[Itinerary Check] 16 days Tokyo>Matsumoto>Takayama>Toyama>Nagano>Tokyo

3 comments

1. 2. Yes, it will make a big difference. Weekends are packed everywhere. Also you’re traveling during the fall color period which is when half of Japan goes to the mountains to see the colors.

   3. Takayama is much nicer than Toyama. Takayama you can just walk around in the old parts of town or along the temples. Toyama is kinda ugly and nothing special.

   4. Again, fall color period. Definitely book the weekends in advance. I would book weekdays too if I were you, last minute will be much more expensive during that period.

   5. No bear spray needed. Seeing a bear is very very rare on Honshu and they are generally not aggressive. Only in Hokkaido I would bring it for remote hikes and the brown bears.

2. Hi!

   I think Kamikochi will be crowded on a week end if you hit it during koyo. If it’s after koyo, then it won’t be crowded just cold.

   I think the monkey park and Togakushi, even with a car might be a long day, a lot depends on where you staying and starting from and where you plan to end.

   I think on week ends a lot of ryokan can be popular especially during leaf viewing. During the Takayama Festival, you’re not going to be able to book anything in Takayama. I think you can’t count on having places easy to book. Places can fill up depending on where they are.

   I personally have not seen bears in Japan, just a ton of bear warning signs. I’ve seen so many bear warning signs. I like taking pictures of the signs, because sometimes the bears look like they are starring in Cocaine Bear and sometimes they look like a cute teddy bear. I’m not a big hiker though. I have done the walk between the bus terminal in Kamikochi and Myojin, during June. It was also pouring rain, so I didn’t see much in the way of any wildlife or people for that matter. I think bringing bear spray into Japan is quite hard. Supposedly Japan is into bear bells to warn them away.

   I will say that when using Google Maps and driving in Japan, when not on a an expressway, some roads are perfectly fine and some look more like one lane roads than 2. Add in curves along mountains and they are a little unsafe feeling. Google Maps had me taking the ultra scenic way between Tsuchiyu onsen and Koriyama. Route 52 was not a road I wanted to transverse and a lot of Route 45 in Aomori-ken and Iwate-ken was similarly narrow. I would have rather paid more to take the expressway between Fukushima and Koriyama and used the much larger Route 115.

   I would spend an extra day in the Takayama area, but it really depends on what you want to do.

   I think your Toyama day with Kurobe might take longer if you plan to take the train into the gorge because the train has a set run time.

   Good luck!

3. It seems reasonable to me. I feel like you’re spending far more time than is warranted in Matsumoto – rather than stay in Matsumoto, why not stay somewhere around Kamikochi? With a car there’s probably a lot of options, and it would save backtracking on your way to Takayama.

   I don’t have any opinion on Toyama (and haven’t heard anything much about it, so guess I’ve just assumed it’s not very interesting), but it’s a bit of a shame to miss Kanazawa when you’re in the area.