First time visit Nagoya with two children

Dear all,

I will be visiting Nagoya for 6 nights in early dec with my 2 children age 14 and 10.
I would want to visit Shirakawa- go hence i really need advise on this
I roughly have an idea what to do during this 6 days, attractions in Nagoya city, Takayama, Shirakawago and see Snow monkey., would like to seek advice and opinions on the followings :

Day 1 to Day 3/4:
stay in Nagoya city's hotel near Nagoya station and explore Nagoya city attractions , like Castle, Legoland and Museum

Day 5 Takayama and Shirakawa-go
( this is where i am confused, as I have googled on how to go Shirakawa-go but confused with the bus tickets, under Shoryudo bus pass, which comes with different days passes)
is it advisable to go for just a day trip or to stay at Takayama for 1 night and visit shirakawag

Day 6, back to Nagoya
Stay 1 night in city

day 7 Leave Nagoya on late morning flight


Thank you very much .

Expresso

Snow Monkey is at Nagano, how are you planning to go there?

Shoryudo Highway Bus Ticket 3 days Takayama pass will take you to Shirakawago, but it doesn't go to Nagano, the 3 days Matsumoto pass will but it doesn't go to Shirakawago.

Better to stay at least a night at Takayama and i think 2 full days for the attractions in Nagoya should be enough maybe an additional day for shopping if you like.

Personally, I think Shirakawa Go is overrated and would instead go to the much more easily reachable Hida no Sato village in Takayama proper. I particularly think this would be a better option with children, as I know my 8 year old would spend a lot of time complaining in Shirakawa Go, because it felt like most of the Gassho zukuri there were either shops or restaurants and the shops all sold pretty much the same touristy things. Shirakawa Go is pretty, but it's a lot of travel. I honestly don't know how you could fit in the snow monkeys (which are closer to an hour outside of Nagano) and either Shirakawa Go or Hida no Sato village into your itinerary without cutting time from Nagoya and quite honestly trying to see the monkeys as a day trip is a very long day trip. You're looking at close to 4 hours each way.

Good luck!

Thank you Delardino and Rkold ,

If I were to change my plan

1st 2 nights in Nagoya and spend 3 nights in Takayama and last night back to Nagoya .

Possible to go Nagano to see snow monkey from Takayama, is it possible ?

Also in early December , can it be seen?

Which area to stay in takayama for 1st timer .

Thank you very much .

Thank you .

Hi!

No, I don't think you can easily see the snow monkeys from Takayama as a day trip. Now if you did:
2 Nights Nagoya
2 Nights Takayama
1 Night Matsumoto (or Nagano)
1 Night Nagoya

it might work.

You can take a bus from Takayama to Matsumoto, I want to say it takes a little more than 2 hours. From Matsumoto it is 1 hour to Nagano and then ~ an additional hour to the monkeys. (not including the hike) You could even technically stay overnight near the monkeys, I just think 3-4 hours round trip with kids is hard. I know lots of time sitting on transport would get rejected by my kid. I have friends who went to the monkeys in March and saw monkeys. There was not a lot of snow though. I can't speak for your travel period, but you should at the very least see monkeys.

I stayed at the Associa in Takayama. It's a little out of town but has a free shuttle. It has amazing onsen and the rooms are huge. I am not sure it is the best option though because it is annoying if you miss the free shuttle. I have friends who stayed in Shiba onsen to see the monkeys and loved where they stayed. Their ryokan specifically helps you get as close to the hike to see the monkeys as possible.

Good luck!

Hi Rkold,
Thank you for your advise .

You mentioned Shiba Onsen , is at takayama or Nagano?

Thank you .

For your stay in Nagoya during Dec don�ft miss the spectacular winter illumination in Nabana-no-sato. Monitor the following webpage for update schedule this coming winter.

https://www.nagashima-onsen.co.jp/nabana/illumination/index.html

Shiba Onsen is in Yamanouchi under Nagano prefecture which is very close to the monkey park.

For Takayama, there are alot hotels just opposite the station just choose 1 that u fancy will do, the sights are all within walking distance except for Hida no Sato which rklod mentioned earlier that is a 10 mins bus ride away but since you are heading to Shirakawago then probably can skip this.

Dear all ,

Thank you for helping in clearing my doubt .

William,
the website you fwd is all in Japanese . Can seem to find details on it .

Thank you once again.
Expresso

Expresso,

Check this link for more details abt the Nabana no Sato illumination,

https://en.japantravel.com/mie/nabana-no-sato-winter-illumination/121

Dear all ,

I have gone through the plan as this

2 Nights Nagoya
2 Nights Takayama
1 Night Matsumoto (or Nagano)
1 Night Nagoya ,

However , my arrival into NGO Centrair is after 6pm,
this works out only 1 clear day in Nagoya . Looks like not able to do much in Nagoya as last day flight is 1030am .
If I change to
3 Nights Nagoya
1 Nights Takayama
1 Night Matsumoto (or Nagano)
1 Night Nagoya .
Would this work ?
Also what type of train or bus pass which I should buy that can use from Nagoya to Takayama and Nagano?

