Not sure I can be of much help, as we self-drove the route. But it looks as though your routing is fine. Take a look at the below blog posting for some visuals:

http://cokesmithphototravel.com/Nature_of_Japan_s_Chubu_Region.html

Bon voyage & ganbatte!

One alternative would be to go via Matsumoto. When I did the Naka sendo I took the Asuza Ltd Express train to Matsumoto where I had a couple of hours to explore the castle and town before catching the train to Nagiso, the connection to Tsumago. The route of the Asuza is very pretty IMO.

It's an alternative to going through Nagoya twice.

Alternatively, go through Nagoya to Nakatsugawa (you may want to ride the Shinkansen to Nagoya) and go from Nagiso to Matsumoto after your stay in Tsumago. Then you can connect to the train to Shinano Omachi (note the two o's)

From Toyama you take the Thunderbird to Kyoto. I just did the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route in one day - a weekend no less. I don't think your plans are overly ambitious at all. Sounds great - have a great time.

Looks like a well thought out plan.

The day you leave the ryokan in Magome will be the hectic one. I assume you plan on walking to Tsumago and Nagiso in the morning before then take the train back to Nagano. Then on a local train on to Shinano Omachi then start the TAR from there.......bus, trolley bus,walk,cable car and ropeway finally to your hotel may be a long day,lol. Two nights in the area may be better but....

Do you fly home from KIX or do you have to go back to NRT? What time of year are you traveling?

Aloha!

You're not walking the Nakasendo and doing the Alpine Route the same day, are you? I'm confused....

We are planning this trip for late May/beginning of June 2013. The plan is to fly into TYO and out of KIX, but we have not purchased our tickets yet. I posted my itinerary for Tokyo and Kyoto previously, but are working out the details in between the two cities.

Looking on Hyperdia if we leave Tokyo at 9:40 and arrive at Nakatsugawa at 12:45, that would be enough time to walk at a leisurely pace from Magome to Tsumago and spend the night there, or am I mistaken?

The next day, leaving Nagiso at 9:41 and arriving at Shinano Omachi at 13:39 I believe would give us enough time to get to Hotel Tateyama where we would stay overnight. The next morning we would take a short hike around Tateyama, complete the alpine route and make our way to Kyoto.

As this trip is more than a year away I am open to changes to this itinerary. I appreciate all comments thus far and will research the Matsumoto alternative this weekend.

hawaiimom - I have now read your previous post which I didn't remember, sorry.
My comments about the trip from Tokyo to Nakatsugawa are: it still takes another 30 minutes or so to get to Magome by bus and you will be too late for the daily luggage delivery service which stops at 11:30 - so you will have to use another alternative such as the takuhaibin which is not same day - maybe you can just take a small pack with your stuff for two nights then and send your luggage directly to the Kyoto hotel....you really won't have time to sightsee at all in either Magome or Tsumago. Have you considered spending the night in Nagoya in which case you can get an early start?

As far as the leg to Shinano Omachi - the really good connections are with the Ltd. Exp. Shinano which leave Nagiso at 8 or 11 - that is a difficult connection to make - I'm wondering if there is any other way....

Have you thought of doing the Alpine Route first and the Nakasendo second - I haven't researched it myself but maybe it's easier.

When I went I spent the whole time in the Chubu area and I went Nagoya->Magome->Tusmago->Gujo Hachiman->Takayama->Kanazawa->Alpine Route->Matsumoto->Tokyo over a 11 day period so entirely different.

Now that we actually have our flights, keeping the 6 nights in Tokyo at the beginning of our trip and the 6 nights in Kyoto at the end of the trip, does the following make more sense in between these two cities?

Day 1 - 6: Tokyo

Seventh day: Leave Tokyo and go to Tsumago. Overnight at Fujioto Ryokan.

Eighth day: Hike Magome to Tsumago in the morning. In the afternoon make our way to Matsumoto and overnight in Matsumoto.

Ninth day: Leave Matsumoto early to do the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Leave Toyama and go to Kyoto (3.5 hrs by JR).

Day 10-16 Kyoto

The ninth day seems like a long exercise in transportation, with more than 6 hours being spent on some form of transportation or another. You might want to spend a night in Murode or even Toyama to break it up and give you time to enjoy the sights of the Alpine route rather than just riding the various transport through it.

I would want to go from Toyama to Kyoto via Takayama. The Toyama-Takayama train ride is supposed to be one of the most scenic in Japan. It is an hour and a half on the limted express train.

Day nine would be 200 minutes via train from Matsumoto to Shinano Omachi to start the TAR then add another 4-5 hours to get through to Toyama(that would be without stopping anywhere) and then add the 3+ hours to get to Kyoto not to mention the fact that you just spent about 10,000 yen per person to travel just through the Alpine Route alone I would think you would want to stop and "smell the roses" somewhere along the line as day 9's travel seems as long as this sentence is.

Aloha!

Thank you so much for the comments. My initial plan was to stay overnight at Hotel Tateyama, but after reading the reviews, decided against it. Let me rethink this...I will be back with more questions.

Most people start the TAR in the morning from either Toyama or Shinano-Omachi maybe even Kanazawa if you happen to be there.....save Matsumoto for another trip.... FWIW that's what I would recommend.

Aloha!

Hawaiiantraveler, I am really confused. I wanted to stop overnight in Matsumoto because on the jnto website it says Matsumoto is an hour away from Shinano Omachi and I thought we could get an early start in the morning up the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route. Am I missing something? Is it really 200 minutes?

It's one hour. But still the whole day is very long.