Enjoy Experiences in Every Season: 15 Recommended Niigata Spots for Family Trips

If you’re staying within Niigata City, Nagaoka City, or Joetsu City, you can get around with public transportation and on foot.
However, if you plan to explore other areas, consider renting a car.
With a car, you can visit spots more efficiently, and you can keep your luggage in the car, which makes getting around easier.
It’s also a big plus that kids can rest in the car if they fall asleep.
To enjoy Niigata to the fullest, renting a car is generally recommended.
That said, in winter you’ll likely be driving on snowy roads, so if you’re not confident on snow, it’s reassuring to combine public transportation with taxis.

Niigata is full of seasonal experiences: tulips and cherry blossom viewing in spring, fruit picking, beach days and fireworks festivals in summer, rice harvesting and tasting new rice in fall, and snow play and winter activities in winter.
One standout is the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks, held in summer. It’s counted as one of Japan’s three biggest fireworks festivals, with huge fireworks launching one after another, so powerful they won’t even fit in your field of view.
Also, since Niigata is famous nationwide as a rice-producing region, events and tours are held across the area at scattered rice fields, including rice harvesting and other ways to experience Japanese food culture.
If you add seasonal experiences, your family trip to Niigata will feel even more fulfilling.

When you think of winter in Niigata, ski resorts where you can enjoy skiing and snow play are a classic choice.
Add ski resorts with kids parks where even young children can safely play, such as sledding and building snow huts, to your itinerary.
To enjoy it safely as a family, preparation is essential.
Along with warm clothing, snow reflects UV rays, so kids’ goggles and sunscreen are also must-haves.
Also, wet gloves and socks can quickly drain body heat, so it’s reassuring to bring plenty of extras.
And if your child gets cranky from the cold or fatigue, choosing a ski resort with childcare or an indoor kids area will help you stay more comfortable.

One of the largest aquariums on the Sea of Japan side of the country. Powerful dolphin shows are held at Dolphin Stadium four times a day (five times on Sundays and holidays).
A key feature is that the trainers also explain dolphin anatomy and behavior, showing jumps synchronized with their movements and more.
Don’t miss the “Sea of Japan Grand Tank.” In the marine tunnel, you can observe fish that live in the Sea of Japan, as if you were taking a walk on the seabed.

A national government park in Nagaoka City, Niigata, and the only one in the Hokuriku region.
Spanning 400 hectares across rolling hills, the park has two areas: the “Health Zone,” where you can enjoy seasonal flowers and a wide range of playground equipment, and the “Satoyama Field Museum,” where you can soak up rich natural scenery.
In the green season, there’s plenty to do, including a mountain-shaped trampoline, 26 types of playground equipment, and a grass sledding slope, plus a BBQ area, an observation deck with views of the Echigo Sanzan mountains, and a summer-only water play area.

A museum where you can learn about the “Fossa Magna” (Latin for “great trench”), a great rift in the earth connected to the formation of the Japanese archipelago.
The exhibition area consists of six rooms, where you can learn about how the land in Itoigawa formed, in chronological order, through topics such as jade, the continental era, the birth of the Japanese archipelago and the Fossa Magna, and the changing earth (volcanoes, earthquakes, and resources).

Niigata is a major rice-producing region, accounting for around 60% of Japan’s annual production of rice crackers such as senbei and arare, and Kuriyama Beika is known for hit products like “Baka Uke” and “Hoshi Tabeyo.”
Located on the company’s head office factory grounds is “Niigata Senbei Kingdom,” a rice cracker theme park where you can enjoy hands-on experiences and more.
At the experience corner, you can grill a huge 25 cm-diameter cracker dough on a rack, then use soy sauce to draw any design you like and create a one-of-a-kind original senbei.

An amusement park where nature and play come together, set amid wide-open rural scenery.
Across a sprawling 69-hectare site, you’ll find more than 30 attractions, including a dinosaur jet coaster and a giant Ferris wheel, offering a retro vibe and thrilling experiences.
A must-see is the indoor playland “Himitsukichi.” With serious items like Mini 4WD cars and drones, it’s a space where kids and adults alike can get totally absorbed.

