Shirakawago: light-up event, hard decision

Hello all! Again, from Argentina.

I’ve got our JR Passes in hands, VISA, OK; and we are very very excited about our first trip to Japan in next late January. Everything is very scheduled, with exception of Japanese Alps section (next 11-12-13 February). Please help. This area is becoming a headache for me.

Our original plan was...
11th: Kyoto-Takayama (arrive morning 11am), sightseeing Takayama
12th: Takayama-Shirakawago (day trip), late bus to Kanazawa (17.30)
13th: Kanazawa, late shinkansen to Tokyo

But the Light-up event change a lot the things… So far, I find the following options:

1)Keep the original plan
Pros: no change in reservations,
Cons: we lose the light-up event; hard to find regular buses from S-go to Kanazawa late 12th? (it´s holiday, also)

2)Go to S-go first
11th: Kyoto-Takayama (arrive morning, 11am), regular bus to S-go (1pm). Back to Takayama.
12th: Takayama day trip. Late train to Kanazawa.
13th: Kanazawa day trip. Late train to Tokyo.
Pros: more easy trip to S-go; no change in reservations
Cons: we lose the Light-up event, rush day on 11th.

3)Light up and short day in Kanazawa
11th: Kyoto-Takayama. sightseeing Takayama.
12th: S-go light up event. Night in Takayama.
13th: Takayama-Kanazawa. Short day in Kanazawa… Back to Tokyo in night.
Pro: more relaxed in 11th and 12th, enjoy the event.
Cons: change hotel reservations, hard to get S-go tour tickets (I’ve read that the reservations in Nohi bus is only by phone!!!, my English is not the best for this); hard day in 13th; I can’t find early services to Kanazawa… And it seems to make no sense to go to Kanazawa more than to take the Shinkansen…

4)Light-up and avoid Kanazawa…
11th: Kyoto-Takayama. sightseeing Takayama.
12th: S-go light up event. Back to Takayama after event.
13th: Enjoy other places in Takayama (example, Hida-Furukawa), night train to Tokyo.
Pro: more relaxed in 11th and 12th, enjoy the event, enjoy more of Takayama on 13th.
Cons: change reservations; maybe hard to get S-go tour tickets; we miss Kanazawa; long trip to Tokyo (more than 4 hours).

As you can see, I have analyzed it a lot, but I find it difficult to decide...

Any other better possibilities? Any idea? Which one is better?

Thanks!

You should choose either 3 or 4.
They are almost the same. Just that the places you are visiting are different.
I can also give a plan 5. The first 2 days are the same as 3 and 4 . On the 13th, you can go to Nagoya too As it is on the way to Tokyo from Takayama.

Hi Xavier,

Thanks for your help.

Yes, I think that 4 looks more relaxed... although we will miss Kanazawa.

Until now, for plan 3#, best itinerary that we found is:

07:40 TAKAYAMA
10:45 KANAZAWA (with 2 transfers)

And then...

18:09 KANAZAWA
21:10 UENO

This gives us a total of 7 hours for sightseen in Kanazawa (maybe Higashi Chaya District, Kenroku-en garden, Samurai Nomura house, Omi-cho Market, Kanazawa Station). I have doubts about whether it makes sense or not that time in the city…

What do you think?

I'm not sure what your interests are, but personally I felt Kanazawa had a lot more to offer than Takayama. Since you'll have a JR Pass, you could always consider the opposite route and going to Kanazawa first from Kyoto. You would have the rest of the day and part of the following morning for Kanazawa. Then head to Shirakawa for the light up. From there you could take a bus to Takayama and spend the night. Your main concern seems to be that you'll have a rushed day on the 13th, which would allow you to see fit in most of the sights in Takayama.

Hi Shawn, thanks for your help and your idea.

At this moment, the principal issue is get the tickets for S-go Illumination Event.

I have tried to make reservations for tour with dinner (because this permits reservations via website), and its sold out, according the site of Nohi Bus.

The regular tour opens next 12th January at 9am Japan time, but it´s only by phone, and my English is not the best for this task…

Will there be any other way? Shared Taxi (we are a couple only)?

