Beppu’s steaming hells and sand baths, Yufuin’s quiet hot springs beneath Mount Yufu, and the stone Buddhas of Usuki.
Oita has more hot-spring sources than any other prefecture. Beppu and Yufuin are about an hour apart, so they pair easily.
JapaLens editorial guide · Read in about 5 minutesBeppu’s Jigoku Meguri tours hot springs too hot to bathe in, from cobalt-blue pools to red mud. Try a sand bath, a mud bath or a steam bath, and see steam rising from the Kannawa district.
Buses from Beppu Station reach the Kannawa hells in about 20 minutes.
Read this area guide →Yufuin sits beneath Mount Yufu. Walk from the station through Yunotsubo Street’s shops to Lake Kinrinko, where morning mist rises in cool months. Inns are spread across the valley.
The Yufuin no Mori limited express runs from Hakata; seats sell out on weekends.
Read this area guide →The Usuki Stone Buddhas are over 60 figures carved into cliffs in the Heian and Kamakura periods, designated National Treasures. The old town has samurai lanes and soy sauce breweries.
Usuki is about 40 minutes from Oita by JR, plus a bus to the Buddhas.
Read this area guide →An editorial route idea, not a timed tour. Adjust it for weather, opening days and your walking pace.
Hells tour in Kannawa, Beppu.
Jigoku-mushi steamed lunch.
Train or bus to Yufuin; walk to Lake Kinrinko.
Ryokan dinner and an outdoor bath.
Try toriten chicken tempura, jigoku-mushi steamed food, seki-saba mackerel and dango-jiru soup.
Beppu has every kind of stay, from big hotels to Kannawa inns. Yufuin’s ryokan are smaller and book up quickly.
JR Sonic trains link Hakata with Beppu and Oita; Yufu and Yufuin no Mori serve Yufuin. Oita Airport has buses to Beppu.
