Kamikochi or Hakuba?

Hello,

We are undecided whether to stop overnight in Hakuba or Kamikochi in our forthcoming October driving tour! We heard Kamikochi is beautiful in Autumn but it seems cars are not allowed in the area.
Can anyone comment whether Kamikochi or Hakuba for October? Good but reasonably priced hotel or Ryokan?

RW

I've not been to Hakuba though my business partner goes every year to ski. With about a million other australians. Not that I dislike australians, I'm one myself, but when I go to Japan the last think I want to see is another Australian. It might be better before the ski season though I'd think it would be pretty quiet. We just spent 3 days at Kamikouchi and it is really nice. You can park nearby and take the bus in. We stayed at the Kamikouchi Onsen hotel and would recommend it thoroughly, it had brilliant food (focus on greens so it wasnt too rich) and the onsen is great. The rooms that we were in were big, too, though we had the biggest one. The staff all speak good english, in fact I think that they probably go over to Hakuba to work in the ski season while Kamikouchi is closed.

Hi, "Lazy" !

Thank your comment. Perhaps October will be a great month to see the autumn collours?

Beside Onsen, can one do cycling or trekking in Kamikochi?

How long is the bus ride from parking area to the Ryokan? Parking is with security as we do not intend to haul heavy luggage up there for 2 nights? Presume parkig ill not be more then Y1000 a night?

Perhaps October will be a great month to see the autumn colour?

We were there end of October last year; a wee bit late for the autumn colour. The best time for Koyo in the area would be early to mid October. However, Kamikochi is a beautiful place. If you love nature, and if hiking is your passion, I would highly recommend the place.If you are after night life, this place is not for you; the area is dead after dark.
We stayed only one night due to high cost of accommodation. But spent good two days exploring the areas; did lots of walking , and left with beautiful memory of a life-time.

Hi, Liem!

Thanks. We schedule to be there on the 9th or 10th of october.

Which Hotel/Ryokan would you recommend?

gooday! There seemed to be some big car parks just before the tunnel into Kamikouchi, so that would be maybe 20 - 30 minutes from the main part of the area. I didnt see anyone riding bikes in there at all. Parts of it wouldnt be accessible by bike anyway. There are some good and easy walking tracks, others are a little more challenging, then there are some proper hikes. Even when we were there (2 weeks ago) some people were hiking up to the peaks and cross country skiing down, but it was actually pretty mild temperature wise on the plateau. We saw plenty of monkeys which were nowhere near as disgusting as we thought that they would be, in fact we got quite fond of them. We also saw a fairly big snake on the path. We didnt see any bears, although they are apparently about. It is really nice, especially before the tourist buses hit.

Which Hotel/Ryokan would you recommend?



We stayed at Nishi-itoya Sanso , which was not our preferred accommodation. Unfortunately , Gosenjaku Lodge ( our first choice) and other lodges in prime location were all fully booked.
Nishi-itoya Sanso was the best available at that time ; it was a long weekend in Japan then, we were very lucky to have a room at all . Nishi-itoya Sanso is a nice alpine lodge, nothing spectacular, but among the most popular accommodations in the area. It is located next to Gosenjaku Lodge , minute from KAPPA BRIDGE and minutes from the bus terminal : http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g298118-d1168446-Reviews-Ni...

Here is a useful link for accommodations in the area : http://www.kamikochi.or.jp/english/institution/

Thanks a lot, Liem!