Hi Everyone,

My husband and I are planning our 2nd trip to Japan. The first time, we went with a tour company, so everything was arranged and we didn't have to really do or research anything. This time, we are going it on our own. I'm confused about how to set up transportation between many places, especially initially. I'm hoping this group can help me. We have the Japan trip scheduled for a month in November. We have the itinerary and hotels planned, however I’m stuck with figuring out transportation schedules and am hoping for help!

I understand the JR pass has increased in price and when I enter our destinations, I think we would spend less if we booked tickets individually. Our plan is as follows:

Arrive Narita and spend the first night at the Richmond Hotel in Narita City. We’ll be close to the Keisei-Narita train station. We plan to wake early and go to Nikko for 2 nights and catch Tokyo on the way back. When I use the Navitime app, it looks like there are several changes and stops on what I assume to be local trains. Is there another app or website that will show me faster or less confusing routes?

The rest of our trip is as follows:

Minakamimachi 2 nights at Betti Sanjuan Ryokan with a day trip to Kiyotsu Gorge in Niigata

Nagano 3 nights at the Matsuya Ryokan and the last night at the Hotel Metropolitan above the train station (I believe)

Matsumoto 3 nights at Marunouchi Hotel.

We would like to take a bus from Matsumoto to Takayama to travel through the Alps. Would we need to buy our bus ticket a head of time due to bus crowding? If so, how to do so from the US?

Takayama 1 night

Kanazawa 4 nights at Hotel Sakura

Kaga 2 nights at Kyotei Ryokan

Kyoto 6 nights at Hotel Celestine with days trips planned

Tokyo 5 nights at Gate Hotel before leaving from Narita

I know we have several Ryokans scheduled, but we like staying in them plus the food is usually wonderful and we both love onsens.

Questions:

1. Do we or can we buy Shinkansen tickets ahead of time. But first, how do we figure out the train schedules and which stations we will be leaving and going to?
2. Bus tickets from Nagano to Takayama through the Alps?
3. Not a transportation question, but is it better to get a regular Suica card downloaded to my Apple Wallet or the Suica Welcome card?

4. We are both interested in having a guide for some castles in Matsumoto and Himeji Castle. Does anyone have a recommendation? Should we just contact the locals guide and see if something can be arranged?

Thanks for any suggestions or guidance.

I can't help with the transportation info, but FWIW:

Only one night in Takayama? You might consider shifting a night from Kanazawa to add to Takayama.

Re: guides: The Japanese National Tourism Organization coordinates free volunteer guides throughout Japan. These “Goodwill guides” – who are generally knowledgeable and happy to guide you in return for practicing their English – can be excellent, but as I understand it, they are a bit of a luck-of-the-draw. I don't know how it works now, but in the past, you could communicate by email in advance to ensure that the plan meets your needs.

You pay any entrance fees and his/her meal if your time with the guide includes one. Do NOT tip these guides (or anyone else in Japan). My suggestion would be to make your needs regarding any meal (including price range and any particular dietary requirements or restrictions) very clear in advance.

https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/lis...unteer-guides/

Thanks Kja for the info. I'll explore Takayama a bit more.

Takayama: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5900.html

I thoroughly enjoyed Hida-no-Sato (easily worth a half day or more), and if you have any interest in glass or art deco or art nouveau, the Hida Takayama Museum of Art is a gem. The Takayama Jinya is also well worth seeing, IMO.

>> Minakamimachi 2 nights at Betti Sanjuan Ryokan with a day trip to Kiyotsu Gorge in Niigata

Try using this website:
Route Search - Japan Transit Planner | Norikae Annai
When you type in an origin/destination it gives you a list to choose from if there is a match.

Be sure to set the time correctly. It defaults to current Japan time. When I went to the page the time was 04:40 (JT) but when I clicked it changed to 12:40 (my local time) which I then used for JT.

For the From i pasted Minakamimachi. Not found, so I backspaced until it found the name Minakami gave results. I suppose it would have shown the list if I had typed in the name.

Minakami is your origin. Minakamimachi means "Minakami town". You may have seen that in an address. I typed "Minakami B" hoping it would find Minakami Bettei, but no luck. Bettei is the word, not Betti. It means villa/detached lodging, like the bettei where I will stay in Kurokawa.

