In and out of Chubu Centrair International Airport | Takayama old town, Shirakawa-go gassho-zukuri village, Kenroku-en Garden, the Tateyama Kurobe Yuki-no-Otani Snow Wall, Kamikochi, Shinhotaka Ropeway, Gero Onsen, Magome-juku and Enakyo Gorge: the spring-only snow wall plus the best of Hokuriku and the Kisoji, all in five days.
Overview
Every year in mid-April the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route reopens, and the deep snow around Murodo is cut into a walled corridor you can walk through: the Yuki-no-Otani Snow Wall, a sight that exists only in spring. This five-day charter starts and ends at Nagoya's Chubu Centrair International Airport. You first take in the old streets of Hida-Takayama, the gassho-zukuri village of Shirakawa-go and Kenroku-en Garden in Kanazawa, then spend a full day crossing the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, continue to Kamikochi, the double-decker Shinhotaka Ropeway and Gero Onsen, and finish with Magome-juku on the Kisoji and a boat cruise through Enakyo Gorge on the way back to the airport.
A private driver and vehicle are with you throughout, and your luggage travels in the car. On the Tateyama Kurobe day the driver takes the vehicle and bags round to the Nagano side ahead of you, so you cross the mountains light, by cable car and bus. It suits family trips, travellers with older relatives and anyone visiting Hokuriku for the first time, and the sights, meals and hotels can all be fine-tuned to your taste.
Highlights
Itinerary
Arrive at Chubu Centrair International Airport, where your private driver meets you with a name board. AEON Mall Tokoname, right by the airport, is one of the largest shopping centres in the Chubu region; the giant beckoning cat at its entrance is an icon of Tokoname ware, so it makes an easy stop for a browse and any last travel essentials. In the late afternoon you head into Nagoya. Sakae is the city's liveliest shopping district, and for dinner we recommend the local speciality, miso katsu.
After breakfast the car heads for Hida-Takayama. Kami-Sannomachi keeps its Edo-period wooden merchant houses, with sake breweries, miso shops and Hida beef snacks to pause for all along the street. Next comes the World Heritage village of Shirakawa-go, where the steep gassho-zukuri roofs of Ogimachi are still re-thatched entirely by hand, a mountain village's answer to heavy snow. You reach Kanazawa in the afternoon for Kenroku-en Garden, one of Japan's three great gardens, and in the early evening stroll past the latticed wooden teahouses of the Higashi Chaya District, soaking up the streetscape of its teahouse culture.
Today is the heart of the whole trip. Your driver drops you at Tateyama Station on the Toyama side and you set off with just a day bag: the cable car climbs to Bijodaira, then the highland bus crosses Midagahara up to Murodo at roughly 2,450 metres, where you walk into the Yuki-no-Otani Snow Wall with towering snow on either side. From there the Tateyama Tunnel bus runs to Daikanbo, the ropeway glides down to Kurobedaira with Lake Kurobe spread out below, and the underground cable car brings you to Kurobe Dam, the tallest in Japan, for a stroll along the crest with views over the lake. Finally the electric bus takes you through to Ogizawa on the Nagano side, where your driver is already waiting with the car and your luggage to take you to Shinano-Omachi for the night.
Kamikochi is a nationally designated Special Place of Scenic Beauty and Special Natural Monument, closed to private vehicles, so your driver takes you to the shuttle terminal and you continue into the valley by bus. Walk along the Azusa River to Kappa Bridge, where the still snow-capped Hotaka mountain range is mirrored in the clear water in spring. In the afternoon the double-decker Shinhotaka Ropeway lifts you to the summit observation deck for a 360-degree view across the Northern Japan Alps. On the way down you call at Okuhida Bear Park to watch and feed the bears, before checking in at Gero Onsen, one of Japan's three famous hot springs, in the early evening.
After breakfast you drive to the Kisoji. Magome-juku was a post town on the Nakasendo; its stone-paved slope is lined with latticed old houses and small shops, and a slow walk uphill is a stretch of the Edo-period road brought back to life. Then on to Enakyo Gorge for a sightseeing boat past the strange rock formations and fresh green of the Kiso River's banks. Depending on your flight time, the car takes you to Chubu Centrair International Airport, with time left to pick up souvenirs in the terminal.
Inclusions
Quoted per trip. Tell us your dates and group size and a travel consultant will send a tailored quote within 24 hours.
Daily vehicle use is 10 hours (08:00–20:00); overtime is charged in 60-minute blocks. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route opens around mid-April; the opening period of the Yuki-no-Otani walk, and the ropeway and boat timetables, follow official announcements and the weather. The final itinerary and quote are confirmed by your travel consultant.
Stops
Around Murodo, the highest point of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, the walled trail cut through the spring snow reaches almost 20 metres. On a clear day the snowfield, blue sky and Tateyama peaks all fit in one frame; temperatures swing widely up here, so bring a jacket and sunglasses.
The ropeway between Daikanbo and Kurobedaira has no support towers along the way, so the cabin hangs over the valley with Lake Kurobe and the Ushiro-Tateyama mountain range spread out below: the most thrilling leg of the crossing.
Japan's tallest arch dam, with a crest you can walk from end to end for views over Lake Kurobe and the surrounding snowy peaks. In summer and autumn the water discharge is spectacular; in spring the lingering snow on the mountains is the main sight.
A Special Place of Scenic Beauty at the foot of the Northern Japan Alps. The Azusa River is clear to the riverbed, and Kappa Bridge looks straight onto the Hotaka mountain range. Private vehicles are banned, so you transfer to the shuttle bus; the ground around the bridge is flat and easy, comfortable for older travellers too.
A double-decker gondola, rare in Japan, climbs to a summit observation deck more than 2,000 metres up, ringed by the peaks of the Northern Japan Alps including Nishi-Hotaka and Mt. Yari.
The World Heritage hamlet of Ogimachi, named for thatched roofs shaped like hands pressed together in prayer. In spring and summer the fresh green fields set off the farmhouses, a crisp picture quite unlike the winter snowscape.
Ranked with Arima and Kusatsu as one of Japan's three famous hot springs, with silky water known as a 'beauty bath'. The onsen town runs along the Hida River, and a stroll to a footbath after dinner is a pleasure.
A post town on the Nakasendo whose single street is a stone-paved slope, its old wooden houses now teahouses, gohei mochi stalls and craft shops; it is best savoured with a snack in hand.
A gorge lake formed by damming the Kiso River; the boat takes you close to the strange rock formations and forest on both banks, and the red Enakyo Bridge is its signature view. An easy cruise, ideal as the final stop before the airport.
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