This article is about my weekend trip to Saitama, Japan. I visited Saitama - a prefecture (state in Japan) adjacent to Tokyo in April 2021. We started our trip on Saturday early morning by boarding an express train from Ikebukuro station in Tokyo till Seibu-Chichibu station, Saitama. It took us 1.5 hours to reach there.
Brunch at Seibu-Chichibu station
There are many restaurants near the Seibu-chichibu station where you can have mouth watering Japanese cuisines. However, if you are a vegetarian the options are very few. Luckily, I found a very nice café near the station named café Lapin Noir.
I had an egg sandwich and coffee at this café. It was tasty and filling. I also got myself some pastries packed for the day.
Hitsujiyama park is just 1 km from the Seibu-chichibu station. It took us around 15 minutes to reach there by walk. The place was so beautiful with perfect weather.
Tip: Before planning to visit this place try to search for the best dates to visit in order to witness the full bloom.
Ogano-machi is a beautiful village famous for its Onsen resorts in the vicinity of Tokyo and about a 30 minutes ride from the Seibu-chichibu station. It is usually expensive if you take a taxi to reach there. However, most Onsen resorts provide a shuttle bus service to and from the Onsen resort from the Seibu-chichibu station if you make a booking for a large group. We reached our Onsen resort using the shuttle bus.
We spend 1 whole day at the Onsen resort. I requested for a vegetarian meal while making the booking and So, I enjoyed extremely yummy vegetarian Japanese food while my stay there. The area surrounding our resort was so beautiful.
We went for an early morning trek the next day. After coming back we enjoyed the Onsen and later had an amazing Japanese vegetarian breakfast.
We were also served lunch. However, the quantity was less this time. After having our lunch we headed back to the Seibu-Chichibu station using the resort shuttle bus. And then head our way back to Tokyo.
Overall my experience of this place was amazing. Being just 1.5 hours from Tokyo, this place is a perfect weekend getaway. If you are someone who enjoys less sight seeing and more of a nature lover, do add this to your list.