We spent only a short time in Beppu, but made sure we did the most recommended thing in the area by my friend who enjoys visiting Kyushu - Beppu Jigoku Meguri Hell's Tour.
We picked up a rental car in the morning from the Toyota Rental Car shop by Beppu station and followed the Google Maps navigation to this spot which took us to the main parking lot. We arrived about half an hour after opening, and there was still plenty of parking. I didn't know quite what to expect from this activity, but hoped that we would just get there and figure it out as we went/following other people.
We went to the ticket office and purchased the 7-pack of tickets to get into all 7 "hells". You can also purchase entry to each one (or any combination that you like) ala carte. There are 5 that are easily accessed from the main parking lot and then 2 more further down (3km) which they recommended driving to (has its own parking lot) or catching the bus.
First one, right next to the ticket office is Umi Jigoku.
Each "hell" is essentially just a different natural hot spring. They have different themes and landscaping and different features that make each one unique. If you're only going to visit one, it seems like Umi Jigoku is the most popular and it's quite big with the biggest gift shop.
According to the pamphlet, the pond color is supposed to remind you of the cool sea (umi) but it's actually really hot (98C).
There was an orange pond that was part of Umi Jigoku grounds too (not to be confused with the larger one at Chinoike Jigoku)
Many of the hells had their own foot bath areas like this one.
A little down the hill from the parking lot is Kamado Jigoku.
This one had a lot of cute theming and features around it, but we didn't really feel like it had as much of a focal point pond as the others.
And there was a steam area where you were supposed to stand in front of it and breath it in I think lol.
Continuing further down the hill, you can miss all of the cute art for Oniyama Jigoku. An alternate name is "Wani Jigoku" which recognizes the crocodiles. This hot spring's heat has created a suitable habitat for crocodile (breeding) and there's supposedly over 80 of them on the grounds.
We went as cheap as possible with all of the other hotel stays (like $55-68/night), but wanted to try something different for Beppu since the hot springs as well known. Since we wouldn't otherwise be doing a ton of exploring, I wanted the hotel to be part of the experience.
This is certainly the nicest hotel room we've paid for ourselves (thankful to my MIL for treating to us to nice places as well when she visits). We had so much space, comfortable beds, a water cooler (hot and cold water easily available), a whole lounging area and a large bathroom area with a spacious ceramic tub supplied by hot spring water.
Of course, in addition to the private bath in our room, there were also public, gendered baths on the 7th (top) floor with both open air and indoor baths and sauna. While we were there, these were quite empty even after dinner and I only encountered 2 other women (but our timing didn't overlap much).
For the included (paid) dinner, we chose 1 each of the seafood and mountain (meat/beef) types. Upon checking in, the front desk staff had us select a time to eat (no later than 19:00), and we went to the dining area after we had settled in and explored the room a bit. There was already some plates of food set out for us when we arrived, and staff provided an explanation in Japanese, which, in retrospect, we should have made clear we didn't understand, but :/
We were a bit surprised when even more plates and bowls of food continued to come out!
It was quite a lot of food, including a small dessert and tea at the end of the meal.
It was a pretty typical Japanese breakfast with all the little side dishes but the egg with the ham on the burner was a bit cool!
We had such a short stay, but really enjoyed it! The weather was beautiful the next day and we had a nice view of Beppu Bay from our window.
Right next to Umi Jigoku is Oniishi Bozu Jigoku which features grey, bubbling mud. The large bubbles are supposed to remind you of bald monks' heads lol.
You were able to try/drink the 80C water (cups were 10yen, honor system).
Further down the hill still (this is the last one before you return to the car), is Shiraike Jigoku, known for the "colorless" or clear water produced by the hot spring that becomes a bluish color when it settles in the pond.
Somewhat similarly to the crocodiles, the heat from this hot spring has been used to raise and breed very large freshwater fish like arowana, alligator gar and piranhas.
We hiked back up to the car and then navigated to the parking area for the last two hells. The one closest to the parking lot is Chinoike Jigoku which has the very angry red/orange water which comes from the red boiled clay.
The gift shop is reasonably sized here as well and it sells some products using the red clay that are supposed to help with skin diseases.
Last hell is again a bit down the hill from the parking lot - Tatsumaki Jigoku. This one is a lot different than the others where you don't see a flat, open pond but rather a geyser that erupts at fairly short intervals. When we entered, there were a lot of people already seated and waiting in the stands, patiently fixated on the one spot. We were lucky that we only had to wait about 4-5 minutes for it to go off and it does keep going for quite a while (enough that people started to get bored and leave lol).
This one is definitely better experienced in person than in photos, but you'd be unlikely to get too close to it anyway. Most people remained in the seated areas or maybe took a very quick close up photo on their way out (like us) instead of standing just right in front and gawking at it.
This was the main/only activity we really did in Beppu, but I think it was a good use of our time, and it was worth it to see all 7 hells.
For such a big attraction, I do think this would have been a little more difficult without a car (to access it at all and then get to the farther set of hells), but since we were already renting a car it was a no brainer for us. I think you may just need to budget more time if you are using public transportation. We were told it would take 2 hours to see all 7, and...it pretty much took 2 hours (if not a tiny bit more). And we actually felt like we weren't staying very long at each spot. We went close to the opening time on a Saturday and it wasn't too crowded in the sense that we were often able to get photos without other people in the frame and also be at the pond barrier without waiting in line, so I would recommend going earlier rather than later.
Our accommodations & meals in Beppu
We had arrived in Beppu from Hakata via the JR limited express Sonic just around 18:00 when it was already dark and walked straight to our hotel towards the bay. I did some simple googling to get some recommendations for accommodations in this area with private baths and settled on Hotel New Matsumi (previously Umi no Hotel Hajime) with an included dinner and breakfast as a splurge.
It does take quite a bit of time to fill up the tub, but there's a nice view from the window when there's some light!
Of course, in addition to the private bath in our room, there were also public, gendered baths on the 7th (top) floor with both open air and indoor baths and sauna. While we were there, these were quite empty even after dinner and I only encountered 2 other women (but our timing didn't overlap much).
According to the hotel website, dinner is limited to 10 seatings per day and all of the ingredients are locally sourced.
For breakfast the next morning, there was no specific time, but there was a time frame starting at 07:00. We wanted to get our day started, so we were in the dining area right at opening! Many of the breakfast items were already prepared and waiting.
From here, we checked out, hauled it all the way back to the station and to pick up our rental car and head out to the Jigoku Meguri Hell's Tour.
If you are looking for a mid-price range accommodations along Beppu Bay in this area, I would recommend this hotel! You don't have to get the dinner and breakfast and the price becomes quite reasonable imo for having a private bath in your room and the amount of space you have. The exterior of the hotel feels a little older or dated but the inside is nice and newer/renovated feeling (for our room at least). It is about a 12 minute walk from the station, but it's not hard to navigate at least and worth it if you want to see the Bay.
Saunas are wonderful. Agree with you. Fantastic for overall health and temper. saunajournal.com
ReplyDelete