Feedback/advice needed on Nagano itinerary

Hi everyone

I'm trying to organise our itinerary for the Nagano leg of our trip and would like some feedback/advice on the below and whether it's time/cost efficient.

We are 2 adults and 2 kids (aged 10 and 8) travelling 8/Jan to 30/Jan and are thinking of:

Shiga Kogen (8 days/nights) --> Matsumoto/Kamikochi (2 days/2 nights) --> Kiso (2 days/1 nights) --> Takayama (2 days/2 nights) --> Shirakawago/Gokayama (day trip) --> Kanazawa (2 days/1 night)

We plan to travel by train from Shiga to Matsumoto but from there, are considering self-driving between Matsumoto and Kanzawa as it appears the cost of rail/buses for a family of four will far outweigh the cost of car hire/tolls/petrol.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I am just concerned about the conditions of the roads in January and the possibility of road closures due to snow.

Any advice/suggestions/feedback would be hugely appreciated!

Essentially your entire trip will be in the snow. ... and cold.

https://www.kamikouchi.info/en/guide/winter.html

Some roads are totally closed and the larger ones will likely be with snow. So adapt your speed to it and maybe plan that your entire road trip will be done at about 50 km/h.

Enjoy the trip to snow land !

Where will you be before | after this part of your itinerary?

Kamikochi is closed to tourists from mid November to mid or late April.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6040.html

The latter four destinations are outside Nagano Prefecture.
Takayama and Shirakawa-go are in Gifu Prefecture;
Gokayama is in Toyama Prefecture;
Kanazawa is in Ishikawa Prefecture.

Self-driving is never recommendable for this winter itinerary.
Due to snowfall you may have to slow down or your car may get stalled,
resulting in wasting time and petrol.

Express buses departing from Shirakawa-go for Kanazawa
do not let you disembark at Suganuma in Gokayama.
https://www.japan-guide.com/bus/shirakawago.html

You can go by local route bus
from Shirakawa-go to Gokayama (Suganuma and Ainokura districts)
then to Takaoka City (Shin-Takaoka Station) in Toyama.
https://www.japan-guide.com/bus/gokayama.html

It is ten and a few minutes
to travel by the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Shin-Takaoka to Kanazawa.

Thank you both for your feedback and suggestion. I think for the stress-saving and for greater certainty we�fll just go by bus/train network. Everything just takes so long though!

Hi @Omotenashi - THANK YOU so much for advice re Kamikochi! I must�fve have read that bit in detail! I haven�ft planned out the trip after Kanazawa but plans are to head Lake Kawaguchi /Five Lakes and maybe Hakone. Any suggestions/ tips etc?

Many thanks!

You can also look into the 3 star bus pass that covers Matsumoto to Takayama to Kanazawa via bus. It's 5500 yen for an adult and is good for 4 days. It does allow stop offs. If you move the Kiso Valley to right after Shiga Kogen, it should work with your itinerary.

http://www.alpico.co.jp/access/ticket/pdf/panf701[1].pdf

You would still need to get from Kanazawa to Kawaguchiko, which might be expensive. I don't know the rest of your itinerary but it might make sense to go:

starting point to: Kawaguchiko to Matsumoto to Kiso back to Matsumoto use the 3 Star Pass to go to Takayama (you can stop at Hirayu on the way if you want, I went in February when it was covered in snow and just lovely.) Then pay out of pocket to visit Gokayama and/or Ainokura and then use the pass to go to Shirakawa and then onwards to Kanazawa. From Kanazawa take the shinkansen to Nagano and transfer for Shiga Kogen and then go from there to your destination. But again this only makes sense depending on what exactly your full itinerary is.

Good luck!

Thanks @rkold! I�fll look into those options you�fve mentioned.

Unfortunately we have to start from Shiga Kogen as we are skiing first up before exploring the other, more scenic parts of Nagano/Gifu etc. Ideally I want to end up back close to Tokyo to make it easier to get back to Narita.

How will this impact on the route you have suggested? Still ok or not feasible anymore?

Many thanks!

I have travelled to most of those areas quite a few times.

Kanazawa may be quite slushy as it rains there a lot in December at least. I was there from about the 27th December to 31 December one year and it rained snowed hailed and had lightning pretty much all at the same time, we spent most of our nights drying our clothes and boots. Not trying to it you off, just be aware. Shirakawa-go was very cold and very icy at that time. Normal boots didnt cut it, people were going over like skittles.

I would go in a general loop including train to Matsumoto (1 night), bus to Takayama (2 nights), bus to Shirakawa-go (3 or 4 hours), bus to Kanazawa (1 or 2 nights), shinkansen to Karuizawa (2 nights), maybe bus to Kusatsu Onsen (1 night) or shinkansen to Ueda then local train to Bessho Onsen (1 night), leaving you within a couple of hours of Tokyo (I might have mixed up the order there, maybe Karuizawa is closer to Tokyo than Ueda).

There are quite a few other onsen towns that I havent been to in the area which may have been mentioned above, my suggestion above is only based on what I know and think would be a pretty good trip.

Hi!

I have also traveled a bit in this area, though I have hit various parts in various seasons and not all in Winter. I did Takayama, Shirakawa Go and either Gokayama or Ainokura I honestly can't remember in February along with Hirayu onsen. It was cold and snowy but I remember being disappointed because I really didn't need the boots I was schlepping around with me. The snow piles were larger and deeper than where I was living at the time, but pretty similar to some of the piles we've gotten with storms where we live currently. It was warmer than I expected, but I also think I am more used to weather extremes than most because of where I live. I brought boots that could slip over regular shoes and go up to your knees. They cinch at the top to prevent snow from getting in and they're quite good as we've shoveled 30+ cm of snow in them multiple times.

If you want to do your original list of locations (vs. @Lazy Pious' suggestions) I might do: Shiga Kogen to Kanazawa (start the 3 Star Route) Shirakawa Go, to Takayama (visit Gokayama and/or Ainokura while there) to Hirayu Onsen to Matsumoto. From Matsumoto you can go down to Kiso and then back track from Kiso to Kawaguchiko and end there before going to Narita. In terms of @Lazy Pious' suggestions I would look honestly at my children and decide how much they want to onsen and what exactly they want to do. I don't know you or your children, but I think it's important to be honest with yourself about your children's interests because cranky children do not make fun trips. I went in the Summer, but my child loved Hida no Sato village because there were games for children to try and koi to feed. The latter is probably not available in January. I found Shirakawa Go very touristy and I know my kid would not enjoy it, so I didn't take her. Some onsen my daughter could spend days at happily and other she would get bored.

If you want to try @Lazy Pious' route I would do a different order. Karuizawa is closer to Tokyo than Ueda or Nagano but it's not always a stop on the fastest shinkansen so sometimes it's a shorter trip to and from Nagano. BTW Nagano definitely has lockers near the station for skiis. I saw them in 2018 when we stayed there. I'm not quite sure how I would do it, it would depend on if you are dropping Kiso and Kawaguchiko as suggested.

Good luck on your trip!

Thank you @rkold and @Lazy Pious - you've both been extremely helpful! I'll research the routes you've suggested and I'm sure will come up with something that'll work. Many thanks!