Eastern shore, Lake Chuzenji · 5 stars · 94 rooms
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
The luxury choice on Lake Chuzenji: 94 rooms and suites facing the lake or Mount Nantai, with indoor and open-air hot-spring baths.
OnsenDinner and breakfast
From £569 a night
Okunikko, in the mountains
Hotels in Lake Chuzenji
Up the 48 bends of the Irohazaka at about 1,270 metres, Lake Chuzenji is cooler, quieter and greener than the town below. Stay here for Kegon Falls at dawn, walks along the shore and Senjogahara, and onsen in the evening when the day buses have gone.
4 hotels, including Chugushi and Kegon Falls and Italian Embassy Villa. Listed by classification, then size; not a ranking.
Western shore, Lake Chuzenji · 4 stars · 57 rooms
Chuzenji Kanaya Hotel
A log-cabin style hotel in the forest by Lake Chuzenji, with open-air hot-spring baths and French cooking; for couples and walkers.
OnsenDinner and breakfast
From £106 a night
Northern shore, Lake Chuzenji · Ryokan
Okunikko Hotel Shikisai
A lakeside onsen ryokan below Mount Nantai, with rooms that have their own open-air or view bath; for a private soak on Lake Chuzenji.
Rooms with a private bathOnsenDinner and breakfast
Chugushi, Lake Chuzenji · 3 stars
Hatago Nagomi
A small inn steps from Lake Chuzenji with a hot-spring bath, kaiseki dinners and lake-view twins; good value up the mountain.
OnsenDinner and breakfast
From £110 a night
Where the Lake Chuzenji hotels are
Skip the mapBefore you go to Lake Chuzenji
Getting there
Buses from the Nikko stations climb the Irohazaka road to Chuzenji Onsen, the village at the eastern end of the lake, in about 50 minutes. In October, when the leaves turn, the road is very busy; leave early.
What is here
Kegon Falls, 97 metres high, by the village; the lake shore with the old embassy villas; the Akechidaira viewpoint on the way up, whose ropeway is closed for rebuilding until about September 2027; and the Senjogahara marsh a short bus ride further on.
Good to know
It is several degrees colder than the town. The leaves turn here in early to mid October, before the shrines.
Staying in Lake Chuzenji
How do I get from Nikko to Lake Chuzenji?
By Tobu bus from JR Nikko or Tobu-Nikko Station up the Irohazaka road, about 50 minutes to Chuzenji Onsen. Day tours from Tokyo and private drivers come this way too.
Other areas
Sources: tobu.co.jp, visitnikko.jp.