So, I just left From as Minakami which is shown under Station/Airport. Figured the ryokan would have directions from the station, if not a car to pickup/dropoff.

Kiyotsu Gorge is found right away, Select Kiyotsu Gorge(Spot)

One route is shown as JR to Echigo Yuzawa station. There you transfer to:
Yuzawa Eki mae{Minamiechigo Kanko Bus)
(eki means train station and ekimae means in front of the train station, so that is nice to know)
The bus company name means "South Echigo Tourist/ism Bus".
You have a 26 min walk from the destination bus stop to the gorge,

I googled but did not find a website for "Bettei Sanjuan" ryokan, so i went to agoda and entered "Minakami Bettei" and it found your place.

The name is not "Betti Sanjuan" it is "Bettei Senjyuan" and agoda says it is in the station area. Name means something like thousand blessing villa (smallish). Found the Bettei Senjyuan website using google. The place looks wonderful.

>> We would like to take a bus from Matsumoto to Takayama to travel through the Alps. Would we need to buy our bus ticket a head of time due to bus crowding? If so, how to do so from the US?

Ok, I assume you decided not to make a stop on the way at Kamikochi.

In that case, you would search From Matsumoto to Takayama using jorudan again and find your best option
Highway Express Bus
Alps Liner (For Takayama Nohi Bus Center)

The Map link shows that the Matsumoto Bus Center is a couple blocks from the JR station. The Takayama stop is similarly close to the JR station. You sh/could look at the route to see if there is a stop closer to your Takayama lodging than to the station.

This is a Nohi Bus company bus and you can book onliine. You can probably book it at a travel agent officfe in a JR station.

But 1 night for Takayama is not enough. Better to stay longer or skip it. Maybe just take the train from Matsumoto to Kanazawa, maybe spend a night on the way at Unazuki Onsen and go see Kurobe Gorge.

1. Do we or can we buy Shinkansen tickets ahead of time. But first, how do we figure out the train schedules and which stations we will be leaving and going to?

Yes, you can buy shinkansen tickets at the JR East website. The jorudan website gives too many options. You just want to take the shinkansen to Takasaki. From there it looks like two local lines to get to Minakami

2. Bus tickets from Nagano to Takayama through the Alps?

If you mean you are traveling from Nagano-shi (Nagano city) i.e from Nagano station you would take shinkansen to Toyama and the the limited express.

Or maybe by Nagano you mean somewhere in Nagano-ken (prefecture) other than Matsumoto?
Don't expect the bus ride to be scenic.

I have read that the Takayama Line between Toyama and Takayama is scenic. The buses I took from Takayama- Kamikochi- Matsumoto were not scenic, the trees are up against the (often winding) road.

For the trains Kanazawa- Kaga- Kyoto- Tokyo use the
Timetable & Route Finder
on this JR West webpage
Route Maps and Timetables | West Japan Railway Company

The Purchase tickets option for JR East is here:
JR-EAST Train Reservation | Top Page
it can be a bit tricky
That would be for the train to Takasaki.

Thanks mrwunrfl, You are right, I misspelled the ryokan and yes, they do have pickup. I'll start checking out the planner and try to get oriented.

We are interested in not only the gorge, but also the Tunnel of Light.

We would take the bus from Matsumoto to Takayama through the Alps. It looks like about a 2 or 2.5 hour trip with a 10" rest stop at the Hiroyuki bus terminal. If it's snowy, the route looks like it would be really beautiful. I assume it would be a different route from Matsumoto than Nagano that, as I understand, you were not fond of?

Am confused because you wrote about bus from Nagano to Takayama.
Nagano and Matsumoto are cities in Nagano prefecture. Those two cities are not close to each other.
If you want to go from Nagano station to Takayama then take JR via Toyama.
If you are going from Matsumoto to Takayama then take the express bus. I think this is your plan.

You would make this trip:
Minakami to Takasaki on JR locals (no reserved seats, will be many available)
Takasaki to Nagano on shinkansen, get a reserved seat
Nagano to Matsumoto on JR limited express (reserved seats, should be many available, even at last minute)

You could stop on the way to visit Zenkoji in Nagano. It is not far from the station.

