Map or book on the Nakasando trail

We are trying to organise 6 days walking along the Nakasando way and want to know if there are any decent maps / guide books with the trail marked out available in English or any japanese equivalents of ordanance survey maps clearly showing the route as we are going to do this as a self guided walk.

Many thanks

Redbird

Naka-s(a)n-do???

If Naka-s(e)n-do useful info a lot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nakasend%C5%8D&oldid=5976902...

I live in one of the old station towns, and just want to say, if you're thinking its going to all be like the preserved post towns in Nagano and Gifu, you're going to be very disappointed. Not to put my city down, but basically the whole first bit of it from Tokyo into Gunma is going to be concrete sidewalks following a crowded, smelly main road (17). It is pretty ugly for the most part. Every once in awhile you'll come along a nicer bit (my area, for example, as a preserved house where the emperor once stayed, though you can't go inside), but for the most part you're going to be walking through modern concrete landscapes.

I would concentrate on the nicer areas and just do the more urban parts by car, train, or bike. Or just skip doing the whole thing and do the nicer parts in Nagano to Gifu. You could still spend 6 days on the Nakasendo by visiting each town or some of the bigger/nicer places by train, and walking the best parts.

Just my opinion though! I know there was a TV program on a couple months ago following a dude who walked the first part, from Tokyo to Takasaki. Don't remember the name, but I'm sure there are maps etc. you can find, or just make one yourself in google maps! The wikipedia article above is a good resource to start you off!

Consider yourself very lucky that Scarreddragon replied. First hand information can't be beat.
I have seen/been to many things and places in Japan that were disappointing, but I have seen/been to many things that were fabulous. You never know what you will just run across in Japan.

The Nakasendo trail between Magome and Tsumago is one of the main attraction of Kiso Valley. I found Magome and Tsumago fairly interesting; however, the hike was uninteresting and totally boring , and completely a waste of time.

I could not help noticing that you would do 6 day Nakasendo hike. I whole heartedly agree with Dick H, you might find certain places interesting, but pls heed for scarreddragon 's advice. I wasted only a few hours for a short hike, but 6 days ? Could leave you a long painful knees, as well as an everlasting unpleasant memory.

Walking the Nakasendo is popular.

Here is a site specifically for walkers like you:
http://www.jinriki.info/kaidolist/nakasendo/

If you scroll down, it even includes links for each portion of the walk. They include the time it takes to walk, a map complete with pictures of the related sites that you can/should stop at along the way, and a written description of that portion of the trail. It's in Japanese, but the maps with pictures should make it easy to follow.

Thank you for all the messages and for being so honest. We are planning on doing it from the Kyoto end and will try and follow a similar route to the itinerary on this website macsadventure.com any opinions on that would be welcome.

Redbird