Arima Onsen (有馬温泉) is one of the oldest hot spring towns in Japan, known for its unique golden hot spring and beautiful mountain scenery.
Arima Onsen is one of Japan’s three famous hot springs along with Kusatsu and Gero onsen. Its hot springs are known for their healing properties and are surrounded by beautiful nature.
Compared to Hakone in the Kanto area, the hot springs of Arima near Kobe are not as well known outside of Japan.
However, this small hot spring town located near the picturesque Rokko Mountain is one of the oldest hot springs in Japan, discovered nearly 1300 years ago. Arima Onsen has often stood near the top of onsen rankings in the West of Japan thanks to its beautiful scenery and, of course, excellent hot springs.
The Unique Golden Hot Springs
What sets Arima Onsen apart from other hot springs is its fascinating golden hot springs, known as Kinsen (金泉), or gold spring. This is formed as the spring rises of bedrock carrying salt and iron, it oxidizes, resulting in a golden color.
There is also a clear type of hot spring called Ginsen (銀泉), or silver spring, that contains radium and carbonate. Throughout the onsen town, you can enjoy various bathhouses including open-air baths, private baths, and mixed-gender baths so it is perfect for everyone!
Hot Spring Skin and Health Benefits
Hot Springs are a great way to soak and relax your body, especially after a long day of travel. The hot springs in Arima Onsen are particularly beneficial for your skin and overall health. The iron deposits in the Kinsen are said to help with skin ailments and muscle pain, while the Ginsen is said to cure various muscle and joint ailments. So if you’re feeling a little sore, these are the onsens for you!
How To Get To Arima Onsen
If you are traveling by car, Arima Onsen is just a one-hour drive from Osaka or just 30 minutes from Kobe. For public transportation, head to Sannomiya Bus Terminal in Kobe, where you can purchase tickets for the KR Kousoku bus (高速バス) that goes directly to Arima Onsen. You can also catch an express direct bus from Shin Osaka (新大阪) and Shin Kobe (新神戸) bus terminals.
At the bus terminal, you can check the departure times or visit this link.
The hotel we stayed at (Arima Grand Hotel) has a shuttle that picks up passengers at the JR Kousoku bus stop. Call the hotel to make a pickup arrangement before arrival or at the bus stop. They will come to pick you up in less than 10 minutes.
Alternatively, you can board the Shintetsu Arima Line from Shin-Kobe Station. The Arima Line is operated by Kobe Electric Railways and runs between Arima Onsen Station and Minatogawa Station. From Shin-Kobe Station, you can access the Shintetsu Arima Line via the municipal subway system at Tanigami Station.
What to do in Arima Onsen
Arima City Center
We hopped on the hotel shuttle bus right away after we arrived in Arima and checked into our room. After we enjoyed a light afternoon snack, we explored downtown Arima to see what the town has to offer. For this post, I’ll talk about the excursions first, then the hotel experience after.
Downtown Arima has a beautiful Arima River that flows right through it.
Cross Nene Bridge (ねね橋), which is also a great spot to admire the Arima River and its picturesque surroundings.
There are walkways in the middle of the river that allow you to stroll around and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.
Nearby, you’ll also find Yukemuri Hiroba (湯けむり広場), a lively square where you can soak in the town’s atmosphere and appreciate all the statues.
The small city center has sake and beer stores, gift shops, and a local soda cracker tansan senbei shop. It’s a great area to buy some souvenirs to take home!
Here’s Arima’s famous Tansan Senbei (炭酸せんべい) being made. The batter drips down into a press. It is then heated and turned into crackers. The workers remove the extra flakes before packaging the rice crackers
Kin No Yu
One of the most iconic hot springs in Arima is Kin no Yuwhere you can enjoy the golden water hot springs and even carbonated water hot springs, which help with sore muscles and body aches. Just outside is Taiko no Ashiyu, a small foot bath, which is high in sodium chloride and kept at 42.3 degrees Celsius. This combination aids with bruises, achy joints, and muscle aches. Not to mention, it’s free of charge! After all the traveling what better way to relax? There is also a sister hot spring, called Gin no Yu, where you can enjoy the silver water hot springs.
Kin no Yu admission fee costs 800 yen (650 yen on weekdays) for adults and 350 yen for children. Gin no yu costs 700 yen (550 yen on weekdays) and 300 yen respectively. Alternatively, you can buy a pass giving you access to both for 1200 yen (prices in 2024).
Mt. Rokko
Besides the city center area, another quick excursion around the area is Mt. Rokko (六甲山). The hotel also offered a shuttle bus that dropped us off at the Rokko Arima Ropeway. The view from the top of Mt. Rokko along with Hakodate and Nagasaki is considered one of the three great night views in Japan (Japan’s three major night views).
When we arrived at the top, we walked up the little hill to find a restaurant and gift shop at the top of the mountain, along with a balcony where you can see amazing harbor and city views.
Unfortunately, it was cloudy and overcast on the day we visited so it was difficult to see Kobe and Osaka.
Arima Grand Hotel Arima Grand Hotel
There are many choices to stay in Arima, but based on the reviews of the hotels and more importantly the food, we decided on Arima Grand Hotel. It is located on a hilltop so it can be a little difficult to access without a car. Luckily the hotel has shuttles that will pick you up from the bus station, take you to the city center (5 min away), and Rokko Arima Ropeway.
Arima Grand Hotel – Room
The standard room was typical of most Japanese ryokan setups, with the bathroom near the entrance, a Japanese-style tatami room in the center, and a sitting area by the windows. Snacks and green tea were served when we first arrived in the room.
Our amazing view looks over Arima Onsen from the room’s balcony. The sleeping arrangement was set up by the staff after dinner.
Arima Grand Hotel – Dinner
One of the highlights when staying in a Japanese hotel is the kaiseki meal they serve. If we use JTB to book our hotels, we always pay attention to the food score. If you plan on eating at the hotel, try to book one with at least 85 points.
Depending on the hotel/ryokan, dinner can be in your room, another private room, or a big dining area. Here, at Arima Grand Hotel, dinner was served in our room.
Overall, the dinner experience at Arima Grand Hotel was fantastic and we were impressed with the presentation and taste of everything. It was the perfect amount of food for us and all the flavors complimented each other beautifully.
Arima Grand Hotel – Breakfast Buffet
The room package we booked also included a breakfast buffet. The quality of the buffet was pretty good and had lots of food selections. Usually, Japanese hotel buffets will include both Western and Japanese dishes, as well as featuring local specialties.
Arima Grand Hotel – Onsen Area
Arima Grand Hotel had hot springs both on the top of the hotel as well as the basement floor, which were both really clean and very nice. On the top floor, you can relax in the soothing hot springs while enjoying the unobstructed views of the beautiful Arima landscape. On the basement floor, the outdoor bath is set in a forest setting, very relaxing and peaceful while you soak in amazing baths. Both the men’s and women’s bath areas had gold hot springs and silver hot springs, so you can relax in either one, or both. As we are not allowed to take photos of the baths, please see the hotel’s website for more info.
We enjoyed our visit to Arima Onsen. For those looking to enjoy some relaxing hot springs and don’t like the crowds like in Hakone, Arima has so many charming elements that make it worth a visit! Not to mention, the hot springs were fantastic! It’s also just a short car ride away from Osaka and Kobe so I highly recommend stopping by and relaxing if you have time to visit!
