Shizuoka · Atami · Izu Skyline · Onsen stay
Two nights in the hills above Atami with our two pets: a hot-spring cottage with its own open-air bath, an early drive up the Izu Skyline where I photographed a pink Mt Fuji from Nishi-Tanna Parking, and, on the last morning, a walk-in mikan orchard that looks down on the sea.
I’m Nobu. I live in Yamanakako village, at the foot of Mt Fuji, and in early October 2026 we spent two nights in Atami, on the Izu side of Shizuoka. The trip came down to three things: a cottage where the pets could come too, one early morning on the Izu Skyline, and mikan picking on the last day. Below is what each part was actually like, what we paid, and the practical bits I’d want to know before going again: self check-in with no staff, dark roads at night, which payments the Skyline tollgates take, and what to wear in the orchard.
The three days at a glance
The times below come from my phone photos, so they show roughly when I was where, not a schedule you need to copy.
| Day | Where | What I did |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 8 Oct, afternoon | Angel Forest Atami | Arrived at the cottage; my first photos there are from about 15:20. |
| Fri 9 Oct, before 6 a.m. | Nishi-Tanna Parking, Izu Skyline | Photographed Mt Fuji; my phone photo of the pink summit is timed at about 5:50 a.m. Second night at the cottage. |
| Sat 10 Oct, about 10:30 | Nishijima mikan farm, Atami | Walk-in mikan picking. The listing gives check-out as 10:00. |
The stay: Angel Forest Atami’s “Grand” cottage
Angel Forest Atami is a group of rental cottages (貸別荘, kashi-bessō) in the hills of Atami. The booking listing describes the “Grand” type as a 2LDK for up to seven people, with one Western-style room and one Japanese-style room, an open-air bath, hot-spring water that flows straight from the source (源泉かけ流し), a covered barbecue area, parking for two cars and dogs allowed. It is non-smoking, and the listing says it opened in December 2025.
We had it for two nights, Thursday 8 to Saturday 10 October: two of us and our two pets.
From the outside it is a white single-storey house with a terracotta tile roof and an arched wooden door. Inside, the living room, the long dining table and the kitchen sit under one high ceiling with exposed beams, and sliding glass doors open onto the terrace. The two bedrooms are a Western-style room with two beds pushed together under a paper lantern, and a Japanese-style room with stacked futons and a wooden bunk bed.
The terrace was my favourite view
If I had to pick one view from the whole stay, it was the one from the terrace. It is covered, with a dining table and chairs behind a black railing, and it looks across a lawn to the neighbouring cottages and on to the wooded hills. For pet owners, one line in the listing is worth knowing: it says the terrace of Grand (A) leads straight out to a dog run. Check with the facility which cottage you are booking if that matters to you.
The open-air bath on an autumn night
The bath was superb. For me the best of it was the open-air bath at night: in October there were hardly any insects, and because the water is real hot-spring water, it was even better. The bath itself is a square tiled tub sunk into the floor beside a glass door, with a hand shower on the wall.
The cottage also has an indoor bathroom with a tub and shower, and a small wood-panelled sauna. A red sign by the sauna door says, in Japanese, no newspapers or magazines inside and no smoking.
Barbecue, and a properly quiet night
We had a barbecue at the cottage, and the night was quiet. The cottages are spaced and angled so carefully that we never once found the other guests noisy.
The listing’s barbecue rules are short: finish by 20:00, use the stove the facility lends free of charge, and don’t bring your own charcoal or firewood.
Check-in, with no staff on site
Times and getting there
The listing gives check-in as 15:00–18:00 and check-out as 10:00. The operator gives about 25 minutes by car from Atami Station to Atami Shizenkyo; its pages don’t mention a shuttle, so I’d plan on driving. Prices vary by date, so check the booking page for yours.
Self check-in
By the listing, an email arrives the day before or on the day. You check in on your own phone by scanning a QR code at the Atami Shizenkyo Forest Cafe (熱海自然郷フォレストカフェ, 1066-1 Kamitaga, Atami), then drive to your cottage, where the door opens with the key number you are given. The operator’s site says the cafe itself stopped serving on 27 July 2025, so don’t count on eating there.
No one on site
The listing says no staff are based at the cottages, so sort out questions about pets and the dog run before you arrive.
Arriving after dark
The listing says the road up is paved but mountainous, with few street lights at night, and asks late arrivals to check a map first. I’d add: watch for animals on the hill roads after dark.