Ok, there is a Joyful train between Minakami and Takasaki, but there may be an outage. Steam engine. Reservations required, get in advance.

see if this is of interest:
のってたのしい列車 ポータル＞SLぐんま：JR東日本

Hi mrwunrfl,

Perhaps my post was not clear, but this is what I wrote, :We would like to take a bus from Matsumoto to Takayama to travel through the Alps. Would we need to buy our bus ticket a head of time due to bus crowding? If so, how to do so from the US?

I am sorry if there was any confusion, I'm trying to cover a lot. We will be traveling from Nagano to Matsumoto and then hoping to take the bus to Takayama. I read your post a while back about Nagano and added it to our list.

Ok, thanks, I was being careful/dense. Did give you a lot, including:
This is a Nohi Bus company bus, and you can book onliine. You can probably book it at a travel agent office in a JR station.

Finding the online booking is not particularly straightforward.

You can go directly to the last link below

I went to the Nohi Bus webpage
Nohi Bus
click on Express Bus and on the dropdown select Takayama-Matsumoto Line
that gets us here:
Takayama-Matsumoto Line | 濃飛バス公式サイト
scroll down to see the timetable

The Reservation button gets you here:
highwaybus.com
Unfortunately, to use the search you need to know the Departing/Arriving prefectures!
In your case I know that you are traveling from Nagano prefecture to Gifu prefecture, so choose those to do the search and we get to:
01. Select Route
Adult fare is 4400 JPY
Select Matsumoto - Takayama Line
02. List of Buses (Seat Availability)

You can book up to one month in advance. Give it a go for a date in Sept.
After you select a date you can choose a bus based on departure time.
Use a fake name/phone to see how you get to the payment page

Somewhere I think I saw the cancel fee is 100 yen

Also, it is an express bus so the only stop in Takayama is at the bus center, and you will figure out how to get to your lodging from there. The town is easy walking or taxi/bus.

I hope the info I provided about Takayama upthread (post # 4) didn't get lost!

Perfect, just what I was hoping to read! Thank you so much for the details and how to do this. We'll be going in late November, hoping for some snow.

And yes, one of our main goals in going to Nagano is to go to Zenkoji Temple. After one of your posts, it piqued my interest and the dates worked out. We had planned to spend more time in Matsumoto, but hotel reservations didn't work out, but just as well.

Kja, your info didn't get lost, I've just been so preoccupied with trying to figure out the train stuff as that was my biggest stumbling block after deciding where to go and stay. A month seems like a long time until you start looking at the incredible bounty of Japan and then a month seems like a flash in the pan! What a lucky dilemma to have.
I didn't include another night in Takayama because (perhaps incorrectly) that we could arrive early and leave later the next day since Kanazawa is close by and we will have more time there. I have planned to go to the Hida Takayama Museum of Art, but didn't consider Hida-no-Sato since we will be there in late November and I thought the weather probably wouldn't cooperate. If it does, do you think we could go there on our 2nd day before we catch the train?

>> Nagano 3 nights at the Matsuya Ryokan and the last night at the Hotel Metropolitan above the train station (I believe)

I just noticed that. Was thinking you were passing through Nagano. Matsuya is 250 meters from Zenkoji
matsu means pine tree and the ya usually means place

Matsuya offers breaifast only rates. That is good for a ryokan in the city where you would have great dinner options outside of the ryokan.

Hotel Metropolitan is at Nagano station. Could drop that night to add to Takayama. Get a train leaving about an hour before sunset and start your stay in Matsumoto a day early.

Sorry -- I hadn't been thinking about the weather, which could indeed interfere with the pleasure of a visit to Hida-no-Sato. I can understand the logic of waiting to see what the weather is like and fitting in a brief visit brief visit before your train if it seems reasonable.

I fully understand your dilemma! No matter how long I have for a trip, there's always more to be done than is possible.

You are going to be traveling in a region nicknamed "Alps" in the northern hemisphere in late November.

@ mrwunrfl: The OP seems well aware of the implications of traveling at that time of year in that region of Japan. I failed to attend to the month in which they will be traveling.