Lake Biwa Family Hotels: Lake Swimming and Lakeview Family Trips

Lake Biwa is Japan's largest lake, spreading across the center of Shiga Prefecture, and it's a family-travel-friendly area where swimming beaches, parks, and resort hotels are scattered along its shores. It's easily accessible from the Kyoto and Osaka areas via the JR Biwako Line or the Meishin Expressway, and it's also an easy location to visit from the greater Nagoya (Chukyo) region. Unlike the ocean, many of the lake's swimming beaches have gentle waves, making them well suited for a young child's first time playing in the water.

Around the lake, there's no shortage of spots families with kids can enjoy. Beyond water play, there's plenty more to explore, including the Lake Biwa Museum, run by Shiga Prefecture, where you can learn about the lake's creatures and the lives built around it; Biwako Valley, popular for its mountaintop views; the National Treasure Hikone Castle; and boat tours through the historic waterways (suigo) of Omihachiman. Being able to line up destinations for a rainy day is another reassuring point for family travel.

The hotels featured here are all family-friendly resorts that make the most of their lakeside locations. Kyukamura Omihachiman is a public lodge built at Miyagahama within Lake Biwa Quasi-National Park, with a lake view in every room. A swimming beach spreads out right in front of it, and family-friendly facilities are all here: the natural hot spring "Miyagahama no Yu," a summer-only outdoor pool, an Omi-beef dinner buffet, a kids' buffet, and an outdoor play area. Lake Biwa Marriott Hotel is a resort hotel on the lakeshore in Moriyama City, with a full-scale planetarium, a year-round indoor heated pool, and a large communal bath fed by its own hot-spring source, "Misaki Onsen"; it also shows consideration for families with babies, with a kids' room stocked with picture books and building blocks, and support for bringing in and warming your own baby food.

The best season is summer, when you can enjoy lake swimming and pools, but by combining indoor spots like an indoor pool, hot springs, or a museum, families can have fun here regardless of the season. Getting around by car is convenient, but a wide range of spots are also reachable from stations on the JR Biwako Line, so you can choose the style that fits your trip.