Is Matsumoto worth spending the night?

Hello,

I have 5 nights to spend on my way between Myiagima and Tokyo.
I can`t make my mind of where to stay and how many nights. What do you suggest? It`s our first time to Japan, I`ll be travelling with my mom for 3 weeks in April (Tokyo, Kyoto, Myagima/Hiroshima/the Alps/then Tokyo again).

I`m thinking of leaving from Hiroshima on April 14th to Kanasawa, spend the night there, then Takayama on the 15th to see the Matsuri Festival and one more night.
Don`t know what to do on17th and 18th, is it worth sleeping in Matsumoto as well? Will Komikochi be open at this time of year?

Many thanks!

Kamikouchi opened on 17 April last year so I think it is borderline. If it was open, it would be a brilliant place to stay overnight. We stayed 3 nights at the onsen hotel and really enjoyed the relaxing time, also late afternoon and early morning is fun with the monkeys getting about and before the busloads of people come in. Also the food at the Onsen Hotel is amazing, and the staff are really nice.

But I think you might be out of luck - it might be a few days too early. If so I wouldnt really recommend a night at Matsumoto. There isnt much to do there, though we've stayed at Buena Vista Hotel there and the food at the french restaurant at the top is awesome. The vistas are pretty buena, too, from the top of the hotel at least.

If I was looking to fill a night or two, I'd either go to Kanazawa (stayed at Hotel Hakuchoro - really nice with big rooms and great onsen with blackish water) or more likely Tsuruya Ryokan at Karuizawa. Karuizawa is a nice town with a fun shopping street, but also a nice bushwalk from the top of the shopping street to lookout and temple at the border of the Gunma/Nagano prefectures. That trail is part of the Nakasendo highway.

One last choice would be to stop off at Bessho Onsen. That gets sakura late, we were there in later April last year and the sakura were in full bloom. It is a nice little town for an overnight stay. We stayed at Uematsuya which had great food and onsen facilities, awesome value.

Thank you, Lazy Pious.

Would you spend 1 or 2 nights in Kanasawa?
And how many nights in Takayama? So it is not possible even to visit Komikochi during the day if it is not open yet?

Hi. I think you cant visit Kamikouchi unless you hike in as the tunnel is closed. It might open before 17 April, you might be best off getting on to their website and checking. It would be good there, probably still quite a bit of snow, and it would be very very cold.

I've spent pretty much a week at Takayama but other people get bored there after a day. I've stayed at Ryokan Tanabe which is lovely but expensive. I've also stayed at Hotel Associa which is awesome if you like onsen baths. If you are a slow traveller, 2 nights. If you arent, a night is enough I think.

For Kanazawa other people spend a few nights. I think one is plenty. The garden is great and there is a nice little samurai district, but really if you've been to Kyoto already you'll probably be templed out so maybe you wouldnt bother with much else.

But the beauty of Kanazawa is that it fits in with your trip i.e., Takayama, then Kanazawa (maybe stop at Shirakawa on the way) then onto the Shinkansen and any of Bessho Onsen or Karuizawa are handy to that line, if you decided to stop there. Or Nagano, which I've never stopped at because it is full of us aussies.