One Day Atami Itinerary: Spectacular Fireworks, Seafood, and Castles

Last Updated on September 9, 2025 by Audrey

Want to know how to spend your day in Atami? Here's my personal Atami itinerary.

I’m fresh off my latest trip to Japan, and I wanted to share with you a place I visited and absolutely fell in love with, Atami! 

I spent a couple of days in March traveling down Shizuoka, and Atami was one of my favorite towns that we visited. Our days were spent wandering around Atami Castle, seeing the magnificent fireworks show, and browsing along the quaint shops. I really have a soft spot for smaller coastal towns in Japan, and Atami is my new favorite (sorry, Hakodate).

I don’t see or hear too much about it, but this coastal town is a hidden gem. I hate to give my secrets away, but I also feel bad hoarding this magical place to myself. So here’s my exact Atami itinerary that covers 1 or 2 days in this wistful town. 

What is Atami known for?

Atami is a cute little beach town in Shizuoka that’s only a 30-40 minute train ride from Tokyo on the Shinkansen. It’s sort of the tip of the Izu Peninsula, where many other coastal towns await. After leaving Tokyo, we headed down the Izu Peninsula, starting with Atami. 

There are some great attractions here, like Atami Castle and the MOA Museum of Art, but I think the best part about this city is its annual Atami Sea Fireworks Festival, which runs on select dates from March to early December.

I visited in late March 2025 and planned our days so that we’d be there on the day of the festival, and dude, it was so worth it. 40 minutes of straight magic. It’s more frequent from late July to the end of August, so I recommend checking the official website for the dates. 

There’s also a shopping strip called Ginza Shopping Street where you can wander boutique stores and eat some delicious fresh local seafood, or you can walk along the ocean at Atami Sun Beach.

There’s a perfect amount of things to do here for 1-2 days, and it’s just enough time for you to fall in love like I did. 

One Day Atami Itinerary

This itinerary covers 1 full day in Atami, and gives suggestions in case you stay a little bit longer. 

Morning: Traditional Geisha Dance

Interested in seeing a live geisha performance? Well, you can here!

There are regular shows every Saturday and Sunday at 11 am at Atami Geigi Kenban. Geisha perform the Geiko Ren dance with a local shamisen song. Their Flower Dance performance is around 40 minutes long, and you can meet the dancers after the show and even take a photo with them. No photos during the performance, though. The entry fee is 2500 JPY, or $17.50. Not bad, right?

It’s only a 15-minute train ride from Atami Station, so if you take an early morning train, you can definitely see it. I wanted to go so bad, but we stayed up late and missed our train from Tokyo (inner sob). 

Luckily, no reservation is needed, so if you aren’t sure if you can make it then don’t worry. I emailed them asking if I should make a reservation, and they said it wasn’t necessary. But if you are able to attend, make sure to come 15-30 minutes early so that you don’t interrupt the performance. 

Lunch: Local Seafood around Atami Castle 

We rented a car in Atami, and a local recommended getting lunch closer to Atami Castle rather than eating at the popular Ginza Shopping Street. It’s less populated, tastes better, and it’s cheaper. If you don’t have a car, don’t worry. The restaurant I ate at is only a 13-minute walk from Atami Geigi Kenban.

We drove around for a while around the port, but panicked because there was no parking anywhere due to the fireworks festival. We asked one of the restaurant workers at the nearby strip where to park, and it turns out there’s free restaurant parking at the very back of Atami Korakuen Hotel, where you can park. Don’t bother parking at the hotel valet, it’s very expensive. I can’t remember specifically, but I think it was 2,000 for 30 minutes.

After we parked, we scoped around all the spots, but ended up eating at 海鮮料理 貴美の浜焼き 熱海, the same place that helped us with the parking!

💡 Pro tip: Ask the restaurant for the map if you need to. The parking is a little confusing, as the free spots are all the way at the back.

Eating at 海鮮料理 貴美の浜焼き 熱海

This restaurant was pretty popular, but the two of us were able to get seated immediately without a wait. I could tell it was going to be good when I saw all the locals eating there. 

