Aichi & Nagoya Family Hotels: From Legoland to Mikawa Bay Onsen

When choosing a family-friendly place to stay in Aichi, many families find themselves torn between basing their trip around a theme park like Legoland or relaxing at one of the hot springs on Mikawa Bay. Aichi's strength is that very different types of accommodations sit close together within the prefecture — city hotels in Nagoya, seaside hot spring towns like Nishiura, Miya, and Gamagori, and resorts on the Chita and Atsumi peninsulas.

The star of the area is, of course, Legoland Japan Hotel. Every room is a concept room fully themed around the LEGO world, and the hotel also has a shallow pool for kids and dedicated kids' programs. Being directly connected to the park is a real help when it comes to managing a young child's stamina.

Of the 40 hotels listed on this site, 15 have Japanese-style or Japanese/Western-style rooms, 22 rent out cribs, and 17 offer allergy support. Many of the hot spring inns on the Mikawa Bay side also offer toddler meals or baby food, making them well suited to a baby's first onsen trip.

For sightseeing, this area's strength is its lineup of large indoor attractions, including the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium, the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park, and the Nagoya City Science Museum, which makes it easy to plan a backup for rainy days. Venture a little farther and you'll find a different flavor of trip: Inuyama, home to the National Treasure Inuyama Castle and the Showa-era retro open-air museum Meiji-mura, or Tokoname, known for its pottery-themed walking paths.

Access by Shinkansen is excellent, with Nagoya within about an hour and a half of both Tokyo and the Kansai region. It's also an easy area to combine with a visit to family or a business trip.