Izu peninsula

6 comments

1. Used to live in a small town there called Kawazu Nanadaru. Absolutely recommend heading in there if you love some nature. Can catch a bus there from the Kawazu Trainstation then do the 7 waterfall walk from the village or go right to the top of the walk and go back to the village that way. The walk is absolutely stunning by the way. Few upmarketish onsen/Hotels in there both specialising in private onsen, Personal recommendation is Nanadaru onsen but I’m a little one sided as the owner used to be my landlord for the my house and where I worked.

   Also gives you the chance to drive through Nanadaru loop bridge which is some amazing engineering.

   Happy to answer anything else just didnt want to provide a wall of text.

2. K’s House in Ito Onsen may fit your budget for accommodation. It has ryokan-style rooms, but is operated as a hostel so the prices are far cheaper. While it’s not standard hostel pricing, a private room is far cheaper than in normal ryokan, and the building is absolutely gorgeous! As it is a hostel, they don’t offer meals, but there is a communal kitchen or you can eat out in town. There are private onsen baths on the upper levels that guests can use, but you can’t reserve them; instead, there is simply a sign out the front of each one that tells you whether it’s free or busy. You just flip the sign when you go in (and lock the door behind you!). There is also a public onsen downstairs.

   Ito has good connections to Tokyo and other places on the Izu Peninsula. I took the train from Ito to the Jogasaki Coast. I also visited Kawazu Nanadaru, as recommended by another poster already, but drove there before arriving in Ito. You could take public transport from Ito, though.

3. 200k yen for 3-4 days? thats..plenty

4. I’ve don’t have a specific recommendation but I will say this: Avoid Taxis if you’re on a budget, they are expensive. There appears to be hourly buses, and the Izukyu railway connects the Jogasaki Coast and Cape Irozaki.

   If $1800 is your budget for 4 days you’ll be just fine.

5. I don’t know if this is feasible at all for your plans, but the western coastline in Dogashima is breathtaking.

6. Oh wow I can help with this one! I studied abroad in Yokohama and went into Izu several times. There is a great hostel in Odawara with a historical onsen attached that overlooks the river. It’s called Historical Ryokan Hostel K’s House Ito Onsen. It is really beautiful and I had tea after. Odawara is a town that is right before the Izu Peninsula begins so its nice if you want to a day trip. I also stayed in the Shimoda Tokyu Hotel in but it was old, krusty and not very comfortable. That being said it also had an attached bathhouse.

   Shimoda is a historical town that has a lot of old and original housing architecture from the 1800s. You can see a lot of it on Perry Road, its really beautiful to stroll down and explore. Also got very drunk on accident at an okonomiyaki/yakisoba restaurant so that was fun. Its historically relevant as it was the area Commodore Perry landed with his black ships. They have a festival celebrating it in the summer, plenty of art/statues, and is a popular place to see blooming hydrangeas in the summer. It also has a surfing culture to it and it was really cute as the locals give it the nickname Izufornia. My friend and I are from California so we thought this was absolutely adorable. We happened to be there during a bamboo lantern festival and got to know some locals and had really bomb burgers. There are some nice hikes in the area towards the beach. There is also an aquarium there but honestly it is really depressing and you should skip it.

   The train ride is really beautiful and pleasant with views of the oceans and islands. I think it took around 2 hours to get down to Shimoda, the last city the train will take you. Along the way we made an impromptu trip to the Izu Teddy Bear Museum where they had a Ghibli exhibit on the top floor and a life sized cat bus to sit in! Better than the cat bus at the Tokyo Ghibli Museum since you can go in as an adult. We also had a really nice lunch at an inexpensive rose cafe.

   Definitely stop in Kawazu and take the bus to do the abandoned tunnel hike. You can take it all the way down to the waterfall hike or you can hike it all the way up if you’re feeling determined. Waterfall hike is pretty and a good place to cool off. There is also a huge geyser and a foot onsen you can visit once you’re done to relax not too far from the bus station. Just becareful about bus tickets since this is the countryside you may need some finessing to do as many locals do not know much english. My friend and I got by with google translate and some wit. You also dont want to miss the last bus!

   Be wary of when you go. I went in November/December and it was the off season. It was cold/rainy (onsen felt wonderful though) and many places in Shimoda were closed. Which was fine for us since the weather made hiking in the rain fun. We just kind of stumbled into these little mom and pop shops and stocked up on snacks at convenience stores. Late summer or late spring I think would be really wonderful but the hikes would be brutal in the heat and humidity but then you’d have access to the beaches… just be wary!

   Also HIGHLY encourage you to be friendly and strike up conversation with locals if you’re in the off season. They were super shocked to see my friend and I (both very obviously white americans lol) at the lantern festival and we got to hang out with the mayor of Shimoda and the head of the small business council/event coordinator. They are really excited to see more foreigners come to Izu and encouraged me to spread the word thus my long response to you lol

   Note: Do not use taxis! Friend and I took a 5 minute one to get to the geyser before it closed and it was $20. If you plan out your day accordingly you will be fine taking the train down. Without any kind of pass it cost me about $20 from Atami (Kinomiya Station) to Shimoda one way so the Izu Dream pass seems like it might be worth it.