We ate their local specialty, fried horse mackerel, as well as 5 kinds of local fish on a boat, and fatty Pacific horse mackerel, chasing it down with their raku sweet sake. The local fried horse mackerel was super yummy. In fact, everything was good. The sake was wasted on me, as I can’t handle my alcohol, but that’s a me problem, really.

My personal favorite was the trout sashimi from the boat dish. It threw me off at first because it looked so similar to salmon, but the taste is quite different!

And the grand total of our big lunch? $38 for two people. Well worth it, if you ask me.

Atami Castle

Our next destination was Atami Castle, a majestic appearing and deceptively historic building that was actually designed just for fun. That’s right, this castle is only based on castles from the Momoyama period in the 1500s. It was actually built in 1959. However, it’s still fun to visit and has some cool exhibits. 

The castle stands 100 meters above sea level, so it’s a beautiful view over Atami and Sagami Bay. There’s a samurai exhibit, a castle exhibition, and a free arcade in the basement of the building. 

We spent around 2 hours exploring the castle. I liked the props from the Edo Period and the castle exhibition the most! Outside, there were quite a lot of cherry blossom trees in full bloom, so we got some nice photos there too. There’s parking available, I think we paid 500 yen.

There’s also the Trick Art Museum and the (gasp!) Hihokan Adult Museum nearby, but we didn’t get a chance because we wanted to see the former ryokan Kiunkaku before they closed.

Former Ryokan Kiunkaku

Before we went back to the main street, we stopped by Kiunkaku on the way back. This historic villa and former ryokan was built in 1919 and features a lush, wide garden and Western accents around the large Japanese-style building.

It was fun checking out the Roman-style bathroom and seeing the Western details, like stained glass windows and Art Deco tiles in the Sun Room. The garden was so vast that it was hard to believe we were still near the city center.

Unfortunately, we arrived an hour before closing, so we only got to spend an hour there. We mostly got to see everything, so I think 1 hour is enough time to walk through. There’s free parking available if you drive.

Stroll Ginza Shopping Street

Atami Ginza is the most popular street in Atami and is lined with stores and popular restaurants. 

Keep in mind that if you visit on the day of the Fireworks Festival, the street will be busy. And I mean busy. There will be lines for everything. The matcha shop 熱海さとり本店 and Atami Pudding Cafe were especially popular, with lines out the door. That day started my trip-long quest to find the Mont Clair matcha cake (and when I finally tried it in Kyoto, it was quite underwhelming).

This street is one of the reasons why I liked Atami so much, though. I loved the bustling energy, all the cute boutique shops to stroll around, and the festive energy. 

You’ll find that after the fireworks are over, the town is much calmer the next day, in case you stay the night and choose to explore after the crowds disperse.

Dinner: Seafood Donburi

Now, as I mentioned, on the day of the festival, the restaurants are going to be popping. For that reason, I highly recommend making a reservation so you don’t have to wait in the long lines. I didn’t make a reservation because I didn’t want to limit ourselves, and I suffered for it. 

All the good restaurants within 2 blocks of Atami Ginza were all fully booked and had to turn us away. I would have preferred to eat away from the main shopping street because I think the prices would’ve been cheaper, but our only choice was one of the restaurants on the main strip.

We ended up waiting for 30-40 minutes to get seated at 海鮮丼専門 五鉄熱海店. The food was delicious, but it was a little bit pricey, around 10,000 JPY for two people. We also wanted to order two unagi dons, but they told us that if we wanted two, we would have to eat at their sister restaurant across the street that had a huuuuuge line. So… no thanks. 

We ended up getting one unagi-don and one seafood donburi. It was extremely delicious still, but it would have been nice to have gotten what I initially wanted. Do I recommend it still? Yes! But the moral of the story? Make a ressie.

Evening: Atami Fireworks Festival

Now, it’s time for the main event! One thing I really loved was how we were able to pick up some ice cream at the local Family Mart and walk less than 5 minutes to Atami Sun Beach to watch the fireworks. It felt so local and intimate.

The Atami Sea Fireworks Festival is just magical. They’re much better than anything I’ve seen in California. The fireworks were so epic and synchronized, and everyone was very polite. No need to hear any obnoxiously loud music like during the Fourth of July.