A facility where you can learn about the history and ecology of the toki (Japanese crested ibis), a Special Natural Monument of Japan, with exhibits including a taxidermy specimen of “Kin,” the last Japanese-born toki.
Toki Fureai Plaza features a large cage where you can observe the birds in near-natural behavior, including flying, feeding, and nest-building.
Through observation windows, you can also see the toki up close.
Feeding time in the morning and evening is especially a chance to see them just centimeters away.

Grand opened in 2018. It displays around 45,000 aquatic creatures from about 300 species, mainly focusing on life found in the Sea of Japan right nearby.
Don’t miss the “Umigatari Grand Tank.”
It recreates the undersea terrain off the coast of Joetsu in the Sea of Japan at a 1/10,000 scale, and is home to 38,000 creatures from 50 species, including schooling sardines, kobudai (Asian sheepshead wrasse), and stingrays.

A botanical garden filled with nature and learning, featuring over 100,000 plants across a roughly 20-hectare site. At the center stands a huge dome greenhouse, 30 m high and 42 m in diameter, displaying about 4,000 tropical plants from 550 species.
With a rocky mountain and waterfall modeled after the Guiana Highlands in South America, giant Victoria amazonica leaves, and subtropical flowers including endangered species, the exotic scenery feels like stepping into a jungle.

A mine that opened in 1601 and produced gold and silver ore for 388 years.
The total length of its gold veins, spreading like an anthill, is Approx. 400 km.
In total, it produced 78 tons of gold and 2,330 tons of silver, continuing to assert its presence in name and reality as Japan’s largest gold and silver mine. In July 2024, it was registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
As you tour the remains, you can understand how mining technology and production systems changed, and look back on the history of how it supported Japan’s economic development.

The Kiyotsu River flows between sheer cliffs over 100 m high, creating a beautiful contrast between rugged rock faces and the emerald-green clear stream. This scenic beauty is why Kiyotsu Gorge is counted as one of Japan’s three major gorges.
You can view the gorge’s scenery from the recently renovated Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel.
Inside the tunnel, you’ll find a unique space created by artists, where natural beauty and art harmonize.

An amusement park in Tainai City, Niigata, where you can interact with a variety of animals.
You can meet around 23 types of animals including alpacas and guinea pigs, and on weekends and holidays you can also enjoy feeding alpacas.
The park also has rides and attractions like a carousel and go-karts, making it a great place where even young children can play safely.
It’s also well equipped for families, with kid-friendly facilities such as a kids area and a nursing room.

Located in Niigata City’s Minami Ward, known as an agriculture-friendly area, Shirane Grape Garden is a tourist farm where you can enjoy harvesting seasonal fruits grown with a focus on water from the nearby Shinano River, organic fertilizer, and low pesticides.
In spring there are strawberries, in summer cherries and peaches, in fall grapes and pears, and in winter mandarins, making fruit picking a highlight no matter when you visit.
Grapes are especially popular, and from late July to early November, over 30 varieties rotate into season, from well-known types like Kyoho and Shine Muscat to rarer varieties.

Fukushima Lagoon in Niigata City, which received Japan’s first Ramsar Convention Wetland Municipality Accreditation, is the largest lake and marsh in the city and a treasure trove of nature, where you can confirm around 220 bird species, around 800 plant species, and over 900 insect species. The surrounding area is developed as a park with a wide variety of facilities for enjoying the waterside.
The central facility in the park is “View Fukushima Lagoon,” a waterside station that shares information about the lagoon’s nature and culture.
There are plenty of fascinating exhibits introducing wildlife, plants, and history, including the greater white-fronted goose and whooper swan (designated Natural Monuments of Japan), and the giant water lily (onibasu), which has the largest leaves among Japan’s aquatic plants.

