Better route Kamikochi Takayama Alpine route

Hi! I have read a few threads in this forum, they are all very usefull, but I'm still stuck with my Alps route.

We are travelling for 17 days to Japan, starting september 26 2014 (two people). We Arrive to Osaka and we want to finish the trip in Tokyo. Main focus is the Japan Alps area, enjoy nature, do intermediate hikes, and avoid too many shrines and gardens (We will go to Kyoto and Tokyo too, I have been to these 2 cities before, and im based in China, Im interested in temples but not too much). Our main idea is to enjoy nature, rivers, mountains, etc. We dont want to be too rushed, so im happy to remove nights in a place or add in other.

It gets tricky for us when getting to the Takayama, kamikochi, Shirakawago and Alpine Route..

On Day 4, early morning we start travelling From Kyoto to Takayama. I would like to know if anyone can suggest a better cost/time saving effective route from day 4 to day 13.... we can skip sleeping in Ainokura/Shirakawa go and move it for a more interesting spot around Kamikochi, i also would like to do an overnight stop in the alpine route. Below my route so far and a few questions:

Day 1-4 Osaka to Kyoto.
Day 4-6 Takayama arrive noon. Overnight Takayama

Day 6-7 AM Takayama to Shirakawa go, perhaps sleep in Ainokura.

Day 7. Early morning leave Ainokura towards takaoka, change to Toyama. Start the alpine route around 11-12 pm. Overnight in Murodo? any better place?

Day 8. Trek half day in the area, get on the bus and Finish alpine route in Omachi. Move to Hakuba, overnight around there.
Day 9. Cannyoning around hakuba. Overnight Matsumoto?
Day 10. matsumoto (is it too much a full day? am I wasting time here?)
Day 11. Morning Matsumoto to Shin-Shimashima, then transfer to kamikochi. Overnight somewhere in the area.
Day 12. Kamikochi, perhaps overnight in another onsen.
Day 13. Kamikochi to Nagano? Overnight Nagano (should i skip nagano and move it to another more nature oriented area?
Day 14. Nagano, overnight here
Day 15. Am transfer to Tokyo. Full day Tokyo
Day 16. Full day Tokyo
Day 17. Full day Tokyo.
Day 18. Fly to Osaka or Train To Osaka (This is where i need to see if i buy JR pass and activate it after Kamikochi or cheaper to fly out with Peach airlines)


1. Should we go into Kamikochi from Takayama instead. I cant see a way to fit Shinhotaka ropeway and sleep in an onsen there.

2. If we dont sleep in Ainokura or Shirakawago, and we do a daytrip up to Toyama its a long way. Where should we sleep, back in Takayama? I havent think about Kanazawa before, but seems everyone talks about it.. is it worth it? im not interested too much into cities.

I would appreciate suggestions oriented to maximize our time enjoying the nature, avoiding concrete, and not spending too much time on the road.

Thank you very much!! Sorry for such a long mail.

Our last trip was through the Alps. I'd previously been to Matsumoto (liked it), Takayama (loved it), Shirakawa (OK), and Tsumago (OK), and Kanazawa (nice) so this time coming from Tokyo we used Matsumoto as our base and went to Kamikouchi (4 nights - awesome at the Onsen Hotel) then Karuizawa (2 nights, awesome at Tsuruya Ryokan). I think an ideal trip for me (and I dont really like cities either) starting from Osaka would be Hikone (even if only a morning - the castle is very nice, but overnight was good), Takayama overnight at least (and I'd like to see Shirakawa in the summer - it is pretty under the snow but hard to get around), bus to Kamikouchi and stay at least one night - the onsen hotel is awesome, then Matsumoto (there are some nice hotels there, and it is lively on the weekend but pretty quiet during the week - I wouldnt stay again), Karuizawa, tyhen back to Tokyo (actually I'd try to get back to Enoshima first, I stayed overnight and really liked it so I'd like to get back).

The alternative would be to go Kyoto - Kanazawa - Shirakawa - Takayama etc. Kanazawa is nice enough, we stayed at Hotel Hakuchoro which was very nice and close to the castle remnants and Kenrokuen. I'd go back, maybe overnight.

Hi Lazy Pious!

Thanks a lot for the response. Yes i think we will go through Kanazawa instead. I hope you dont mind i ask some things about kamikochi, since you have spend a few days there:

Once we pass shirakawa Go - Takayama we will go north to Toyama do the alpine route.

After, we want to do canyonig/paraglading in hakuba.

Then go south to kamikochi.Do you think its a good idea to:

- Take the bus from Shinano-Omachi go Kamikochi, Arrive around 12 spend the day and night there. explore the area

- Next day half day trek around Kamikochi. take the bus to Hirayu Onsen and move towards Shinhotaka Ropeway (i dont know if theres a faster way to get from Kamikochi to Shinhotaka). Find a nice onsen there and spend the afternoon night there.

- Next morning take Shinhotaka Ropeway, trek to Nishiho-sanso Mountain (1.5 hours), keep going to Nishi-Hotakadake (3 hours and back to Nishiho-sanso hut (2.5 hours?), spend the night at Nishiho-sanso hut.

- Next day trek down to Kamikochi (2.5hours). we could spend the night here but im tight on schedule. we could leave kamikochi to pass by matsumoto, see the castle and move to tokyo.

is Nishiho trek a must do? or should we skip it and go directly from the ropeway to Kamikochi and stay around there for our third night instead?

Thanks a lot!!!!

Sorry I wont be able to help you much with your questions. We stayed at Kamikouchi in May this year and at that time there was still a lot of snow in the mountains and it wasnt suitable for hiking for novices. There were still people hiking up and skiing down. It is a very nice place, especially early and late when the busloads of tourists are not around. Bears are relatively common (didnt see any) there are plenty of monkeys hanging about, and there are also snakes which we didnt expect. We were staying at the Kamikouchi Onsen Hotel (highly recommended, the food is absolutely awesome and suited our palates perfectly, the onsens are great, also the staff speak excellent english and couldnt be nicer). So our walks essentially started from there and went maybe 5km or so in either direction. There is plenty to see in maybe a day and a half, but we didnt get out on the tours - we will do that next time I think. So ultimately I'd try to stay at least a night