Izu Highland 伊豆高原

Pleasure and excitement await when you visit the magnificent Izu Highland area. The stunning area is home to an abundance of inns and museums, beautiful blue coasts, and stunning mountains full of flowers in bloom.

To get to Izu Highland, take the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Atami Station. From there, transfer to the local Ito Line to JR Ito Station. Transfer to the Izu Kyuko Line, and get off at Izu-Kogen Station. The train ride takes about 130 minutes. Much of the journey is along the coast, and you can enjoy gorgeous views from the comfort of the train. This is a particularly enjoyable route, as the whole journey runs along the coast, giving you a great opportunity to sit back and relax as you watch the wonderful shifting scenery from the comfort of your train window.

Don't be fooled by the name—Izu Highland isn't just a rugged wilderness. Rather, it's the name given to an area of inns, hotels, resorts, shops, galleries, and museums set in the gorgeous Izu mountains. In the summer, it attracts city dwellers from near and far who are keen for wide-open skies combined with creature comforts.

A plethora of cafes and restaurants offer a wide variety of dishes and options for refreshment, while galleries like the Ikeda Museum of 20th Century Art bring Picasso and Renoir into the foothills. Many museums, big and small, vie for attention and compete with adventure sports like paragliding and scuba diving. Boredom is simply not an option in the Izu Highland area.

From the middle of March, about 550 Somei Yoshino cherry trees burst into bloom, creating an enchanting three-kilometer tunnel from the station.

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