Thank you .
Expresso

3 days Takayama Pass - 8,500
3 days Matsumoto Pass - 7,000
5 days Wide Pass - 14,000

Either both the 3 days passes or the 5 days pass with an additional 1,140 per way for the local train between Matsumoto to/bck Nagano. Personally i would take the 2nd option since the difference is not much.

I used local train because the limited express is 2.8k per way and is only 20 mins faster.

Unless u are staying near the airport for last night then go for a 3/1/1/1 otherwise i would go for 2 nights Nagoya > 1 night Nagano/Matsumoto > 1 night Takayama (Day Trip to Shirakawago on the 5th day) and move back to Nagoya for the last 2 nights.

Hi!

I am not sure there is a pass that covers your itinerary. It also depends on if you are going to Shirakawa Go or Hida no Sato. Hida no Sato is just an easy 10 minute local bus ride from Takayama Station vs. Shirakawa Go is further. I personally don't like Shirakawa Go and prefer Hida no Sato and if I only had time for one would do the latter. Unless your kids just really like going to restaurants and seeing the same trinkets for sale again and again I think Shirakawa Go is boring. Hida no Sato had more participatory activities which I find works better with children (and to be fair, for me as well.)

It will take you 2.5 hours minimum to get from Nagoya to Takayama. It's about 3 hours to Shirakawa Go. I guess if you have your heart set on Shirakawa Go, it would make sense to take the bus there from Nagoya and then the bus to Takayama, since I think overall that will mean less travel time. Assuming you left by 9 am, went to Shirakawa Go for 2-3 hours by the time you got to Takayama it would be getting dark. If you do more like 2 hours you would have time to walk around Takayama before it gets dark. I would pick somewhere to stay that includes dinner, just because finding dinner in Takayama can be hard. A lot cf restaurants close at 3. We had that problem in 2017. The next morning you could spend 1 hour walking around Takayama and take a 10:10 bus from Takayama to Matsumoto and arrive at 12:35. You could get lunch there, maybe take 1 hour to see the Castle and then take a train to Nagano. If you're staying in Nagano you could see Zenkoji if you are staying in Yamanouchi closer to the monkeys head directly to there for dinner. You could then see the monkeys the next morning before heading to Nagoya whether you are coming from Nagano or Yamanouchi. If you wanted you could also visit Zenkoji then before heading to Nagoya. The express train between Nagano to Nagoya runs about once an hour and takes 3 hours.

Depending on when you left Nagano, you would arrive in Nagoya with some time to still shop.

Dear all,

Thank you for the valuable advices.

Delardino

Your suggested itinerary seem good and I will work on that, by the way,
You mentioned the 3 types of passes ,
you were saying preferred the 2nd option which is 5 days wide pass? This seem to be more expensive if compare to taking the 3 days pass ( 8500/7000) with local train of 1 way at 1140yen.

Rkold,
I will probably drop the idea of visiting Shirakawa-Go and visit Hidanosato instead .

Thank you very much .

Expresso

16280 & 15500, abit more but maybe because im not a bus person.

Since u are dropping Shirakawago, then should be straight forward. 3 days Matsumoto Bus Pass will do, use in on the day you depart for Nagano but note that returning to Nagoya from Takayama is not direct, have to go via Nakatsugawa? Maybe you got to do some research on the time table or check with the bus centre when u reach Takayama.

If you got some spare time before your bus to Takayama from Matsumoto, and since you are in the area maybe can do a quick drop by at the castle, it is beautiful.

Thank you Delardino.

Expresso

Dear All,

Regarding Shoryudo 5 day wide pass, I understand that it for high buses and route buses. Can this pass be used in Nagoya city to visit city attractions?

Thank you .

Expresso

For city attractions i think either use the meguru loop bus (500 yen for unlimited rides a day) or just use the subway can access easily, don't think wide pass will cover those places.

Dear All,

I was thinking is it worth it to change my flight so I could extend my trip for 2 to 3 nights, so all in all it will be 9 to 10 nights including arrival and departure days. then I will have a full 8 days in central japan. However I would not cover as much area cos am with 2 children so prefer a more relaxing trip.
if I manage to extend my trip for 2 more nights, is it better to get JR pass or just the Shoryudo 5 days wide area pass?

thank you.

Expresso

If you are able to extend for 2 more nights, any places u got in mind? Kanazawa looks good for a 2 nights stay.

JR Pass wont be able to pay off most probably.

I think a 3 days Matsumoto Bus Pass follow by a Takayama-Hokuriku Area Pass which last for 5 days would be good enough.