Hello!
My partner and I are going to Japan at the end of December and are planning to stay a night in Shirakawago and are in need of help/recommendations concerning our potential itinerary.
Our itinerary:
Leave Shibuya Station on the morning of Dec 26 7 AM
Arrive in Toyama @ 930 AM
from here, the app NAVITIME states that we walk to the Toyama bus station where we’d board a Nohi bus to Shirakawago and arrive @ 1130 AM
The last bit is where we get confused. We found that the Nohi bus is reservation only, but have no idea how to buy tickets in advance online. If someone could help either by linking where to buy tickets for the bus line or suggesting a fool-proof way to get there from Toyama, we’d be very grateful.
Lastly, we’d like to know if this itinerary is worth it. From what we’ve read, there isn’t a ton to do in Shirakawago, but are interested in going and staying for a night nonetheless. Recommendations on things to do during this time of year are very much appreciated!
We’re torn because what we intend to do next is to make our way back to Nagano/Hakuba to ski for the remainder of the week until we venture back to Tokyo on the 30th and from what we’ve researched going from Shirakawago to Nagano and eventually Hakuba is a rather long travel day.
Thank you to anyone willing to help. <3
5 comments
There is a reservation link on Nohi bus website [https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/highwaybus/kanazawa_en/](https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/highwaybus/kanazawa_en/)
There is indeed not that much to do in Shirakawa-go, so if you get there for lunch and spend the night, then take the first bus out. I arrived at the end of the day to spend the night then only left in the afternoon the next day, could have left a couple of hours before as at some point you start to turn in circle inside of the small town.
But even if it’s small it’s a nice place.
Ok I offer this opinion often… Rent a car instead. It will probably cost a bit more but it offers you infinite flexibility. You need to check with the place you’re staying if they have parking, but Shirakawa has a big parking lot and I would assume you can park overnight there (I went there as a day trip). This way you’re freed from the bus schedule and can go whenever.
Also, going from Shirakawa to Hakuba… Might be faster to actually go along the north coast in the winter than trying to negotiate the mountain pass. Once you’re there at Hakuba with a car you can always just do side trips or go further afield for food. I rent a car every time I go to the countryside and I wouldn’t do those rural buses that come every two hours anymore. You can rent the car at Toyama and return it in Nagano when you hop on the train back to Tokyo.
Look into it, it will be worth your while. I normally rent from Toyota rent a car but there are others too
[https://japanbusonline.com/en/Detail/11900040002/1/4162027/4212032/](https://japanbusonline.com/en/Detail/11900040002/1/4162027/4212032/)
Seems like you can book one month ahead and busses run until 29th of Dec
Also I prefered google maps over navitime
There’s not much to do in Shirakawa-go, but if you are staying for the night e.g. pairing it with a Ryokan or a Resort Hotel, it’s more about taking things slow anyway.
If you can fit Takayama in your itinerary it will make things easier for you. You can take a Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya and then the Hida Express to Takayama. It’s worth a visit and has more hotels then Shirakawa-go. From Takayama you can do a day trip to Shirakawa-go via bus. Taking the train to Takayama has the added benefit that heavy snowfall does not risk completely wrecking your itinerary when compared to a bus from Toyama.
I just visited Shirakawa-go a day ago. For the Nohi bus, I would recommend booking at least 2 weeks in advance; we tried booking about 1.5 weeks in advance and the bus tickets were already sold out. This was for Takayama to Shirakawa-go to Kanazawa though, not sure if the Toyama route is more or less popular.
We decided to rent a car to drive the same route instead. If you’re a confident driver, it’s actually a very easy drive (again, from Takayama to Shirakawa-go to Kanazawa) and very convenient. We were able to visit Ainokura Village as well with the car.
EDIT: Just noticed your trip is end of December and I’m not familiar with how the road conditions will be that time of year.
In terms of things to do, we spent about 2 – 2.5 hours there. You can probably spend a bit more time there if you go through all the houses and also eat there.