served in your room and baths that listen to the river.
Detached villas and suites on the Fujiki River, each with its own open-air bath looking into the trees.
A small, modern ryokan where every room has an open-air tub facing the hills, and there's a private sauna you can book.
A hillside ryokan with its own hot spring, a rock bath looking over the town, and kaiseki built on fish from Sagami Bay.
A sukiya-style ryokan with seven baths, including two hinoki tubs on the roof, and dinner and breakfast served in your room. Good with children.
A family-friendly ryokan with rooms for four, a children's playroom, a bookable private bath, and meals in the room in the larger suites.
A big onsen hotel with a free shuttle from Yugawara Station, spacious Japanese–Western rooms, and a large open-air day bath, Izumi no Yu.
One of Yugawara's oldest inns, in a four-storey wooden building from 1930 that's a registered cultural property. Two springs of its own, free private open-air baths, and a hinoki foot bath on the top floor.
Luxury glamping on the hill above Man'yō Park: ten walled cabins of about 120 m² with their own hot-spring baths, a fire pit on the terrace and a barbecue dinner.
A grassy hillside campsite with views over the valley and its own hot spring, run by a family that owns three springs. Pets welcome, big dogs included.
A relaxed, modern onsen inn for writers and solo travellers, with a library lounge, desks, ink-making, and a spring-fed bath.
A big, easygoing onsen hotel by the river with buffet dinners, a station shuttle, table tennis and a summer pool. Good value for families and groups.
A small design hotel and apartments four minutes from the station, with rooms that look out to the hills and a restaurant downstairs.
A whole-house rental in the hills above the sea, ten minutes' drive from Yugawara Station, with a hot tub on the deck and room for eight.
The detached annex of an onsen inn two minutes from Yugawara Station, rented whole: three bedrooms, room for up to 12, and a half-open-air bath fed from the hot spring.
An old house by the Niizawa River in the hills behind Yugawara, rented whole: desks upstairs, wifi, a kitchen, a deck over the river and stays of a month or more, from ¥3,000 a person.
A share house on the hill above Yugawara Station, run by Matt's friend Masato: private Japanese-style rooms by the night, a big shared kitchen, and a roof terrace over the town and Sagami Bay.
Nothing matches those filters.
Most are in the onsen district and Oku-Yugawara, 10 to 20 minutes up the valley by bus or taxi. A night usually includes dinner and breakfast, and the baths are the point.
Near the station. Up the valley, dinner is usually part of the ryokan plan.
The upper valley is steep. With luggage, a taxi from the station is about 10 minutes and around ¥1,500.
Yes. Saturday nights and holidays go first, especially in autumn leaf season and at New Year.
The Base has walled glamping cabins with their own hot-spring baths. Kamiya is a campsite on the hill with a hot spring on site.
Three neighbouring hot-spring towns, and different trips. Yugawara is the smallest and the most local.
At a ryokan, dinner is usually at a set time and included in your plan. Book the plan with the meals you want.
Saturday nights and holidays book up early, especially in autumn leaf season and at New Year.
The upper valley is steep. With luggage, a taxi from the station is 10 minutes and around ¥1,500.
