Tsumago / Magome / Narai

hi there,

I will be traveling from osaka to the snow monkeys in yudanaka in nov of this year.

along the way, i have 3 nights to spend. the 3 places i have ear marked to visit are, tsumago, magome and narai.

I have tentatively planned to spend 2 nights in tsumago, using it as a base to hike to magome on the 2nd day. Then spend the 3rd night in narai before heading of the next day to yudanaka.

I would appreciate any input you wish to share regarding this small itinerary and also any recommendations of where i can find a site to book accomm in narai as it is a lil tricky.

thank you :D

Hi. I'm not sure that you will find a lot to do over 3 nights in the area. We stayed at Kisoji for 3 nights and it was a little underwhelming, and I didnt really think that Tsumago had a lot of interest (though it was a lot more active on the weekend than it was on week days). I'd probably cut it back to 2 days and maybe spend the third at Matsumoto or even better, Kamikouchi if it is still open then.

There are a couple of ryokan at Tsumago which you can book through Japan Guest Houses. I've found the site to be fine to use.

There are several minshuku along the main street in Narai.
Oyado Iseya (reservation page):
http://oyado-iseya.jp/form.html

Nagai-Minshuku
http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/ryokan-single/?ryokan=Nagai

List of places:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/HotelsNear-g1021320-d1946094-Naraijuku-Shi...

Narai is part of Shiojiri City. Look for Naraijuku, the full name for Narai village.

thanks guys for taking the time to give me your opinion and great info.

i will def check out the links for accomm in narai.

i will also consider downsizing to 2 nights. it will be my 2nd trip to japan and we have 35 days so the pace of the trip doesnt feel too fast as we dont feel the need to try and squeeze as much as possible in. kamikochi closes on nov 15 - we will be in the area on this part of the itinerary in late nov.

however, we plan to see kamikochi on a day trip from takayama as we are based there for 3 days early in our itinerary.

we want to hike both ways from tsumago to magome so thought that would take up a big chunk of time and is suppose to be quite beautiful?

i thought that leaving osaka late morning by the time we got to tsumago it would be late afternoon. next day hike to magome and visit for an hour or 2 for lunch and then hike back.

if u suggest that even with that, it may still be time better spent elsewhere, i will definitely explore the possibility of matsumoto as that is a nice flow to our ultimate destination yudanaka. :D

we want to hike both ways from tsumago to magome so thought that would take up a big chunk of time and is suppose to be quite beautiful?

It will take about 2.5 to 3 hours to do, depending on how fast you walk. It is mostly through forest that can be very quiet and peaceful.

One hint for this walk, it is a little easier to do from Magome to Tsumago. From Magome you walk uphill for about 3km then about 5km downhill to Tsumago. So from Tsumago it would be 5km uphill then 3km downhill to Magome. I did it from Magome to Tsumago and I passed a few people heading the opposite asking how far Magome was and they all looked exhausted.

Hi. The hike is nice, but it is more a decent bushwalk than stepping back in history. If you take your time, look around, and wander down to the little waterfall it is all pretty pleasant.

while you are at Takayama try the walk to the top of the park, where the old castle foundations are (just mounds now, but the walk is nice).

Another decent walk in the general area (and part of the Nakasendo Highway) is the walk from the top of the Karuizawa shopping street to the lookout at the border of Gunma/Nagano prefectures and the nearby Kumanokotai shrine (and a nearby dango shop that is truly awesome). I actually thought that the Karuizawa walk was more interesting than the Tsmuago/Magome one, though Magome is very pretty.

Have fun!

thx daai and lazy for some more fantastic input. greatly appreciated! :D