Best,
Ariel

Ill suggest a different substitute for the light up:

11th: Kyoto-Takayama. Arrive before 1200. Drop of luggage and have lunch.
Join 1320 Half Day Tour to Shirakawa-Go
Return by 1720 to Takayama.
Bus or taxi to Hida Folk Village 15 mins
Enjoy Hida Folk Village Light Up event.

http://tour.j-hoppers.com/illumination_tour.html

12th: Explore Takayama. Train to Kanazawa at night.
13th: Explore Kanazawa, night train to Tokyo.

Another option could be this:

11th - Kyoto to Nagoya
See Nabana No Sato Light up event
http://www.nagashima-onsen.co.jp:8010/page.jsp?id=13894

12th- Nagoya to Takayama Arrive before 1200. Drop of luggage and have lunch.
Join 1320 Half Day Tour to Shirakawa-Go
Return by 1720 to Takayama.
http://tour.j-hoppers.com/shirakawago_tour.html

13th - Explore Takayama, Train to Tokyo at night.


Hope this helps!

hi Koohii2wii!

N°1 looks as a good alternative! Great! Obviously less "original" than the S-go event, but surely less crowded and more relaxed...

N° 2 is not an option because we will go to Nabana-no-Sato a few days before as a day trip from Kyoto (is not the best, but we have reservations and is a problem cancel/move/etc.)

Best
Ariel

Hi, I could suggest another plan.

11th: Kyoto to Takayama. Explore Takayama after lunch.
12th:Takayama to Shirakawa-go. Catch the light up event. Stay at either Shirakawa-go or Takayama.
13th:Takayama/Shirakawa-go to (another city) then catch a shinkansen to Tokyo.
Have a nice trip!

Have you looked into the possibility of staying overnight in Shirakawa-go? That way you don't have to backtrack to Takayama, and you also don't have to worry about trying to reserve the bus (which is a headache. I honestly don't understand why they don't offer more bus services during this event, but sadly the current situation is not favorable to those taking public transportation.) It would be more expensive than other types of accommodations (and might also be largely booked up) but if the Shirakawa-go illumination is important to you this will give you the leisure to really enjoy it.

Hi Gigi, thanks for your help.

Yes, I’ll try, but is harder than get the ticket for the bus tour. Everything related to S-go light up event seems to be very complicated, with a lot of demand. I'm starting to wonder if it will definitely be better to go a little calmer day (previous day, 11th) and enjoy S-go with a little more calm...

Thanks everyone

Hi all,

I have found an interesting alternative that is…

11th: explore Takayama / Hida Folk Village illumination night
12th: tour Gokayama Ainokura & Shirakawago Regular Sightseeing Bus (https://www.japanican.com/en/tour/detail/BUS1C00303CCC/?typecd=TOU&dep...). Have lunch, let me know another additional village and back to Takayama to catch the Hida View for Toyama and then Shinkansen to Kanazawa.
13th: explore Kanazawa full day

What do you think? The tour seems to have a good price.

I also found another similar (https://www.japanican.com/en/tour/detail/BUS1C15902CCB/?typecd=TOU&des...) that leaves us at Toyama station (better to get the shinkansen), but its more expensive (near US$100 per person), and it does not have lunch and the free time in the itinerary is less.

Thank you very much again for your comments!

Hi,

Just to close the thread and leave information for others.

Finally, we reserve the Shirakawago Light Up Tour for 12th feb with other tour operator, not
Nohi Bus.

This is iSite Takayama (https://www.isitetakayama.com/) and the good thing is that, unlike Nohi, this operator allows reservation online (Nohi allows only for web for the tour with lunch, not for the regular, as I understand). Today the reserves were opened and I was able to obtain two seats.

So, our final itinerary will be:

11th: Kyoto-Takayama (very early). Explore Takayama center.
12th: Morning: explore Hida Furukawa / Evening (3pm): S-go light up bus tour
13th: Takayama-Kanazawa (early morning). Arrives 9am. Explore Kanazawa. Back to Tokyo 5pm.

Thank all for your help!

Ariel