For another stay with dogs, see the Club Wyndham Chikumakan guide. For Hakone ryokan with a private onsen, see our Hakone private-onsen guide.
If the cottages are full on your dates, you can search other ryokan and hotels around Atami on a Japanese booking site.
Search Atami stays on Rakuten TravelIzu Skyline at dawn: Mt Fuji from Nishi-Tanna Parking
Early on Friday 9 October we went up to Nishi-Tanna Parking (西丹那駐車場) on the Izu Skyline. From the Kurotake (玄岳, Kurotake) interchange it is about two or three minutes’ drive in the Izu direction, and that is where I photographed Mt Fuji.
My phone photo of the pink Fuji at the top of this page is timed at about 5:50 a.m. An astronomy site puts the calculated sunrise for Atami that day at around 5:44. The camera frames are stamped from about 5:30, but that clock is unverified, so I won’t use the timestamps to set their order. Some show the mountain as a dark shape against an orange and grey sky with the plain below still in shadow; others show it under a pale blue sky with thin streaks of cloud.
Another photo in the set shows a misty valley of fields and a small town below the slope.
Nishi-Tanna turned out to be more than a car park with a view. The Izu Peninsula Geopark describes it as a place to see Mt Fuji, Mt Ashitaka, the Southern Alps and Tanzawa, and also the straight valley below that marks the Tanna Fault. The road operator puts it among a group of viewpoint car parks within about 3.6 km of the Kurotake interchange, and says the road around Kurotake reaches 720 m, the highest point of the Izu Skyline.
Stay in the car park: this is a viewpoint on a toll road. The geopark asks visitors to park in the car park and not step out into the road, which matters even more in the half-light before sunrise.
Whether Fuji shows at all is down to the weather on the day. If you’re planning an early start like this, the Mt Fuji visibility forecast is worth checking the evening before.
The Izu Skyline is a toll road run by the Shizuoka Road Public Corporation. Its fare table, which took effect on 1 October 2025, lists these car fares for the three sections:
| Section | Car fare | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Atami-toge (熱海峠) ↔ Kameishi-toge (亀石峠) | ¥500 | Paid at the Atami-toge tollgate |
| Kameishi-toge (亀石峠) ↔ Hiekawa (冷川) | ¥500 | — |
| Hiekawa (冷川) ↔ Amagi-kogen (天城高原) | ¥300 | ETCX is not accepted at the Hiekawa tollgate |
Fares from the operator’s page, read on 21 October 2026. If you join at Kurotake, check the fare table for the section you plan to drive.
Bring cash: the operator lists cash, coupons and ETCX as the only ways to pay (and not ETCX at Hiekawa). ETC cards, credit cards and e-money are not accepted, so an ETC card in a rental car won’t help here.
I had nothing much to flag about the drive itself, apart from one thing: the roads in the hills on the Atami side are dark at night, so keep an eye out for animals. Atami City runs its own page warning about wild boar.
Check the road on the day: heavy rain closed parts of the Izu Skyline in September 2026 until it fully reopened on 23 September, according to the operator. The cited operator pages don’t state regular opening hours, so check the operator’s traffic-restriction page before an early start.
Getting to Nishi-Tanna Parking for our early-morning photos meant driving, and the listing has you drive from the check-in cafe to the cottage too.
Compare rental cars on Discover CarsSearch rental cars on Rakuten TravelMore places to see the mountain from, on both the Shizuoka and Yamanashi sides, are on the Mt Fuji hub.
Mikan picking above the sea
On our last morning, Saturday 10 October, we went mikan picking at Nishijima mikan farm (西島みかん狩り農園) in Atami. We didn’t book. The two of us paid ¥1,000 together to eat as many as we liked in the orchard, and the take-home rate we were given was ¥600 per kilogram.
Atami’s official tourism site lists the farm’s 2026 season as 1 October to early December, from about 9:00 to 15:00, at ¥500 per person aged three and over, and ¥500 per kilogram to take home. Our ¥1,000 for two matches that; the take-home rate we were given was higher than the listing, so confirm it on the day. The site also suggests phoning ahead, because picking can end early depending on the fruit. Without a car, it gives JR Ajiro Station, about 15 minutes from Atami on the Ito Line, and then about a 10-minute walk.
