First time visit Nagoya with two children

Dear Delardino,

I am so grateful that you have been giving your valuable advice on my post. Really appreciate it.

the purpose of the extension is to have more time so is not so rush to keep changing hotel night after night especially with children around., thinking like takayama 2 night and matsumoto 2 nights.

However after having enquired with the airlines, I couldn't get date change for 2 more days but 3 days instead.
since I have to change the flight with some fees and I was thinking might as well extend more days for this trip, change to 14 days instead of 7days .

so I was thinking aloud, to find a host family in Japan and stay a week with them , then explore takayama and matsumoto on my 2nd week and perhaps kanazawa which u mentioned .
1. What is your advice on this?
2. Is it safe to find host families recommended in this platform?

thank you very much for your patience.

Expresso

Maybe the locals here can help you out on the homestay part, i don't have much knowledge or any experience on this.

I can say it should be 99% safe. Your children aware of your idea? For adults i believe it will be easy to adapt to the culture but kids might find it hard to adjust their lifestyle to suit the hosts. Communication could also be a problem unless you know abit of japanese?

Dear Delardino,

My children are not aware of this trip at all, will tell them later which usually is the case when I planned for a vacation.

will wait to see anymore advice on homestay before I proceed to change my flights .

thank you.

Expresso

I wouldnft say that homestay is a popular concept in Japan. Yes, maybe for exchange high school students, but not for tourists.
This is likely due to the fact that most people have really small flats/houses.

What you could try to do is to rent a cabin or some Airbnb for a week somewhere. Youfd need to search on the internet what you can find.

LikeBike,

I was exploring on that and if not working out....I will abort the plan.

Thank you.

Expresso

Dear All destination experts

I have managed to extend my trip with the airline. I will stay 1 night in Nagoya on arrival and proceed to these side trips and back to Nagoya after these trips

I will be buying Shoryudo 5 days wide pass . I m planning to have
2 nights- Takayama which include Shirakawago
2nights- Matsumoto which include nagano Monkey park

I need advise on the followings:
1. Should I stay 2 nights in Takayama or 1 night each at takayamsa and Shirakawa go?
2. As for Matsumoto, i understand is good to stay at Shiba Onsen to access to monkey park, 1 night at Matusmoto and 1 night at Shiba Onsen?

1. Is it easy to bring luggage along these side trips from Nagoya?
2. Where should I start first, Takayama or Matsumoto?
3. Any advice which part of Matsumoto to stay and which Onsen to stay in Shiba?

Thank you.

Expresso

Hi!

I can ask my friend where she stayed in Shibu onsen. I know she specifically picked a place with private baths as she is tattooed and didn't want to have any issues with a public bath. She also picked somewhere which drives you to the closer parking area to the snow monkeys, since that was the reason she went there. She was quite happy with the place. I don't know her or your price range though.

There are a lot of luggage options a lot depends on what you want to pay for and what you feel most comfortable with. I'm honestly not sure how many nights you're planning to spend at each location at this point, could you please do the entire itinerary?

I like to shop, I like to shop more than most people on this forum and I like to shop for all sorts of tacky and touristy things. We collect Japanese fashion dolls so we always buy a lot when in Japan. So for us, we tend to use takyuubin. So for example in 2018 when I spent some time in the Alp region I: takyuubinned my big suitcase from Kyoto to I think Nagano on Sunday morning and had two carry on-sized bags I brought with me on the train to Kanazawa. I spent (Sun+Mon)2 nights in Kanazawa, then (Tues+Wed) 2 nights in Kamikochi and then met my luggage on Thursday in Nagano. Similarly this past trip, I takyuubinned my bag from Kashihara to my hotel in Tokyo and skipped taking it from Kashihara to Nagoya and then from Nagoya to Tokyo Disney and had it waiting for me at my regular Tokyo hotel. My kid is not always helpful and tends to fill a carry on bag with just stuffed animals and entertainment, otherwise I could easily do two or three days with just her carry on. As she gets older, she brings less entertainment, so I can fit more things in her bag. Your children are older than mine and so should be able to handle a carry on. I don't remember the bus to Shirakawa Go. But the bus between Matsumoto and Takayama is a highway bus and has storage underneath that can definitely fit carry-on bags.

