Short Trip to Arima Onsen Hot Spring

Arima Onsen Hot Spring is the best short trip destination from Kobe City. It takes 30min at minimum from the Kobe city by train. If you would like to feel the nature on the way, cable car from Mt. Rokko would be great. There are also a bus and train that will take you to Arima Onsen Hot Spring. 

Things to do in Arima area

①Kin no Yu Spa

This is the most popular Spa in Arima Onsen Hot Spring. Kin means Gold in Japanese and it comes from the water color of the Spa. Not only the color but also it is popular with its effect that heals muscle pain and 
Neuralgia.  Outside Kin no Yu, you can find a gourd-shaped tap which provides local spring water for drinking, and a free foot bath for those who are looking for a simple and quick onsen experience.

②Gin no Yu Spa

This is the other Spa symbolizing Arima Onsen. Gin no Yu Spa would relieve you from coldness and skin disease as well as Neuralgia. 

③Nene Bridge

This bridge is the most famous bridge in Arima area. It is a good photo spot with beautiful leaves that changes season to season. 

➃Tansan Sengen Koen Park 

Approximately 20 meters east of Gin-no-Yu is Tansan-sengen Park where cool carbonated spring water flows from a tap and can be drunk. Arima is said to be the place Japan's soda originated. People used to mix sugar into the spring water and drink it to quench their thirst.

⑤Yumoto Zaka

Most of the buildings in Arima Onsen are ordinarily modern, but there are some alleys with more traditional architecture if you look around. Some of the best examples, like this street called Yumoto-zaka (湯本坂), are off to the left of the Kin-no-Yu bathhouse, described later on. Down here you can find a wider variety of gift shops, smaller inns, and restaurants serving dishes like okonomi-yaki, if I'm reading that lantern on the left correctly.

Souvenirs

Tansan Senbei (carbonic crackers) is the most famous souvenir you can buy at Arima Onsen. It is a healthy snack with a pleasant taste, containing carbonated spring, and does not contain butter or eggs. Take a look at how they are made by hand at Mitsumori Honpo in Yumotozaka.

Arima Cider Teppomizu (mizu=water)
Long ago, Arima Onsen’s carbonated spring was sold in a bottle, and it is said that it was the origin of cider in Japan. With old-fashioned label on the bottle, they are available at shops in Arima. One of them is “Yoshitaka-ya” located in front of Arima Onsen station.