Shirakawago and Takayama in December

I will be visiting Shirakawago and Takayama in December. Currently, I have the following plan. On 20th Dec, I will travel by Hida view from Nagoya to Takayama. I plan to take the 8.43am train. Is there any changes in schedule for the hida wide view during December? Is this train still in operation at 8.43am in Dec?

I plan to travel to Shirakawago on 20th dec evening. I tried to check the timing on Nohi bus website, but I can稚 find the schedule for December. Does anyone know the bus schedule in December? I intend to take the last bus from Takayama to Shirakawago so that I will have more time in Takayama. If I reach Shirakawago at night in December, how is the street lighting? Will it be difficult for me to walk to the minshuku in the snow without light? Which Minshuku is the nearest to the bus stop at Shirakawago?

I have the following questions on Takayama. As I only have ｽ day in Takayama, I intend to visit the Jinya and the float museum and Hida folk museum. However, since I am going to Shirakawago (Gassho open air museum), should I still visit the Hida Folk museum? Is there any difference between the Hida folk museum and the gassho museum at Shirakawago? How long do people usually spend at the Hida folk museum? How long do people usually spend at the Jinya and float museum? Do you think I will be able to visit all 3 places by mid afternoon? I知 assuming that the bus to shirakawago will leave around 3pm since it is winter.

I'd say you're really pushing things with that schedule. If you take the 8:43 train from Nagoya, that means you get in to Takayama just before 11:00. The bus to Shirakawa-go looks like it leaves at 3:20, so you'd want to be back at the bus station by 3pm. That's only 4 hours to sight-see, including walking around from place to place, and possibly in the snow! I wouldn't say you have 'a day in Takayama', more like a brief stopover. It takes a good 30 mins to walk to the Float Museum from the station, and the Jinya is another 15 walk from there. But that doesn't include stopping to look at things, take pictures, look in shops etc., which is what Takayama is all about. The Folk Museum - which I highly recommend - is a 5 - 10 min bus ride from the station. Oh, and you'll probably want to eat lunch at some point to. I'd say rethink your plans a bit. If you can get to Takayama the day before, or somehow arrange at least a day there, you'd probably enjoy things a whole lot more. If not, I'd actually forget the Jinya (although it's a great lace to visit), and spend what time you have just wandering around the old sections of town.

I think the Hida Folk Museum and Shirakawa-go together is overkill on the thatched-roof business...I like the Folk Museum, but I'd skip it to spend more time in Shirakawa-go.
If I remember correctly the streets in Shirakawa-go are adequately lit at night. We wandered around to find the public bath and didn't run into any problems other than that the bath was kind of off the street a little and we went right past it at first. It's a nice bath, by the way.

Hi,
I will visit Shirakawago on Dec.23 as well. I sent e-mail to ask for the schedule to nohibus and they answer me like this.

The schedules are as follows.

The schedules are as follows. Takayama-Shirakawago
08:45----10:42
09:30----11:05
11:10----12:54
14:40----16:37
15:20----16:55

Shirakawa-Takayama
10:05----11:40
12:15----14:10
14:20----16:07
16:05----17:40
17:15----19:10

Hope this help. ^^
I also hope that there will be a snowfall on that day.