I am currently planning to visit Kinosaki Onsen on September 11th.
When I was planning the trip I referenced the [Visit Kinosaki](https://visitkinosaki.com/plan/visitor-info/seasons/) site, which called out September as a fall month. Based on this I assumed the weather would be on the cooler side, but I have since realized the weather will be in the high 80s F.
My question is if it is still worth a visit in hot weather? From most of my research it seems that a lot of the onsen are open air. Based on [this blog](https://www.therealjapan.com/kinosaki-onsen/) the Satono-yu onsen features an ice sauna for hot weather, but my impression is that the others might be uncomfortable to use in hot weather.
I am unsure whether the trip is worth it given the distance of Kinosaki from Osaka/Kyoto. Would I be better off spending time elsewhere?
3 comments
I believe the trip will be worthwhile
soaking in hot water is nice even when its not too cold outside. and you can always use cold baths or showers too cool off.
additionally, most but not all kinosaki onsens have outside areas but those are, while being very pretty and awesome, usually not the biggest area.
so unless you can not imagine sitting in a bath and relax inside or outside, explore the town, maybe use the ropeway to explore the mountain, in very warm (but 80f, 25° thats not hot, its very warm) weather, I would so go for it
We went 24-26 of August this year and can say it was totally worth it for us. Granted it was our first and only onsen experience so we can’t compare to other seasons. The town itself is so magical in the evening.
Anyhow the outdoor baths that we tried (Satono yu, Goshono yu, and Kono yu) were all our favorites but be aware of the sun. Also all baths had cold-ish settings for the showers. It was great to sit in before/after onsen, so it was actually comfortable with the onsen water. After bathing and dressing all onsens have a waiting room with AC.
The key to enjoying the onsens in the summer for us was to not rush. Take an onsen in the morning then stroll around time for a few hours and then repeat. Most onsens (except Satono yu) were open to 11 PM, late night onsen were so much better especially outdoor baths.
The Toyooka Theater Festival is there from September 14-24. Could be fun and/or hard to find accommodation if you move your dates forward a couple days.