You can start in either Matsumoto or Takayama, I would base it on do you want to save something the kids really want to do towards the end (monkeys) or at the start of the trip.

Just remember, I like Matsumoto, but Matsumoto is not that close to the monkey park, it's 1-1.5 hours from Nagano. So I would start either in Shibu onsen or Nagano proper or start in Takayama. So that you would do for example: Nagoya to Shibu onsen, Shibu onsen to Matsumoto, Matsumoto to Takayama, Takayama to Nagoya or reverse that route.

Good luck!

Rkold,

my itinenary as follows

D1, arrival NGO at night, stay 1 night
D2-D6, side trips To Takayama ( 2 nights), Matsumoto (1 night)and Nagano ( 1 night) yet to plan into detail as to which to go 1st, your suggestions seem good to me, I will work on that. )
D7-D11, Homestay with a Host, out of Nagoya City., has arranged with the Host .
D11-D13 Nagoya city- stay 2 nights to wrap up my trip with Nagoya city attractions.

It would be nice if you could find out more on the Shiba Onsen however I do not need private onsen as my children would not be interested in that but I love to and don't mind to be in public onsen. I have not done any research on Onsen in Shiba, the price wise not more than USD 200 for 3, possible?
Is there a direct bus to Nagano? can 5 day wide pass use on the bus?

Regarding the luggage, each of us will have a medium size luggage for this whole trip . However I intend to bring only 1 medium luggage ( maybe Taqbin delivery to the side trip ) the 4 nights side trip with carry on backpack each. I did googlde on Taqbin website but there is not further details online whether how to do it and how much is the costs .
Is there any luggage locker near the Nagoya Train station?
I understand Taqbin has a counter in some hotel but not sure the one which I have will be staying for 1 night has a counter or not, I may send 2 luggage to the Host while I go for my side trips.


Thank you very much Rkold.

Expresso

Hi

From what I can see there is no bus pass which includes Nagano or shibu onsen. No matter what you do you must pay additional if you want to see the snow monkeys.

I am getting 7100 yen by train to Nagano from Nagoya plus an additional -1400 yen for a bus to the monkey park from Nagano Station. You can also go from Nagoya to Nagano by bus and bring it down to 3200 - 5100 yen dependent on season. At 5100 it becomes pretty much a wash as you save 800 yen to use the pass and go to Matsumoto first but you lose a lot of time since you now have a 90 minute train trip to Nagano which is usually once, sometimes twice an hour. If you get your ticket for 3100 yen you come out ahead just paying out of pocket VS using a pass.

Personally my time is worth something to me. I would only go to Matsumoto first if you are spending Two nights there.

If you are talking 200 for all 3 of you I think you will have a hard time. Your 14 year old counts as an adult and your 10 year old will be 70%or more usually of adult fees. In the US my 8 year old is always free but in Japan she frequently counts as a second adult for occupancy. Nagano is considerably cheaper to stay in. I found it cheaper than Matsumoto as well but again I travel in the summer.

Nagano and Matsumoto have a lot of lockers just outside the station building and sagawa has an office in the Nagano Station building to hold bags and takyuubin them. It was super easy getting a locker in summer, it might be harder in ski season. I don't know what is medium. If it can fits in the overhead storage on a plane, then it's fine for a highway bus but not necessarily a local bus.

I have not yet seen a hotel that doesn't offer takyuubin. I think only airbnbs don't. I find it's usually around 2000 yen per bag. I think the most I have paid is 2500. My bags tend to be big and heavy so we are talking 23kgs and 157 cms linear. I might have paid the 2500 for a bag larger than 157 cm linear. I can't remember. I would make sure your host is OK with receiving takyuubin.

Good luck

Dear Rkold,

Thank you for your valuable advise. I will google more on the Shiba Onsen .

