Hey friends. Was curious to know your insight if you’ve been here before. I’m planning a 90 day japan trip for whenever Covid restrictions lighten (take your pick but I’m aiming for fall) and Shirakawago is a spot I’d love to stay in for 2-3 days. With it being very country, I know hotel accommodations are a bit hard to come by, but I’ve found one or two spots that seem to be in Hida and on the outskirts of the village. Is travel pretty easy? I don’t believe the Shinkansen runs out here. What would your recommendation be? Right now, I’m thinking of combining a few days in Kanazawa with it, and using 1 or 2 days to travel to the village via bus.
Any pros or cons you’d a share?
17 comments
The only way to go by public transport is bus and yes it is easy, most people do from Takayama or Kanazawa (or just do Shirakawa-go as a stop between the two).
If you want to stay in Shirakawa-go, then search a bit and stay in one of the thatch roof house. Some offer accommodation, I did and it was pretty nice. I would also say that there is nothing to do there so a single night should be absolutely more than enough, like you get there in the afternoon in time to check-in, maybe walk a bit around, next day check out, visit and take the bus in early afternoon.
I stayed in Kanazawa and rented a car. The drive was easy and it was nice to be able to get around to some of the spots that would be a bit of a hike.
I think a few hours there is enough. I would probably just spend some more time in Kanazawa or Takayama or Toyama.
Your only real options without a car are busses, which are most commonly taken from either Takayama or Kanazawa, though they are also available from Toyama and Takaoka. The town of Shirakawa-go itself won’t take most people more than a day to see, though it is a very peaceful area to walk around in the evening if you decide to spend a night. And obviously Kanazawa and Takayama themselves have plenty of attractions in and of themselves, and there are other attractions in the region like Ainokura, Hakusan, Okuhida, and Kamikochi which could fill weeks if you wanted them to. Just keep in mind that you’re going to be very limited if you don’t have a car, and could be even more limited by seasonal restrictions depending on how late in the year you go.
>I don’t believe the Shinkansen runs out here
The Shinkansen can get you as far as Kanazawa, Toyama, or Nagoya, but you should think of the Shinkansen almost like air travel–it can get you to the region you want to go, but if you’re going anywhere that isn’t right on the Tokaido or a city center, you might spend hours and hours after the Shinkansen getting to your final destination. The good news is that the mountain express trains that run through the heart of the country (e.g., the Hida Wide View) are way more interesting than the Shinksansen.
>What would your recommendation be? Right now, I’m thinking of combining a few days in Kanazawa with it, and using 1 or 2 days to travel to the village via bus.
I would suggest a full day or two in Kanazawa (I recommend waking up early and going to Kenrokuen for the free early opening when almost nobody else is there), then take the bus to Shirakawa-go, spend a night there if you want. I stayed there once at [this hostel](https://goo.gl/maps/Zvm9b1KapPqrG9K49), which was a bit out of village and nothing special, but very reasonably priced and the staff were nice. After that I would spend the rest of your time in/around Takayama, possibly doing day trips out of Takayama or spending a night at Gero Onsen or something if you want. Kanazawa and Shirakawa-go are great, but I like Takayama even more–it has very relaxed atmosphere and enough historical sights, shops, and restaurants to explore for a couple of days if you wanted to.
Definitely spend time in Kanazawa.
I cycled from Kanazawa to Shirakawa go. Is a nice ride in the warmer months. Only about 70km.
Otherwise, driving from Kanazawa is easy and convenient.
However, for a tourist who isn’t cycling, does not have access or cannot afford a car, there is Hokutetsu bus service from Kanazawa station. 2000 yen and takes an 1hr 20min ish. Same bus goes to Gokayama too.
Just stay in Takayama
I stayed on Takayama and took a bus (like 50min ride) from there to shirakawa, just try to reserve your seats with time, we bought them the day before and they were the last 2 seats on that bus… after shirakawa we went to kanazawa on bus from the same terminal … for accomodations on takayama there are a few hotels near the station.
I got an international drivers license and drove. beautiful scenery out that way.
I stayed here: shirakawagou-onsen.jp
I took a bus that was a hop on hop off type and I visited a few of the thatched roof villages in the area.
Sleeping in Shirakawago was nice because it was so quiet after all the tour buses left and the next morning was so peaceful. I recommend it but only for one night. Definitely check out Takayama and Kanazawa for longer periods.
And if you can get to the Kiso Valley (rent a car for this) definitely go there!
I visited Shirakawago in between my trips to Takayama and Kanazawa. I initially stayed in a ryokan in Takayama for a few nights. Then I took the bus to Shirakawago for the day and then headed to Kanazawa for a few nights! It was a pretty seamless experience! Tbh I see Shirakawago as more of a day trip. However if you have the time, I think it could be nice to stay there for a night but definitely wouldn’t stay for more than one!
As many others stated, it’s not worth spending more than a day here. Very pretty but small and without much variety.
Also in the area is Kanazawa and Takayama. I got the train from Tokyo to Matsumoto (awesome castle) and rented a car in Matsumoto. Then drove up through the countryside to Kanazawa one way. Along the way saw amazing scenery (kamikoci) and stayed at several onsen hotels and one ryokan in Takayama.
