Fins and fur in the Niigata countryside

We're always looking for outdoorsy things to do in our local area, and our kids are animal-obsessed at the moment. We have annual passes to the Niigata Aquarium and find ourselves there on a fairly regular basis, and whilst our little ones would be content visiting there every weekend, my husband and I wanted to see if there was anything else we could check out in our neck of the woods.

We found two great places that are fun for the whole family, but particularly great for the kiddos out there. If you're in Niigata Prefecture this autumn and looking for some fun activities to check out, I highly recommend these two spots:

Nishikigoi no Sato 

Ojiya, Niigata

Scenic views from the outdoor park area at Nishikigoi no Sato in Ojiya. The entire outdoor pond area is home to around 100 fish in total!

This is an interesting spot to visit if your kids are all about fish and marine life, which ours are -- hence our annual aquarium passes! The city of Ojiya here in Niigata is actually famous for the Nishikigoi carp, and it's said that they're so beautiful courtesy of the region's pure snow melt water - and you can check out a ton of them here at the Nishikigoi no Sato. The venue has over 200 fish in a large indoor pool, and an additional 100 in the outdoor traditional garden area which is exceptionally scenic. You can get fish food to feed the koi here with, and one thing we loved is that they give you the food in an ice cream cone, which you're also allowed to feed to the fish. Eco-friendly and edible - a real winner in our books.

My husband helping our little ones feed the koi. They were hungry - watch out for your kids fingers!

Adult admission is 510 yen, and for kids under elementary school age (which ours are), admission is free. Map details are below, and additional information can be found on their website here.

Yamakoshi Yubu Alpaca Farm Land

Nagaoka, Niigata

This place isn't in Nagaoka "city" as such - it's out in the mountains a bit, so if you're headed there you're really going to need to do so by private vehicle. In saying that, I do think it's worth the trip if you're in the area. A huge bonus: it's free admission, and the only thing you'll need to pay for if you want to is some feed for the alpacas (100 yen a serving, and it comes out of a gachapon machine for some novelty value!)

Say cheese!

Now to me, alpacas are some of the cutest animals out there. They always look like they're smiling. Our kids were enamored by them, and even though the venue is fairly small we still spent an hour or so here. There's a small shop on site that also sells items made of alpaca wool if you want an interesting or unique souvenir.

You can find map details for Yamakoshi Yubu Alpaca Farm Land below.