Kamikochi to Alpine Route

Hi there, looking for advice as to whether it is possible to leave Kamikochi in the morning and make it to Shinano-Omachi early enough to taker the Alpine Route and stay the evening in Toyama? We will be there in Mid-October.

Hi!

I personally think it would be tough and not so much fun but it might be possible.

If you catch the 7:50 am out of Kamikochi, you will arrive in Matsumoto at 9:50 am. You can then take the 10:27 from Matsumoto to Shinano-Omachi and get there at 11:01. (There is one Azusa per day, at least in September, you would need to use your own dates to make sure it is still running, that goes from Matsumoto to Shinano-Omachi without stopping, otherwise you need to use the Oito line which takes about 1 hour.)

You could then catch the 11:20 bus to arrive at Ogizawa at noon. You could then catch the 12:30 trolley to Kurobe Dam. How long it takes you to transport the rest of the route depends on your interests and crowds. You can visit this page to get some idea of transport times through the route.
https://www.alpen-route.com/en/timetable/timetable_nagano.html

You would have to make the 7:50 bus and have to make the 10:27 train for this to possibly work though. The next bus out of Kamikochi to Matsumoto is at 9:30 and won't arrive in Matsumoto until 11:22 with the next train from Matsumoto then not until 12:11 and you would not arrive until 13:05 in Shinano-Omachi. I think with the sun setting earlier in October it would be impossible to start the route at 13:05.

Good luck!