Uwakisagata Park, spread out at the foot of Mount Kakuda, is a place where you can spend a relaxing time in nature, with a lagoon that’s home to wild birds within its spacious grounds.
It’s easily accessible, about a 10-minute drive from the Maki city area and reachable by bus from Niigata Station, yet it covers Approx. 263,000 square meters, letting you enjoy the great outdoors with ease.
Inside the park, there’s a Approx. 2-hectare field of rapeseed flowers and about 450 cherry trees, and in spring you can see a sea of yellow blossoms and cherry blossoms in full bloom at the same time.

A kite museum in Minami Ward that’s rare even worldwide: the Shirone Giant Kite and History Museum.
In the 15 m-high, 15 m-diameter “Giant Kite Plaza” hall, giant kites used for kite battles are displayed. Each one measures 7 m tall and 5 m wide, an astonishing size equivalent to 24 tatami mats.
You can also see around 500 kites from across Japan and from more than 30 countries around the world, showcasing unique regional characteristics. This world-class collection is a must-see.

Just one minute from the Shiozawa Ishiuchi IC on the Kan-Etsu Expressway. A large snow resort with a hotel and hot springs on site.
Its total area is 196 hectares, roughly the size of about 42 Tokyo Domes.
With 26 courses across three areas, it’s designed to satisfy everyone from beginners to seasoned expert skiers.
The “Runrun Course (Beginner),” from the gondola summit to the base, is 6,000 m long with an average slope of 6 degrees, making it a long run that even beginners can enjoy.

A snow resort known for excellent access and a wide variety of courses—get off at Joetsu Kokusai Ski Resort-Mae Station on the JR Joetsu Line, and you’ll see the vast slopes right away.
Along with ski and snowboard schools for kids and juniors, it also has a dedicated area called “Kids Paradise,” where children who are still too young to start skiing or snowboarding can easily enjoy snow play, plus many other kid-focused services and facilities—an ideal environment for a first snow experience.

Approx. 74 minutes from Tokyo Station by Joetsu Shinkansen, with slopes directly connected to Gala-Yuzawa Station—making it extremely convenient to access.
It’s also open until early May, and is popular for letting you enjoy skiing and snowboarding through Golden Week.
The slopes reach an elevation of 1,181 m, and the longest run is 2,500 m.
There are 16 courses with a range of steepness, so everyone from beginners to advanced riders can enjoy it. Another feature is the wide range of activities you can enjoy on the slopes.

A four-season resort hotel in Yuzawa, Niigata, and the only Hotel New Otani property surrounded by nature.
In winter, the ski-only NASPA Ski Garden opens with direct access from the hotel, where everyone from beginners to advanced skiers can enjoy skiing and winter activities.
In spring, summer, and fall, NASPA CAMP GARDEN opens, where you can enjoy glamping in the great outdoors. Indoors, the popular ASOBI GARDEN offers plenty of activities you can enjoy regardless of the weather, from immersing yourself in VR worlds to getting energized in a laser maze.

A resort hotel located Approx. 15 minutes by free shuttle bus from Echigo-Yuzawa Station.
Rooms include Japanese-style and Western-style options, plus family-friendly rooms as well.
There are rooms thoughtfully designed for a safe, comfortable stay with young children, rooms with indoor play features, and rooms equipped with items like child toilet seats and kids chairs.
The restaurant offers a kids menu, and you can also enjoy a year-round heated pool and a variety of activities, including seasonal nature experience events and a summer festival.

A family-friendly highland resort hotel surrounded by rich nature, located Approx. 40 minutes by free shuttle bus from Echigo-Yuzawa Station.
Across the vast grounds, you’ll find a range of facilities in addition to the hotel, including cottages, hot springs, restaurants, and a golf course.
There’s a wide variety of rooms, including “Baby Rooms” stocked with baby items for a comfortable stay.
Facilities that families will appreciate include a kids room and a baby room with private nursing rooms and diaper-changing tables.
Another highlight is the wide range of activities you can enjoy on site, such as canoeing and athletic play.