We left Gifu in the morning and headed to Gero Onsen. Gero Onsen is an old onsen town located in the Gifu prefecture. Famed for it’s natural hot spring water, the town is one of the top three hot springs in Japan.
Gero Onsen is very small and you can explored the town on foot. English tourist maps is available at the Tourist Information Centre. The centre is located right outside of the train station. The train station on the opposite bank of Hida River, so you would have to cross a bridge to enter the town.
Gero Onsen was rather disappointing. Comparing it to Kinosaki-Onsen, Gero Onsen is super dated. It is also very hard for a non-Japanese tourist to tour the place due to the lack of English signs and instructions. The facade of the buildings was not maintained and it looked like part of a ghost town.
There are few ashi-yu (foot baths) that are free for public usage, as well as a free outdoor onsen right next to the bridge. You can also find several public onsens as well as over 30 ryokans with their own onsen facility in the town.
The town offers a Yumeguri Tegata (spa pass) that can be bought at any of the gift shops located around the town. Priced at 1,300¥, the pass will allow you entry at any 3 of the onsens operated by the ryokans in the town. We did not buy the spa pass as we only planned to visit one onsen, and we did not expect the entry fee to be expensive.
小川屋 | Ogawaya
小川屋 | Ogawaya
Japan, 〒570 Yunoshima, Gero-shi, Gifu-ken 509-2207
+81 576-25-3121
http://www.gero-ogawaya.net
Ogawaya offers day access to their onsen at 1,000¥ per person. You would have to make payment at the lobby before down to the basement. Towels are not provided, so you would have to buy them at the lobby if you need one.
The onsen was very quiet when we arrived. Apart from us, there was only one other person who was there. The place offers a sauna, two indoor pools (one hot & one cold) as well as two outdoor pools. We spent most of our time at the outdoor pools which overlooks the Hida River. For me, I always find it very relaxing to soak in the warm waters of the onsen especially when the weather was very cold.
After we left the onsen, we headed back to the station and carried on with our journey to Takayama.