A narrow concrete path with a handrail climbs through trees and bamboo to the orchard. Beside it runs a small farm monorail, with orange harvest crates on the cart.
In early October the fruit on the trees was yellow-orange among glossy leaves. The mikan were sweet and sour at the same time. From the orchard you look out over the trees to the sea and the line of Atami’s coast, with green hills behind.
What to wear: because of ticks and mosquitoes, I’d go into the orchard in long sleeves and long trousers. The tourism listing doesn’t state the farm’s rules for dogs, so ask the farm first.
For Atami in late winter, see the Atami Plum Blossom Festival guide and the Atami cherry blossom guide. For a walk in town, there is Kinomiya Shrine and its great camphor tree, and Kashiho Mase, a wagashi shop in Atami.
Before you go
You’ll want a car
We reached the Skyline viewpoint by car, and the cottage listing gives parking for two cars.
Night driving
The roads on the hill side of Atami are dark at night. Watch for animals.
Cash for the Skyline
Cash, coupons or ETCX (not ETCX at Hiekawa). No ETC card, credit card or e-money.
Mikan prices
On 10 October 2026: ¥1,000 for two, all you can eat; we were given a take-home rate of ¥600 per kg (the official listing says ¥500 per kg). Season runs into early December; phone ahead.
One more place to compare: Tocoo lists several Japanese rental car companies side by side.
Compare rental cars on TocooFAQ
Can you bring dogs to Angel Forest Atami?
The booking listing for the Grand cottage says dogs are allowed. Check the conditions for your animals with the facility when you book, since there are no staff on site to ask when you arrive.
Are there staff at Angel Forest Atami?
No. The listing says no staff are based on site. Check-in is between 15:00 and 18:00, on your own phone, with a QR code at the Atami Shizenkyo Forest Cafe; then you drive to your cottage and open it with the key number you are given.
Where can you see Mt Fuji on the Izu Skyline?
I saw it from Nishi-Tanna Parking, about two or three minutes’ drive towards Izu from the Kurotake (玄岳) interchange, on the morning of 9 October 2026. My phone photo there is timed at about 5:50 a.m. Whether it shows depends on the weather.
How much is the Izu Skyline toll, and can I pay by card?
For a car, the operator’s fare table lists ¥500 from Atami-toge to Kameishi-toge, ¥500 from Kameishi-toge to Hiekawa, and ¥300 from Hiekawa to Amagi-kogen. You pay by cash, coupons or ETCX (not ETCX at the Hiekawa tollgate). ETC cards, credit cards and e-money are not accepted.
Did you need to book mikan picking at Nishijima farm?
Not on 10 October 2026: the farm took us as walk-ins, ¥1,000 for the two of us to eat as many as we liked. The tourism site suggests phoning ahead, since picking can end early.
What should I wear for mikan picking?
Long sleeves and long trousers. Because of ticks and mosquitoes, I’d wear long sleeves and long trousers in the orchard.
Sources
- Angel Forest Atami booking listing (check-in and check-out times, self check-in, no staff, barbecue rules, night roads, Grand (A) dog run): reserve.489ban.net, read on 21 October 2026
- Angel Forest Atami “Grand” room listing (capacity, layout, open-air bath, hot-spring water, dogs, covered barbecue, parking, non-smoking, opening date): reserve.489ban.net, read on 21 October 2026
- Izu Skyline fare table, Shizuoka Road Public Corporation: siz-road.or.jp, and the fare revision notice for 1 October 2025: siz-road.or.jp, both read on 21 October 2026
- The stay, the drive, the mikan prices and all photos: my own trip, 8–10 October 2026
- Angel Forest Atami Shizenkyo, operator site (cafe closed 27 July 2025; about 25 minutes by car from Atami Station to Atami Shizenkyo): angelforest-resorts.com
- Atami tourism (ataminews), Nishijima farm 2026 season, prices and access: ataminews.gr.jp
- Izu Skyline: route guide (viewpoints, 720 m) siz-road.or.jp; traffic restrictions siz-road.or.jp
- Izu Peninsula Geopark, Nishi-Tanna: izugeopark.org
- Sunrise time, Atami, 9 October 2026 (around 5:44): timeanddate.com
- Atami City, wild animals: city.atami.lg.jp
Mikan prices are what we paid on 10 October 2026; the cottage rules and Skyline tolls were checked on 21 October 2026. Check the listing and the road operator before you travel.
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