What to do in Yufuin

Activities, attractions and tours
Yufuin

Places to Visit in Yufuin

Ready for the adventure of a lifetime? Let Expedia.co.nz help you find the most exciting and fun things to do in Yufuin, Yufu while also allowing you to save a ton on travel arrangements. Regardless of whether you’re an urban explorer or an intrepid outdoor enthusiast, we can help you decide exactly what to do and see during your time in town.

Our thorough travel guides offer you an insider’s perspective on all of the best Yufuin attractions from NZ$45, making it easy for you to decide which places to visit and when. And by using Expedia.co.nz to set your sightseeing schedule, you can take in more of the enchanting attractions this area is famous for.

From group Yufuin tours and must-see landmarks to personal guides who take you off-the-beaten track, Expedia.co.nz offers you over 9 of the most popular events, activities, and attractions in this corner of the world. So whether you’re travelling alone, alongside a loved one, or with the whole family in tow, be sure to browse through our extensive travel guides prior to your plane touching down in this spectacular Yufuin. We even have a massive selection of flights, car hires, and accommodation for you to choose from. So what are you waiting for? Start your search today, and you’ll be having the time of your life before you know it.

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Top places to visit

1. Kinrin Lake

When mist creates a cloud over the surface of the warm water, Kinrin Lake seems like a portal to another world, suffused with a potent magic. Fed by a volcanic spring at its base and other springs whose cooler streams pour in, the lake stays warm year round with the same geothermal energy that feeds the onsen baths throughout Yufuin. Knowing how it works doesn’t make it any less magical in early morning, when the contrast between hot water and cold air creates the lake’s signature fog. Start the day here to be full of the relaxing energy that makes Yufuin such a popular destination.
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The picturesque emblem of Yufuin, this geothermal lake has a remarkable beauty that is best appreciated when the air is chilly.

2. Yufuin Stained Glass Museum

Everything in the Yufuin Stained Glass Museum, from the bricks to the furniture, was imported from Europe. Japan’s first full-scale stained-glass museum is a celebration both of this distinctly European art form and of European culture more generally, perfect for a town modeled on the continent’s spa towns. Visit for the art and the pleasing cultural dissonance.
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Soft light streaming through colored windows suggests the north of England, but this museum is in the thoroughly Japanese neighborhood of Yufuin.

3. Showa Retro Park

Although the Showa Retro Park is a blast from the past, in many ways it celebrates change. It is seemingly dedicated to the entire Showa Period, during the reign of Emperor Hirohito, from 1926 to 1989. In particular it celebrates the Showa 30s (1955-1965), an era of radical shifts in Japanese history.
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Japan of the 1950s is reproduced in remarkable detail in a museum celebrating the daily life of a recently passed era.

4. Yufuin Retro Motor Museum

The founder of Yufuin Retro Motor Museum, a town local, has amassed quite an impressive collection of motor vehicles. With a collection of 70 cars, 30 motorcycles, tricycles, small airplanes and retro buses, he is one of the region’s biggest amateurs and opened the museum in 1988. Get a sense both of his own idiosyncratic tastes and the history of Japan’s mechanized transport at a museum right off Yufuin’s main street.
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Examples of some of the world’s best-known sports cars appear alongside motorcycles, a bus and even a few small planes in this private collection.

5. Norman Rockwell Yufuin Museum

Yufuin may not be the most obvious place to celebrate midcentury American illustration, but the Normal Rockwell Yufuin Museum serves this role quite nicely. The art here is made up of private works owned by several Yufuin families, who saw captured in the illustrations a common sensibility.
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Best known for his covers of the Saturday Evening Post, a great American illustrator is the subject of this small but enthusiastic collection in Japan.

6. Bussanji Temple

With its heavy thatched roof, Bussanji Temple announces its heritage at first glance. Though the history is hazy, legend says that a monk founded the shrine more than a thousand years ago after receiving an oracle at Kirishima Shrine, at the southern end of the island. He carved a statue of Kannon bodhisattva and placed it on Mount Yufu, where a monastery grew up around it. There it remained until the late 16th century, when an earthquake brought the statue down to the valley and the people of Yufuin built a temple where it fell. Sense the deep spirituality of the space, which has been a center of religious life in the village for a very long time.
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Set in a shaded forest, this 16th-century temple with a long history offers relaxation and meditation to visitors of any faith.

7. Yufuin Trick Art Meikyukan Museum

Riding a flying carpet may be impossible in real life, but after a visit to Yufuin Trick Art Meikyukan Museum, you’ll have pictures proving you did. The museum was created by Masashi Hattori, a Japanese artist who specializes in optical illusion paintings. On a gloomy Yufuin day, when outdoor activities offer only sodden jeans, spend an hour going from painting to painting, letting the tricky techniques warp your understanding of space.
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Mind-bending optical illusions offer opportunities for photos, special events and good fun on rainy days right off Yufuin’s main tourist street.

Discover the most popular places to visit in Yufuin

Image for Kinrin Lake

Kinrin Lake

4.5/5(4 reviews)

The picturesque emblem of Yufuin, this geothermal lake has a remarkable beauty that is best appreciated when the air is chilly.

Kinrin Lake
Image for Mount Yufu

Mount Yufu

5/5(1 review)

A long hike up the volcano pays off, both from the beauty of the walk and the stunning sea and valley views from the peak.

Mount Yufu
Image for Yufuin Stained Glass Museum

Yufuin Stained Glass Museum

Soft light streaming through colored windows suggests the north of England, but this museum is in the thoroughly Japanese neighborhood of Yufuin.

Yufuin Stained Glass Museum
Image for Showa Retro Park

Showa Retro Park

Japan of the 1950s is reproduced in remarkable detail in a museum celebrating the daily life of a recently passed era.

Showa Retro Park
Image for Yufuin Retro Motor Museum

Yufuin Retro Motor Museum

Examples of some of the world’s best-known sports cars appear alongside motorcycles, a bus and even a few small planes in this private collection.

Yufuin Retro Motor Museum
Image for Norman Rockwell Yufuin Museum

Norman Rockwell Yufuin Museum

Best known for his covers of the Saturday Evening Post, a great American illustrator is the subject of this small but enthusiastic collection in Japan.

Norman Rockwell Yufuin Museum
Image for Bussanji Temple

Bussanji Temple

Set in a shaded forest, this 16th-century temple with a long history offers relaxation and meditation to visitors of any faith.

Bussanji Temple
Image for Yufuin Trick Art Meikyukan Museum

Yufuin Trick Art Meikyukan Museum

Mind-bending optical illusions offer opportunities for photos, special events and good fun on rainy days right off Yufuin’s main tourist street.

Yufuin Trick Art Meikyukan Museum
Image for Sueda Art Gallery

Sueda Art Gallery

Works of two of Japan’s best-known modernist sculptors and artists fill this private museum, making it feel a bit like entering their home, full of an easy intimacy.

Sueda Art Gallery