Sightseeing
Mentioned time is the rough required time.
Tourist spots in Gero
- Gero Onsen Gassho-mura (Folk village of gassho-zukuri houses)
Admission fees: 800 yen for adults; 400 yen for children
10 minutes by car or 25-minute walk from ArmeriA
Gero Onsen Gassho-mura is a village with 10 houses with steep thatched roofs (gassho-zukuri houses) relocated from a world cultural heritage area Hida Shirakawago. Here you can experience life and culture of Hida such as experiencing crafts including papermaking and ceramics painting. It is a spot where you can fully enjoy all of seeing, eating, and playing.
●Location: Mori, Gero-shi, Gifu ●Transportation: Riding from Gero Station by a Nouhi bus bound for Furusato no mori takes seven minutes to get to a bus stop “Gassho-mura,” which is very close to Gero Onsen Gassho-mura. *A shuttle bus for this spot departs from and arrives at ArmeriA every morning. ●Opening time: 8:30; Closing time: 17:00 ●Holidays: December 30 and 31 and January 5 and 6 - Gero Onsen Hakubutsukan (Gero Hot Spring Museum)
Admission fees: 400 yen for adults and junior-high/high school students; 200 yen for elementary school students
7 minutes by car or 20-minute walk from ArmeriA
Gero Onsen Museum is one of Japan’s few museums with a collection of materials related to hot springs. It has the five corners: “Science,” “Culture,” “Challenge,” “Books,” and “Gero Onsen,” and also has interesting experience corners and exhibition corners like a diorama of the town of Gero and a ranking list of hot springs between the late Edo Period and the Meiji Period. You can also try a footbath.
●Location: Yunoshima, Gero-shi
●Opening hours: 9:00-17:00
●Holidays: Thursdays
- Onsenji (Onsenji temple)
No fees required
10 minutes by car or 30-minute walk from ArmeriA
Onsenji is a temple enshrining that statue of Yakushi Nyorai (the Buddha of healing) which appears in the legend of egrets. In its main hall at the top of stairs with 173 steps, you can see old votive horse tablets telling us the history of Gero Hot Springs. A stunning view of the hot spring town is waiting for you there. - Gero Onsen funsenchi (Gero Hot Spring fountainhead)
No fees required
8-minute walk from ArmeriA
This 24-hour free open-air bath is located at the foot of the Gero oohashi bridge in the middle of the town of Gero. Here, natural stones simply surround the hot spring water without any bathhouse facilities like a dressing room and shops.
What is superb is its location surrounded by inns where you can enjoy the hot spring bath viewing the Hidagawa River in front of the bath under a starry sky at night. - Sagi no ashiyu (Footbath of egrets)
No fees required
7 minutes by car or 20-minute walk from ArmeriA
The hot spring area of Gero has four footbaths as refreshing spots for walkers. The first footbath in Gero is this Sagi no ashiyu.
Ashiyu is a footbath where people sit down on the bench to bathe their feet only. It improves blood circulation to get rid of foot fatigue. 24-hour free. However note that you may have to wait for your turn because of its small capacity for five persons. The hot spring water is pure one coming from the fountainhead at the foot of Onsenji temple. - Gero Onsen Gassho-mura Gassho no ashiyu (Footbath in the folk village of gassho-zukuri houses)
No fees required
10 minutes by car or 25-minute walk from ArmeriA
This footbath is located in Gero Onsen Gassho-mura. Originally, there was an arbor for rest there, which was converted into the footbath in July 2003.
Its board fence surrounding the bath and bench are made of cypress and the pouring gate is decorated with pebbles of a brook, which brings you a feeling of refreshing coolness. About 16 people can use this U-shaped 28-cm-deep footbath at once. Why not relaxing yourself here after looking around the village? - Venus ashiyu (Venus footbath)
No fees required
5 minutes by car or 15-minute walk from ArmeriA
Venus ashiyu is one of the two communal baths in Gero. It is located beside the entrance of Shirasagi no yu (hot spring of egrets). In harmony with the Western-style exterior of Shirasagi no yu, a statue of Venus is set up in the center of a circular bench.
So, people enjoy the footbath together in a circle seeing the statue of Venus, which is super popular among tourist groups and families. Its capacity is for 12 persons. Available freely 24 hours. - Gero Onsen Ashiyu No Sato Yuami-ya (Traditional crafts shop with a coffee shop and a footbath)
No fees required
12-minute walk from ArmeriA
Yuami-ya is a traditional crafts shop with a coffee shop located on the 1st floor of the hotel association. At its entrance, there are a corner for boiling eggs and a footbath available freely 24 hours.
The footbath is designed to stimulate acupressure points on the soles with gravel at the bottom of the footbath. The shop offers Gero Onsen towels, facial oil blotting paper with gold leaf, hot-spa eggs, lacquered spoons, and footbath goods (500 yen) that come with a footbath bag. And try making hot-spa eggs here. Hot-spa eggs are 100 yen each. - Kurgarden Rotenburo (Kurgarden open-air spa)
Fees required
5 minutes by car or 15-minute walk from ArmeriA
Kurgarden Rotenburo is a spa for day-trippers and passing tourists and aims at overall health. Its clear, colorless, smooth hot spring water is said to be good for beauty and health.
In addition to the open-air spa, there are a variety of baths like Acchuyoku (Jacuzzi) for improving blood circulation with hot water’s pressure and heat, Houmatsuyoku (bubble bath) for massage effect, and Hakomushi (sauna box) for promoting sweating.
Sightseeing spots
- Hida Takayama (Town of Hida Takayama)About 60 minutes by car from ArmeriA
Under the eaves of old folk houses with trellis windows, there are a canal and the Sanmachi Street which is a representative sightseeing spot in Takayama.
With many souvenir shops and cafes, this town is always bustling with tourists. - Shirakawago (Village of Shirakawago)About 90 minutes by car from ArmeriA (in case of using an expressway)
With thatched roofs and its nostalgic country view, this village of gassho-zukuri houses is known to the world.
A total of 113 small and large traditional buildings with gabled roofs were registered as a World Cultural Heritage site in 1995.