Instead, you get to listen to a cute little robot announcer! My favorite part was when the robot pronounced “Final Stage!” right before the finale. I thought it was so adorable.

There are also boat tours that will take you to the best viewing spot if you want to take some great photos from the water. 

Ending the Day in Atami

The town mostly emptied out with lots of people leaving after the fireworks show. If you plan to visit Atami on a day trip from Tokyo, it’s definitely doable and you’ll be back in Tokyo before 10 pm.

We walked back to our hotel on the Ginza Shopping Street and popped into a small liquor store to buy some beers (or, in my case, a 4% lychee drink). Turns out, they sold a lot more than just alcohol. 

I got a beautiful handmade cup from Maeda Seigo, and my partner found two bottles of aged Nikka Whiskey for $30 each, but they sell for around $200-400 back in the US! Definitely make a stop if you stay the night.

Got More Time in Atami?

If you’re thinking about extending your trip, then I have a few more places to add onto your Atami itinerary.

I highly recommend checking out the MOA Museum of Art if you have extra time. This is the third art gallery opened by Okada Mokichi and houses a private collection of Japanese and East Asian art. 

There are three national treasures stored here: the Red and White Plum Blossoms screen by Ogata Korin, a Tea-leaf Jar with wisterias by Nonomura Ninsei, and the Calligraphy Album “Tekagami Kanboku-jo” that has ancient calligraphy from the Nara to Muromachi periods. See if you can spot them during your visit. 

There’s also the Trick Art Museum and Hihokan Adult Museum nearby Atami Castle that may be worth stopping by. If you have kids, probably not the Adult Museum…  

Where to stay in Atami

Atami is an onsen town with a lot of good hotel options. We decided not to stay in a hotel with an onsen because we already planned to stay at a ryokan in Ito the following day. However, you’re interested in staying somewhere with an onsen, I think Atami is a terrific choice because you also have a sea view.

Here’s my recommendations for every price point, including where I personally stayed!

Budget: Maruya Guest House (1⭐S) ($)

• ⭐ Rating: 8.5/10 (700 reviews)
• 💎 Highlights: Capsule Hotel, Affordable, Convenient location, Double rooms
• ❤️ Best for: Solo travelers, couples, budget travelers
• Check rates and availability on Booking or Agoda

I personally stayed at Maruya Guest House and really enjoyed it! It’s a capsule hotel literally on the Ginza Shopping Street. We had never stayed at a hostel or capsule hotel before and wanted to try it out. 

The hostel was clean, had nice showers, and a large lounge area where we hung out after the festival was over. The rooms are very spacious with double room options, and the doors have locks so you can rest assured knowing your things are safe.

💡 Pro tip: Book the bottom bunk. It's a hassle to go up and down the ladder to get to your room.

The verdict? It’s actually quite spacious and really fun for a short duration. I hit my head a couple of times getting in and out of the bottom room, so that’s why I say a short stay is best… 

It was super affordable, costing $40 for one night, so $20 between my boyfriend and me. It was a great value, especially for being right on the shopping street.

“Great facilities, extremely friendly helpful staff. There were train cancellations due to a typhoon, and their communication with us was excellent to make sure we could make it. Extremely quiet sleeping capsule with a lot of space for two of us, lots of kitchen equipment, and free tea and coffee. We would gladly stay again!”

Melanie (Read more reviews)

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Mid-Range: Hotel Kanichi (3⭐S) ($$)

• ⭐ Rating: 8.6/10 (400 reviews)
• 💎 Highlights: Ocean views, private open-air onsen
• ❤️ Best for: All travelers, groups, families
• Check rates and availability on Booking or Agoda

Only a 2-minute walk from Atami Ginza Shopping Street is Hotel Kanichi, a scenic accommodation with oceanside views.

If you book here, you'll have unlimited use of their two private open-air baths with relaxing ocean views. I lovedddd experiencing a private open-air onsen when I stayed in Hakodate, and can’t recommend the experience enough. It’s romantic, scenic, and feels amazing on the muscles.

