Joetsu Kokusai Ski Resort

Friendly for beginners, good public transport access

Joetsu Kokusai Ski Resort has quite a few things going for it -- there's the fact that it's quite a beginner-friendly resort, and it also has excellent public transport access with its own train station. There are also lots of European-style buildings that make up the resort, so it's the kind of place that makes you feel like you're on some fancy vacation and not in the countryside of Niigata. If you're visiting with younger children there's also a really nice fenced-in area where you can play with little ones, they have snow tubes and play equipment in a controlled area so it takes some of the stress away as a parent! There are a range of admission tickets and types, but the standard adult one day pass is priced at 5500 JPY.