Expresso

It's important to be aware that one reason ryokan in places like Shibu onsen are so expensive is they include dinner and breakfast. Both usually include a LOT of food. So you're not just paying for a room you are paying for meal. And depending on location outside of combini stores, you will have a hard time finding meals. Takayama is a prime offender here, as the majority of restaurants close at 15:00 and are done. Most people staying in Takayama eat at their ryokan or hotel. I would expect Shibu onsen is pretty similar.

Good luck!

Rkold

I have tried to book hotel in Takayama and saw many hotels include breakfast but not dinner, unless I take a Ryokan.

Expresso.

I am not sure what city @rkold is thinking of when she says Takayama is a prime offender here, as the majority of restaurants close at 15:00 and are done. Most people staying in Takayama eat at their ryokan or hotel. , but it can't be Takayama. Takayama is a city with nearly 100,000 inhabitants, there are definitely dinner options around. It is actually not the typical ryokan place at all, it's a city. And yes, I had dinner in Takayama, in a Hida beef restaurant close to the station (but there are many more options around).

It's a different story for real ryokan villages, like Kurokawa onsen in Kyushu or some places like Nyuto onsen in Akita...

Regarding specifically Shibu onsen, I went there to see the snow monkeys about 2 years ago, and I had dinner in the village. Actually one of the best karaage I ever had in Japan. Even went there again the next night. There isnt a lot of different options, maybe there were like 2 places where one could have dinner (the other one probably some soba \ ramen type of place), but the karaage place was delicous.

Maybe I just had bad luck then? I do have dietary restrictions but I went to 5 or 6 different places in Takayama and every singe one of them was closed for dinner. Some were always closed and some were having events. Walking to 5 or 6 different places got my kid pretty darn cranky until we finally found an Indian place near the station that was open. So to me, Takayama is a PIA to find dinner, and it left a very sour taste in my mouth. It's definitely one of those places I've yet to find the allure of.

I've not personally gone to see the monkeys. I'm debating going to Japan for a short trip in February, but I think I'd rather try to see kawazu sakura. We're flower people.

OK my friend specifically stayed at Kokuya and loved it:
https://www.ichizaemon.com/lang_en/

However, after talking to a school friend we're now thinking of a short trip to Japan in February and based on Booking and Trip Advisor there are lot of places in Shibu Onsen under $200 particularly if you don't mind not having an onsen on premises, don't include meals, and you don't mind shared bathrooms. It might get trickier for you because again, you're a party of 3, (while we are a party of 2) but I thought Koishiya looked somewhat cute and there were several others that were highly rated. I tend to read what other people have to say in both booking and trip advisor and just compare. I know certain things I can't abide by (super hard beds) which are not a problem for other travelers.

Good luck!

Thank you all for your advices .

Dear all experts,

I am contemplating is it really necessary to go to Shibu Onsen for 1 night as I just want to go to the Snow Monkey park.? Is it worth it to just check out from 1 hotel and check in for another one In Shibu Onsen. Understand from someone es blog that all Shibu Onsen provide bus to Monkey park. Is it true?
Or is equally good if to stay put in Matsumoto for 2 nights and make a day trip up to Monkey park?

Honestly, it really depends on you and your kids. And this is really something only you can answer. If you don't stay in Shibu onsen going from Matsumoto to Nagano is going to take anywhere from 50 minutes to 90 minutes each way by train, plus transport time to Yudanaka or Shibu onsen plus walking in the snow to the monkeys. You will need to do this both ways. I can easily just sit on a train and look out the window or use my cell phone or read for 3+ hours without an issue. My child tends to lose patience after an hour or so on the train, even with books and computer. So I tend to try to limit how many long round trips I am doing by train and bus, but maybe your kids are better travelers. I don't know your kids, but you do and need to look honestly at them because if you want to go from Matsumoto you're easily looking at a 2.5 hour one way trip to see the monkeys (5 hours round trip) when you include transfer times.

Most of the places I've seen in Shibu onsen do free pick-up from Yudanaka train station. Many also will take you to the the car park entrance to the monkey park, but you will have a 10-20 minute walk to still get to the monkeys.

Good luck deciding what makes the most sense.

Rkold,

Thank you for you advices.


Cheers