Kinosaki Onsen for 3 days

Hi all,
I will have 23 days in Japan and decided to stay for 3 days(8-11 October) in onsen area and picked Kinosaki onsen.

Would like to hear if it is not too long for Kinosaki, it is my first time in Japan. Maybe you know what to do around Kinosaki.

Thank you very much!

Hi, look to be honest I wouldnt. Unless you are happy going into the public baths, then there is no point going to Kinosaki Onsen at all except for the town which is pretty enough but a couple of hours thing.

That time of year, I would be looking to hit the mountains for some early autumn leaves. My general planning philosophy is that for early to mid October, stick to the K's (in order of where I would go earlier in the month to later) - Kamikochi, Karuizawa, Kusatsu, for ocean breezes Kamakura or Kanazawa, maybe Kobe, and for a place that is fantastic when it gets cooler later in October, Kyoto and (K)Nara.

I like Kinosaki (love the public baths, as well as the old-fashioned feel of the town in general), but agree that 3 days may be too long unless you can find one or two day trips.

In general, I wouldn't stay 3 nights in the same onsen ryokan. For me, that's a serious case of diminishing returns.

I'd maybe go to an onsen region (there are plenty, and this guide has a good section on it), and would look to stay at different ryokan every night for ultimate variety of bathing, food, and room type. It also allows you to splurge on one night somewhere luxurious and to balance that on the other nights with somewhere more modest. All have different charms.

Ideally, I'd break up nights staying in a ryokan with nights in a regular hotel. I wouldn't necessarily look to do all my onsen-ing in one spell, and would try to spread it as single nights as part of your longer trip.

3 nights of kaiseki food would come close to finishing me off (unless I was, for instance, walking the Kumano Kodo in the daytime).

Thank you so much for your answers!

Kinosaki Onsen is lovely but I agree that 3 days is too long, better to combine it with other places in that part of Japan, Tottori or Amanohashidate/Kyoto by the sea etc.