Hello r/JapanTravel !
We’re a couple from Canada (late 20s), travelling to Japan for our first time (finally) from November 9th to November 27th 2023.
We will be in Kurobe Gorge around the 11th, and I don’t quite understand how the reservation system works for the Kurobe Gorge Railway. From what I saw it’s best to have reservations for this time of the year.
However, on the website, it’s stated that we can only buy one way ticket to stations, but not the in-betweens. We had planned on getting off at each station, and take a walk around, take some pictures, then go on with the train ride.
Now, they say if you want to get off, you have to book only the first part of your ride, then buy the rest on the day, which doesn’t make any sense to me since **how can we be sure the places won’t sold out and can we get stuck at a station?**
Exemple: We buy the whole train ride in the morning (Unazuki Onsen – Keyakideira), and then only (Keyadeira – Kanetsuri) on the way back, in order to get off and explore. Then we (try to) buy on the spot Kanetsuri – Kuronagi, then Kuronagi-Unazuki.
**- Is it possible to get stuck at a station? How do they know all the other trains (keyakideira – Unazuki Onsen) won’t be full, exemple if people buy only all the way train rides?**
Or is it just not possible at all?
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**Any information regarding this would be appreciated, thanks!**
4 comments
Not sure if this is helpful but, we bought a ticket all the way to the end. It was a scenic train and maybe only 1-2 local people out of the whole train got off at the stops before the last one. Most foreign and local tourists got off at Keyakidaira.
On the way back, we didn’t encounter people waiting at the other stops.
I recommend reserving tickets for exchange in advance as the lines to buy a ticket are long.
It‘s simply not possible to make reservations for partial trips with their online booking tool.
I think the only way is trying to make a reservation by phone or check if there is a travel agency which can do the reservation for you. I was doing the trip two weeks ago and the trains were already pretty packed in the morning / afternoon. So I would definitely try to get a reservation.
You certainly need the right timed ticket to board the trains, so there is no way to hop off the train and hope that there will be free space in the next one. All stations are manned though so it‘s unlikely they will leave you stranded there. (Wouldn‘t want to try it out though…)
Honestly I wouldn‘t get off at Kuranagi station unless you stay at Kuronagi Onsen. It‘s a relatively unspectacular 20 minute hike to the onsen. You could use their outdoor onsen for a small fee as a daytime visitor – but I highly recommend staying for the night.
Klook has a 1 day pass: https://www.klook.com/en-US/activity/96381-kurobe-gorge-railway-pass/?
I have a couple of tips for you:
– Avoid weekends. I took the 10:03 train and it was full with local tourist. The next one was not even full.
– The first part of the trip is the best one. Sit to the right going upward or to the left going downward or you would see basically a wall all the trip (trust me, I went to the left going to Keyakedaira and I felt a little scammed)
– Regular class is better than the First class if you wanna take photos as windows are really annoying with the reflection.
As soon as you arrived to the station you can see how full are the trains in the screens. I think that the trains without First class tend to be crowded.