The 5 Best Ryokans in Japan for a First Visit

Seventeen rooms in a bamboo grove, each with its own open-air bath. The most complete introduction to what a ryokan is supposed to be, and the staff guide you through it gracefully.

What we remember: Your own cypress-wood bath on the terrace, at 6am, in the snow.

Ninety minutes from Tokyo and built into a gorge, so every room looks down a wooded valley. The obvious choice if you have one night to spare and do not want to spend it on trains.

What we remember: The valley view from the bath at dawn, with mist sitting in the gorge.

Running since 705 AD and recognised as the oldest hotel in the world. That could easily be a gimmick; it is not. Six natural hot spring sources feed the baths.

What we remember: Knowing the same spring has been filling these baths for thirteen centuries.

Six generations, and a guest list that runs from Charlie Chaplin through most of modern Japanese literature. Central Kyoto, so you can combine it with sightseeing.

What we remember: The older wing rooms, with lacquer and woodwork you are asked not to photograph.

A family-run inn twenty minutes from the snow monkey park, at roughly a third of what the others on this list cost. Fewer flourishes, same fundamentals.

What we remember: Walking to the monkey park at opening, before the day-trip buses from Nagano.