There are some great hotels around Shirafune. We stayed at Shirafune grand hotel and they took great care of us with kaseiki dinners every night.
I’ve been there before. This is my fav place in Japan by far. Make sure to stay in a traditional house for a night.
I was there 15 years ago and I used this site for my accommodation.
https://www.japaneseguesthouses.com
My recommendation for this region (Chubu alps, Okuhida hot springs, Kurobe Gorge, Shirakawago villages, Kanazawa, Takayama, etc) is… the driving is surprisingly beautiful. We drove around there in October, man, it’s up there – and the driving is intuitive and easy, nothing to be intimidated by. Japanese drivers were courteous and the GPS system works well.
​
Take the JR from Tokyo to Kanazawa and start there. Spend 2 days there. Kanazawa is a great city – it’s SO refreshingly sized, if that makes sense. 20 minutes of brisk walking gets you anywhere. The samurai houses, the castles, the food, the freshness of the seafood at the seafood market, the prices, it’s all just a total change of pace from Tokyo and you’ll love it. The garden in autumn and some of the walking trails… wow.
Alternatively, you can make a big day out of this and do the Tateyama alpine pass if it’s the right season en-route through to Toyama / Kanazawa. Truly amazing if you line the up the experience right (certain times / seasons are less good than others).
Drive to see Shirakawa-go and Goyamaka / Ainokura villages. Ainokura was my fav – Shira is the most impressive, but Aino felt the most real. We bought a bunch of vegetables there which honestly we had no way to cook, but they were just beautiful vegetables. Also, great lunch to be had there if you want to try some amazing mountain radishes and yams and greens and stuff.
Go on to Okuhida. Enjoy the hot springs, splurge on a good ryokan if you can. It makes the trip. Soaking in a piping hot private spring that feels naturally built next to a scenic river, with a backdrop of mountains and fall colors…. and then enjoying a hida-beef sukiyaki feast? It’s tough to beat.
Go to Takayama for a day or two. Great walking trails, lovely market, incredible beef (there’s a few markets / butchers that sell the beef – buy it there and cook it back at your place. For about 100 bucks, my wife and I got like 20 cuts of hida a-4 / a-5. Our airbnb had a little teppanyaki table thing, and we were in HEAVEN. I must have eaten like 2000 calories of mid/upper shelf wagyu that night.
​
From Takayama, it’s a great drive to Nagoya. You can take the bus, yes, but there’s cool stops along the way. Get to Nagoya, splurge on an eel feast, drop your car off, load into the JR onwards to Kyoto.
If you don’t mind hostels, we stayed at J-Hoppers Hida Takayama Guest House and for 2500¥ per person they would take you there and bring you back. I think it was about 45mins there, and the drive through the mountains was beautiful. Honestly, we went to Takayama because a friend said it was his favorite place to go in Japan. I just about died when we were checking in and there was a sign advertising a day trip to Shirakawago. I literally started crying because I never thought I would ever have an opportunity to visit there. I didn’t even know I was anywhere near the place.
Edit: forgot link to the hostel:
https://www.agoda.com/j-hoppers-hida-takayama-guest-house/hotel/takayama-jp.html?cid=1844104
I went back in 2017 and loved it. Like most people here I got the bus from Takayama which was really easy. I stayed at the Ant Hut, a little hostel about 15 minutes walk from the museum village, it was small but really nice. The windows looked out on the mountains. At the time I recall I was really keen to stay in one of the Ryokan in the town but couldn’t because they wouldn’t allow solo male travellers. The museum village is amazing and the views over the surrounding mountains are stunning, when I went I was lucky enough to be one of about three people in the model village for some reason the three bus loads of Asian tourists weren’t interested in visiting and went into the main town and shops. Anyway, I think it is well worth a visit.
can only comment re: Kanazawa. We had a few days in Kanazawa and really enjoyed it. We stayed in the Manten hotel which is quite cheap and near the rail station. Buses leave from outside the station too. The gardens are world class and the castle is pretty good. Lots of other stuff to visit too. We like the fast food place GoGo Curry so stopped in Kanazawa on our second trip to Japan just to go there.
Bus from Kanazawa is really easy. I definitely think a full day there is enough, if you want to stay in one of the traditional houses it’s a possibility. It’s an amazing and beautiful place and 100% worth a visit. But I’d plan to leave the next morning to Takayama. Also one note that I found the food to be the only bad place anywhere I went in Japan, it’s really touristy and not good.
Btw – Kanazawa is amazing and so underrated. From the Omicho market where I had some of the best sushi in Japan on a conveyor belt, to the beautiful and serene Kenroku gardens, contemporary art museum, Higashi chaya district (especially magical in the evening), Samurai district, the Fukumitsuya sake brewery, walking along the river – just all around wonderful and very walkable city. The people are awesome and friendly too. Special shout out to FUWARI one of my favorite izakaya ever. Check it out if you can. I also spent time in other parts of Ishikawa – I consider this area a hidden gem.