My partner and I will be visiting Japan for the second time in fall 2024. We will be based out of Tokyo but are planning to do side trips to Kamakura, the Nagano area, and Kawaguchiko. I’m looking for advice on the 4-night Nagano/Kawaguchiko portion of the itinerary and have a few general questions (see itinerary below):
1. Does this itinerary seem too rushed or too relaxed considering what we want to do in each area? Too much traveling in between areas?
2. Should we be utilizing luggage forwarding at some point, maybe from Tokyo to Matsumoto? It looks like we will also have to take a local train or bus for part of the way from Matsumoto to Kawaguchiko, and again from Kawaguchiko back to Tokyo, so not sure how much of a pain it would be to be to drag all of our luggage around during this part of the trip. We will likely have 1 carry-on-sized suitcase + a backpack each.
3. Anything obvious missing from the itinerary? Togakushi shrine seems lovely but it’s a bit out of the way considering the limited time we have
4. Any other general recommendations welcome!
Thanks in advance!
**Day 1: Tokyo to Yudanaka**
* Train to Nagano
* Explore Zenko-ji and surrounding area (Nakamise-dori, Gondo arcade)
* Rest at ryokan in Yudanaka
**Day 2: Yudanaka to Matsumoto**
* Jigokudani monkey park (I understand there will not likely be snow in fall which is okay)
* Obuse (Hokusai museum, Takai Kouzan memorial hall, Gansho-in, Jokoji, try chestnut sweets)
* Train to Matsumoto in evening
**Day 3: Matsumoto**
* Matsumoto castle & surrounding area (Nawate street, Nakamachi-dori, Agatanomori park)
* Wasabi farm (if time)
**Day 4: Matsumoto to Kawaguchiko**
* Train/bus to Kawaguchiko
* Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine & Fujisan Heritage Center (or just rest at hotel and explore nearby area)
**Day 5: Kawaguchiko to Tokyo**
* Hakusan Shrine and ropeway
* Oishi Park and Nagasaki Park
* Return to Tokyo in evening
2 comments
> Togakushi
It’s gorgeous in the fall and there is a way to do Togakushi + Zenkoji and make it to Yudanaka Station by 6pm. It depends on your preference for pace of travel. Sharing what we did, for reference:
* Early morning Shinkansen to Nagano (7:22am train out of Toyama – from Tokyo this will likely require waking up an hour earlier, depending on where you are coming from this could be very easy with US jetlag or very difficult with European jetlag)
* Buy day ticket from Alpico Kotsu
* 8:30am bus to upper Togakushi shrine
* Walk up to top shrines and back down, 11am-ish bus to middle shrine
* Soba lunch
* Visit middle shrine
* Walk down to lower shrines
* Bus to Zenkoji
* Zenkoji, was done around 4 pm.
* (I was not going to Yudanaka, but it was theoretically possible to catch the train that would have gotten me there in time for ryokan check-in).
I had considered taking the detour to Kagami Ike Pond, however it was already past peak foliage plus we got a bit freaked out by the signs for bears, so decided not to bother.
Definitely recommend bringing hiking bells to ward off any bear encounters. It seems this year there were quite a bit of bear attacks.