Scooby25

Hi,
I booked a last minute trip leaving for Tokyo this Sat, July 1, and would ideally like to visit the Takayama/Shirakawago/Kanazawa area from July 4-6 using a JR Rail pass. I had some questions/concerns that I'm hoping folks can help me with:
1.) I noticed the weather now is rainy. Will this make the trip I'm planning unpleasant and difficult to get around?
2.) What is the recommended time to spend in each place?
3.) Where can I find a bus schedule for routes between these towns?

Any suggestions/feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

KimJapan

!. The weather this week hasn't been so rainy in Kanazawa. Sunny or cloudy most every day, with some night time/early morning showers. Last night, a 10 minute thunderstorm. You can pretty much count on the forecasts being unreliable at best unless it's the morning forecast for the same day.

2. With only 3 days, I'd cut out either Takayama or S-go. Spend 2 nights in Kanazawa and then 1 in S-go would be nicest for me. I prefer S-go to Takayama because it's much smaller and more quaint. At night, the tour buses are gone and the village has a nice quiet character.

3. Bus schedule is online but only in Japanese. It's also been posted here several times for other people but I'm short of time now to find it in either place. If I remember correctly there are 2 or 3 buses per day between Kanazawa and S-go.

If I have time later I'll look it up for you. If you can read Japanese I use doconavi.com

mrwunrfl

Here is one way you can do it:

Day 1: travel from Tokyo to Kanazawa and have some time for sightseeing.
Day 2: see Kanazawa
Day 3: morning bus (between 8-9AM IIRC) to Shirakawago. See some of S-go, check in to a gassho zukuri minshuku (Koemon for example) and spend the night.
Day 4: bus to Takayama late morning. See some of Takayama (skip the Hida-no Sato in your case)
Day 5: sightsee in Takayama. Could stay overnight or go elsewhere in the late afternoon or early evening.

mrwunrfl

That is spending the minimal amount of time in each place, I think. I hate to suggest it but it is possible to visit Shirakawago on a day trip between Takayama and Kanazawa.

moxie

I visited Shirkawago as a day trip and it was just enough for me. The Nouuhi bus will take you from Kanazawa to Takayama.

Schedule until March was:
<Takayama to Shirakawago(and to Kanazawa)>
8:45---->10:43
9:30---->11:10--->12:35
11:05-->12:55
14:40-->16:38
15:20-->17:00--->18:25

<(from Kanazawa and)Shirakawago to Takayama>
8:40----->10:05--->11:45
12:15--->14:13
14:20--->16:10
14:40--->16:05--->17:45
17:15--->19:13

Email your reservation to:
jidosya at nouhibus dot co dot jp

KimJapan

Thanks for posting the bus schedule Moxie...I came back to post it and here it was!

mrwnfrl...your plan is excellent, but Scooby25 only has from July 4 - 6...2 nights, 3 days is the way I understand it.

Scooby25....if you at all can follow mrwnrfl's 5-day plan, it really is the best you could do. Any shorter, and 1 place really should be eliminated. The trip from Tokyo from Kanazawa is 5 hours by train with perfect connections.

Between Kanazawa and S-go, bus is the only way. Between S-go and Takayama, bus is the only way. Your JR pass doesn't include these buses as they are not JR buses. Kanazawa to Takayama is possible by train but not time efficient and involves at least one change of train, and may well be partly bus still due to track damage still under repair...not sure about that though.

moxie

How many days will you be in Japan?

I had a packed schedule when there for 2 weeks but it was wonderful! We were hyper-organised and everything in Japan ran on schedule.

A doable but very rushed schedule would be:

4 July
Tokyo to Kanazawa: 1 night (have everything very well planned since half the day will be on the train).
5 July
8 am bus to Shirakawago, 4pm bus to Takayama
6 July
Explore Takayama (travel to ?)

Scooby25

Thanks KimJapan, mrwunrfl, and Moxie for all the great info!

Scooby25

Hi,
Sorry I rechecked my schedule and I actually have 4 days (July 4 to 7). I also had a few more questions...I noticed the recommendation was to go from from Tokyo to Kanazawa to Shirakawago to Takayama. Is there an advantage of doing that over going in the opposite direction from Tokyo to Takayama to Shirakawa to Kanazawa?

Also in general is there more to see and do in Takayama or Kanazawa.

Thanks in advance!

KimJapan

You could go either way. Buses between Kanazawa and S-go are more frequent than between Takayama and S-go.

I feel there is more to see in Kanazawa than in Takayama.

I live in Kanazawa and if you click on my name and scroll through the posts you should be able to find a few where I've listed lots to see in Kanazawa. Kanazawa is a small city with plenty of old areas to wander...it was not bombed so it has retained the samurai era layout and curvy roads and homes. My parents visited us here about 8 years ago and we went to Takayama for 2 days, among other places, and they thought Kanazawa was more interesting in the end.

With 4 days, you could do
Day 1 AM train to Takayama arrive at lunchtime. Sightseeing afternoon. Overnight.
Day 2 AM Takayama sightseeing/morning market if you like. Bus to S-go at lunch time.
Lunch in S-go and sightseeing. Night in a minshuku there, dinner and breakfast included.
Day 3 Bus to Kanazawa sightseeing PM
Day 4 Sightseeing in Kanazawa afternoon train to ?

bettinela

Hello, I am planning to do the same trip of Kanazawa/Shirakawago/Takayama late July. Any recommendations to which gassho-zukuri minshuku to stay? There are quite a few and prices are similar. Thanks.