internetwiz

We are trying to decide where to stop enroute to Kanazawa from Kyoto by train. The obvious choice is Hikone, but are there any other places you'd recommend? We looked at Tojimbo, but weren't sure the hassle was worth it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, we are going from Takayama to Matsumoto via Kamikochi. I know you can buy bus tickets to get to Kamikochi via Hirayu Onsen, but I can't figure out if we have to wait until we arrive in order to buy tickets from Kamikochi to Matsumoto (or Shin-Shimashima). The website gives the timetable for the busses, but it only talks about buying a roundtrip ticket from Matsumoto. We'd only want to buy a one way ticket there. If anyone has any insight, please let me know.

Thanks in advance for your help. Less than three weeks to go!

someotherguy

Hikone Castle is good. Further along, there's another of the original 12 at Maruoka that is also good, and of an earlier style. Eiheiji is a notable temple, and Shirayama Hime an important shrine (it's associated with Hakusan, one of the three holy mountains--the others are Fiji and Tate). Shirayama Hime doesn't look special to my uneducated eye but it is pleasant and Japanese colleagues like it a lot. Tojinbo is disappointing: it's quite eroded and heavily commercialized. There's better columnar basalt elsewhere in the pacific (e.g., south coast of Jeju). There's a lot of sights around Komatsu (look up Kaga Onsen) but the only one I've been to is the airplane museum (at the airport), which is of somewhat specialized interest. See japan-guide for details of any of these.

I did the Takayama-Kamikochi-Mutsumoto route some years back. I had to buy my onward ticket at the bus station in Kamikochi. It's a good idea to buy it when you arrive as the buses can fill up. The ticket is for a specific bus. I actually finished my walk sooner than I expected and and tried to get on an earlier one (which was almost empty) but was sent back to the office to actually change the ticket (which they did). The bus journey to Shin Shimashima is awesome.

When you arrive from Takayama, it's worth getting off a couple of stops early at Taisho Ike (pond). There are good views a few yards back, then a nice path past the beach and on to Kamikochi itself (where you buy your onward ticket).

mrwunrfl

I got the Matsumoto bus ticket immediately upon arrival in Kamikochi. IIRC I didn't get my first choice. The bus was full and there was some excitement during boarding. A few people had to use jump seats that folded down over the aisle. It was not clear to me if those jump seats were reserved or not. Probably better to do this Mon-Fri. Be flexible. I didn't book lodging for that night and just found a hotel near the bus stop in Matsumoto (near the JR station) when I got there.

internetwiz

Thank you someotherguy and mrwunrfl. Unfortunately we are traveling to Matsumoto on a Saturday of a holiday weekend (Sports Day), so I was trying to preempt any drama with sold out buses, but we'll definitely buy our tickets as soon as we arrive (which will hopefully be in the morning). We do have hotel reservations in Matsumoto, so we will have a place to sleep no matter what time we ultimately arrive.

I will see if anything piques our interest around Komatsu. Thanks for the tip.

someotherguy

Do you know the JNTO pdf library?
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/pdf/travelguide.html
For Kamikochi the one you want is 406 Nagano.

internetwiz

I'd printed out some things from the JNTO library, but didn't even think about printing anything for Kamikochi. Thanks for the reminder.