There are also two large public indoor baths, so you can experience a traditional onsen! Interestingly, this hotel uses a rare gypsum hot spring with a weaker salt content, which was inherited from the former Imperial Kuninomiya family’s villa. 

The rooms are mostly Japanese style, with futon bedding and comfortable tatami floors that can accommodate 5-10 people. The special rooms have western beds too, in case you’re traveling with mobility-impaired individuals or seniors who prefer a bed. 

While all rooms have views of the ocean, if you stay on the higher levels, you’ll have the best unobstructed view of the shining sea with large glass windows and comfy chairs. Breakfast and dinner served in your room, with delicious kaiseki course meals made of local ingredients.

“The traditional Japanese room with a sea view was enormous by Japanese standards. The room was absolutely stunning. Very clean and comfortable. I brought my two young children, so the rooftop private onsen baths were the highlight of the hotel stay.” 

Ken (Read more reviews)

Mid-Range: Soki Atami (4⭐S) ($$$)

• ⭐ Rating: 9.3/10 (1,200 reviews)
• 💎 Highlights: Private Onsen, Modern Luxury, Incredible Views, Genshiyaki Dining, Serene Atmosphere
• ❤️ Best for: Relaxation Seekers, Couples, Solo Travelers, Nature lovers
• Check rates and availability on Booking or Agoda

Soki Atami is located a bit further away from the town’s shopping area, but in return, you get a beautiful landscape and stunning rooms. I recommend checking this hotel out if you’ll be renting a car so you can get around town easily.

The hotel is surrounded by lush greenery, and rooms have a panoramic view of the ocean. Every room comes with a private onsen; you have the choice between an open-air ceramic onsen on the terrace or an in-room cypress bath. There’s also a steam sauna for women, and a public onsen that occasionally features seasonal baths using citrus and Japanese herbs made from their own garden.

The rooms remind me of my stay at Saka Hotel in Kyoto. The interiors exude a quiet luxury, with warm ambient lighting, natural materials, and luxe amenities. With the plush Western-style beds, it’s the perfect mix between Japanese traditions and modern comforts. 

The hotel restaurant features an open charcoal fire where you can try Genshiyaki, the traditional Japanese method of slowly grilling fresh seafood and vegetables. I have yet to see any other hotel offer this, and I think the smokiness really enhances the flavor! Additionally, they have a tea salon and bar, and a terrace, which grants a perfect view of the fireworks over the sea as you relax with a drink in hand.

Overall, Soki Atami feels like a wonderful way to relax and reset. Cleanse your mind and soul with their soothing onsen, try their local tea from Shizuoka, and embrace the simplistic beauty of Atami.

“This was literally the best hotel we’ve ever stayed at. It was so tranquil and beyond relaxing. Every detail on the property was meticulously thought through, the service was impeccable, and the food was AMAZING! I only wish we could have stayed longer.”

Dawn (Read more reviews)

Luxury: Pearl Star Hotel Atami (4.5⭐S) ($$$$)

• ⭐ Rating: 9.4/10 (600 reviews)
• 💎 Highlights: Free Breakfast, Infinity Pool, Perfect Location, Private onsen, Accessible Rooms
• ❤️ Best for: All Travelers
• Check rates and availability on Booking or Agoda

I want you to envision the most perfect vacation in Atami. Gazing upon the azure seashore during the day, with the fireworks launched right in front of your eyes at night as you soak in your private open-air onsen. Your hotel room is perfect, the food served to you is delicious, and the customer service? Impeccable. Well, guess what? It exists!

All these qualities are guaranteed to you at Pearl Star Hotel Atami. It’s in an incredible location right next to Atami Beach, and rooms have an unobstructed view of the harbor and fireworks. Spacious rooms come with a huge terrace with lounge chairs and your own onsen, and there are multiple room options, including universal rooms for accessibility. Additionally, there’s an infinity onsen, two saunas, a fitness center, a spa, and even a pearl gallery if you want to take a piece of Atami back home with you. 

All the reviews can’t stop talking about how good the food is, with five restaurants, a bar, and a lounge all within the hotel. There’s even free taxi transportation for your arrival and departure. Honestly, what more can I say? It’s a perfect hotel and is priced accordingly. If you want to celebrate something really special, then this is the place for you. 

