A few Questions on travelling to Alpine Route

Hi,

I am planning to go to Alpine Route on Sunday 18, oct 2015.
I am planning to start early (5am) from Tokyo to Toyama
Upon arriving at Toyama (probably arpund 8.3o) i will put my luggage in the hotel near Toyama station that i've booked (about 5-10min walk from the station) and start my journey to Alpine route. I am planning to go from Toyama until Murodo , do some hikes and return to Toyama.
here are some concern that i have :
1. should i reserve tickets ? i am a bit confuse because you have to select the time when you will be departing and i am afraid slights delay between my travel from Tokyo to Toyama. what if i cant arrive at the reserved time?
2.When purchasing return tickets toyama-murodo does this mean i can hop in and out on all the transports available between the 2 places?
3. how long it will take to travel between Toyama until Murodo , do some hikes and return to Toyama?
4. do i need snow gear?will i be able to hike with just normal shoes? what other things should i have with me?
5. any other suggestion, trip, tricks or anything that i need to know?

please do share any other experiences any of you have while travelling through Japan

Thank you very much

Hi cyjoe49,
I am planning on doing the Tateyama route myself but I will do the whole route from Toyama to Ogizawa but a few days earlier (15th). I will try to answer your questions.

1. As far as I know mid October is off season, the weekend before aparently is a peak according to Alpen-route.com Calendar of waiting times. Weekends tend to be busier but also have earlier and I think more transports than weekdays. You can only make reseravtion for the Tateyama to Bijodaira cablecar as it is usally the bottleneck on the route.

It is possible to not specify a time but do it when you finally pick up your tickets in Tateyama.

If you are afraid to miss the selected time I would suggest to pick a non-specified time.


2. As I understood you can hop on and off along the route, but you can't go back and forth several times like when using a JR pass for instance. When already ridden the cable car from Tateyama to Bijodaira for instance you can only go back then the ticket is used.


3. Depends on how much time you want to spend hiking. The hike up to the Raizo hut takes around an hour or two. Alpen-route.com suggests 5-7 hours including lunch for return trip to Murodo.


4. Murodo might be covered in snow during that time of the year. I will bring a pair of light crampons myself in case of slippery paths. I do think you can actually rent shoes in Tateyama station in case you don't want to bring bulky ones all the way from Tokyo. Other than that, warm clothes, rain gear, cap, sunscreen and sun glasses and you would be good to go.


5. You can check out the alpen-route.com/en page there are a lot of information, maps, etc there if you have not seen it already.


When are you coming to Japan by the way? Are you staying in Tokyo only?

Hi swhen

So did you book your ticket to the Alpine Route for the 15th oct already??
I will be arriving in Tokyo on the 13th and leaving tokyo on the 26th.. i will also be going to Kyoto Osaka Kanazawa, Shirikawgo,Ibaraki, Nara and Nagoya...

1. should i reserve tickets ? i am a bit confuse because you have to select the time when you will be departing and i am afraid slights delay between my travel from Tokyo to Toyama. what if i cant arrive at the reserved time?
- I would advise to reserve tickets if you possibly can. I have booked my tickets online, they told me that the queue for collection tends to be much shorter than the queue for purchase.

2.When purchasing return tickets toyama-murodo does this mean i can hop in and out on all the transports available between the 2 places?
- Yes.

3. how long it will take to travel between Toyama until Murodo , do some hikes and return to Toyama?
- on an estimate it can be done safely in a day. Take note the last trains / buses that leave each place. Do also note that if you get off at Mikurigaike, you would need to book your bus to Murodo (can be done at the drop off point) before you move on.


4. do i need snow gear?will i be able to hike with just normal shoes? what other things should i have with me?
- Not sure about this I have heard it snows in October so better be prepared?

5. any other suggestion, trip, tricks or anything that i need to know?
- Always buffer in some time as trains / buses may get delayed especially if there is a crowd. I am going to the Alpine Route during 20th October weekdays, and am aiming to clear the route in 2 days. A half trip should be okay!