Hi all,
So I’ve planned a 4 week trip to Japan next March (fingers crossed!) and the first 3 weeks are already organised.
For the final week of my trip I was thinking something along the lines of the below:
Day 1-2: Nagoya
The first day would be spent exploring Nagoya and the second day will be at the upcoming Ghibli park near the Expo Memorial park.
Day 3-4: Kanazawa
Experience Kenrokuen, art galleries, museums, castle and the samurai & Higashi Chaiya districts.
Day 5: Matsumoto
Arrive as early as possible, to visit the castle and especially the City Art Museum (as I am a big fan of Yayoi Kusama).
Day 6-8: Tokyo
I will have already visited Tokyo in the first part of my trip, so will spend day 6 exploring anything I may have missed. Day 7 will be for the Ghibli museum in Mitaka and last minute shopping/packing. Fly back home on the final day.
My main concern would probably be that the train travel from Kanazawa to Matsumoto might be a bit tricky and long, does anyone have experience of taking this route especially with trains that are valid with the JR Pass?
I’m concerned that I’m maybe being slightly naive in trying to squeeze Matsumoto into one day. What do you guys think?
8 comments
While it is not an original, Nagoya castle have a really great reconstructed palace, I would really recommend.
I do not see what is difficult to plan between Kanazawa and Matsumoto, just take the shinkansen to Nagano followed by a train on the Shinano line, can be a limited express to do it a bit faster. The thing is that if you want to be in Matsumoto around the time the castle open, you will have to be in the train at 6:18 am, so unless you have plans for something to do in Kanazawa at the end of your second day there, you could consider moving to Matsumoto somewhere after 5pm, when most attraction close anyway. As far as I know, short of taking the bus or car rental, JR is your only option to reach Matsumoto anyway.
Nagoya-Kanazawa might have more option to mix shinkansen and limited express. Can be shinkansen to Kyoto, Thunderbird to Kanazawa / Shinkansen to Maibara Sahirasagi to Kanazawa / Shirasagi all the way to Kanazawa.
Return to Tokyo you could return to Nagano to take the shinkansen but it you want to be in the Shinjuku side of Tokyo, might as well just take the limited express from Matsumoto direct to Shinjuku, just keep in mind that the Azusa Limited Express is reserved only.
>My main concern would probably be that the train travel from Kanazawa to Matsumoto might be a bit tricky and long, does anyone have experience of taking this route especially with trains that are valid with the JR Pass?
Long maybe, but tricky? Seems quite straight forward. Take the Shinkansen to Nagano and switch to the rapid train to Matsumoto.
>I’m concerned that I’m maybe being slightly naive in trying to squeeze Matsumoto into one day. What do you guys think?
I would probably be more concerned if you spent more than a day. It’s a nice town, but small. I did enjoy the visit to the castle park, though – but didn’t go inside.
I’m more concerned that you go to Matsumoto, so close to Nagano, but skip Nagano. But I guess the week is only this long.
I went the other direction but had no issues going from Tokyo (shinjuku) to Matsumoto, and then Matsumoto to Kanazawa. You just have to switch at Nagano, which is a cool city to stop in anyway. I did that all on JR pass. Matsumoto Kai is a super-nice ryokan to stay at, if you’re going that way.
The Toyota Automobile Museum is near the Ghibli park – I enjoyed it (15 years ago)
If Toyota are offering Factory tours in Toyota City – way better than anything in Nagoya
Innuyama is the best Castle near Nagoya
You will see temples and castles elsewhere… Nagoya was famous for pottery (Seto-moto) and currently for Toyota. Maybe see a game of Baseball to break things up instead of wandering around the town.
I love Nagoya, its food and festivals, but downtown is pretty same-y as other cities. Meiji-mora is another odd tourist thing out of town with preserved Meiji era buildings.
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Follow – [http://kikuko-nagoya.com/information.html](http://kikuko-nagoya.com/information.html)
Sounds good. However, you’re going from Nagoya to Kanazawa without stopping in Hida-Takayama? That’s kind of a famous area with traditional houses that can’t be seen in other parts of Japan. They also have hotsprings there. I’d at least stop there for a couple hours, if not stay overnight at a ryokan.
For Matsumoto, make sure you get there early. It is doable in a day, but it’s a beautiful city, so don’t want to rush it. Matsumoto Castle, Yohashira Shrine, Nawate-dori (Edo Period street), and the other street that parallels it, lined with kura (traditional Japanese storehouses) turned into shops and restaurants. The art gallery is nice, but there’s also the Ukiyo-e Museum, which has the largest private collection of ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) in Japan. Lots of delicious local food too like sanzokuyaki (friend chicken cutlet), apples, soba, and horse sashimi.
Kanazawa to Matsumoto with a JR pass should take about 3 hours. You’ll probably have to take the shinkansen to Nagano City, then switch to a different train. The Japanese Alps kind of get in the way, so it’s not exactly a beeline. At least the shinkansen is there now. That’s a quite new line that just opened in 2015.
And for Nagoya, you might want to consider Atsuta Grand Shrine, which is one of the 3 most sacred Shinto shrines in Japan. If you’re hanging out in the central area, check out Osu Kannon which is a pretty cool shopping area with some temples and shrines mixed in. Also, there’s a free observation deck in one of the twin towers at Nagoya Station. If you’ve got time to kill and like pottery, catch a train to Seto, which has been a centre for pottery for over a thousand years. You can find just about anything related to ceramics there, and of all prices.
Seems a shame to go to that part of the country and not visit Takayama! If it were me, I’d take a day off Nagoya and spend it there, but it depends what kind of stuff you’re into!
I second the comments to seriously consider taking a day/night to visit Takayama. It’s one of the few cities we’ve visited twice during the past few years living in Japan cuz we liked it that much. In March there will still likely be snow so you could get a winter shot of snow covered Shirakawago village. My trip report has suggestions from both our visits there.
– [Takayama: Autumn Weekend (Gifu)](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/mg8ir9/autumn_weekend_in_takayama_gifu_prefecture/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
We also enjoyed Matsumoto and since the castle is lit up at night you should be sure to visit in the daytime to go in and at night to see it lit up from the park surrounding the castle. The section on Matsumoto in my trip report may also be helpful. Taking the direct JR express train from Matsumoto to Shinjuku would be a super easy way to get back to Tokyo too.
– [Summer Long Weekend in Matsumoto and Waterfalls in Norikura (Nagano)](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/piyive/summer_weekend_in_matsumoto_and_waterfalls_in/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Happy Planning!
Depending on when or how long you plan to spend at the castle may I suggest looking into a Miso Brewery tour while in Matsumoto? Not sure if its something you’re interested in but there is english speaking ones that are only a few hours long and some include a lunch featuring their miso in their price. It’s something I personally really wanted to do but had to cut Matsumoto from our trip for time. There are also Wasabi farms that offer tour there as well but I think those are a bit of a trip out of the city so may be hard with only one day.