“The rooms are fantastic. Large and spacious with a great view of the ocean. The private outdoor bath was perfect for watching an ocean sunrise. Beautiful property with great hot springs. The views are stunning from 10th-floor infinity pool.”

Aaron (Read more reviews)

Atami Itinerary FAQs

Here’s some helpful info for booking your trip to Atami!

How do I get to Atami from Tokyo?

There are quite a few ways you can get to Atami from Tokyo.

• Shinkansen: This is the fastest way to get to Atami from Tokyo, and what I personally did and recommend. You'll take the Kodama Tokaido Shinkansen or the limited express Odoriko from Tokyo Station. It'll take 30-40 minutes to get to Atami Station, and it costs around $30 USD.
• Driving: You can do this, but I don't recommend it because it'll take 2 hours and driving in Tokyo is really hard! We took the Shinkansen to Atami Station and then picked up a rental from Orix Atami via Booking.com.

Is Atami worth a day trip?

Yes, definitely! You can visit one of the onsen hotels with a day pass, soak up some sun and incredible ocean views, and spend the day strolling the bustling shopping street or checking out one of the museums.

Can I use the JR Pass to get to Atami?

Yes, you can! You can take the JR Tokaido Line or the Kodama Shinkansen. Both are covered with the JR Pass.

How many days should I spend in Atami?

I only spent one day in Atami, but I wish I had spent 2 days so that I could have also visited the MOA Museum of Art and checked out the Ginza Shopping Street a bit more.

Should I rent a car to visit Atami?

You certainly don’t need to. Atami’s main attractions are quite close together and accessible by bus or train. However, I personally did rent a car with Orix on Booking and continued traveling down the Izu Peninsula, which I highly recommend doing!

What’s the best time of year to visit Atami?

I personally think Atami is best visited during their fireworks festival season, which runs from late February to early December. We visited in March during cherry blossom season, and there was a whole row of cherry blossom trees in full bloom along Atami Sun Beach.

Are there public onsen I can visit for the day?

Yup! Here are a few...

• Nikkotei Ooyu: Public baths open from 09:00-6:00 PM. Admission fee for adults is ￥1,100 for adults and ￥550 for children.
• Furuya Ryokan: Public baths open from 2:30 PM all the way until 10:00 AM! Perfect for a late night soak.
• Atami Bay Resort: Public baths are open from 10:00 AM-10:00 PM. Adult admission fee is ¥3,080 and child admission fee is ¥2,310, with reduced rates after 5:00 PM.

What should I pack for a day in Atami?

• Comfortable shoes
• Towel for the beach or onsen
• Swimsuit if using mixed onsen
• Sunscreen
• Some cash
• Camera 
• Battery pack
• Passport
• JR Rail Pass if using

Can I visit Atami Castle or MOA Museum of Art in just one day?

Yes, you can! You could visit both if you come to town very early. I would save two hours for Atami Castle and maybe 3 for the MOA Museum of Art, just in case you like to take your time when you visit museums like I do.

Is Atami family-friendly?

Yes, it is! There are a lot of kid-friendly attractions like the Trick Art Museum, the beach, Atami Ropeway (though it’s a bit far), and the fireworks. Some of the onsen are kid-friendly as well, but make sure to check first or book a private onsen.

Can I stay overnight in Atami if I change my mind?

Yes! I recommend checking out Guest House Maruya, a budget-friendly capsule hotel that I stayed in during my trip to Atami.

Conclusion: One Day Atami Itinerary

Overall, our day spent in Atami was straight up lovely. An Oceanside castle, stunning fireworks, and just a pleasant, intimate vibe. It’s become one of my most cherished memories from Japan, and I hope you get to visit Atami one day too. 

I also highly recommend renting a car and continuing to travel down the Izu Peninsula for a few days if time allows. We went to Atami, Ito, and Izu, and then continued on to Hakone and Kawaguchi for a 6-day trip. It was absolutely stunning, and we loved it. 

If you have any questions or need help planning your trip, feel free to drop a comment or reach out to me at audrey@getlostinjapan.com!

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