Climbing down steps at Matsumoto Castle

How steep are the steps at Matsumoto Castle? I remember visiting Himeji Castle and found it very frightening to climb down the steps and was afraid of falling. Would you recommend visiting Matsumoto Castle during cherry blossom season or autumn.

The stairs at Matsumotojo are about the same as those at Himejijo.

Lots of very old wood stairs in many parts of the world are very steep to save space. One go down the steps the way one go down a ladder: backwards..of course you have grab the rail all the time. I am over 50 and haven' t found the stairs in Himeji and Matsumoto unusually steep. .

The stairs at Matsumoto or Himeji or any other original castle can be a challenge if you are tall (1.90meter and higher), have a backpack or bag and (like me) big feet. Also keep in mind, that you must take off your shoes and have to carry them all the way through the castle. Going up is easy, going down less easy, but inside a castle is really great and very interesting!

Thank you for your responses. Do they have hand rails at Matsumoto Castle. If so, I will seriously consider visiting the site. I didn't recall whether Himeji had hand rails but descending down the stairs was scary. Although it was 15 years ago, I can only remember the stairs, and not much of the castle.

I've just returned from a Golden Week vacation to Matsumoto in which we tackled the castle on a very crowded day (likely to be similar to the crowds at cherry blossom time).

The stairs at Matsumoto Castle aren't anything to balk at for the most part, but the very last two flights of stairs to the very top of the structure are rather daunting. I found myself having to be extra careful on the extremely steep and narrow steps in this section.

On extremely crowded days, large groups of visitors are herded through the castle in lines. There are few opportunities to escape and quite a bit of pressure to descend and ascend stairs quickly so as not to hold up the line.

With this in mind, I would recommend NOT going during the most crowded seasons to ensure you'll be able to explore the castle in your own time and opt out of the last two flights of stairs if you feel uncomfortable with them.

That said, castle's interior is far less impressive than its exterior. You might find yourself more than satisfied just exploring the grounds and looking at it from outside (especially if you go in a time when there are crowds).

Hello,
how long does a visit to the castle take? I plan visit the castle in the morning, visit Takayama on the same day and reach Shirakawa in the late afternoon. Too much in a hurry?
Thanks!

I had 2 hours between a bus and a train and this was enough time to walk to and from the castle and to visit the castle inside and outside. I would say that 2 hours would be the minimum to visit only the castle as we were quite rushed so 3 hours might be better.

We had a volunteer guide give us a tour in English May 31. With his explanations it took longer than it would have but it still only took about 45 minutes going through the inside. Add more time if you want to visit the museum next door and walk around grounds.