Hakuba is one of the best ski resorts in Japan. Its spectacular mountain terrain created by 3,000-meter altitude mountains and high-quality powder snow attracts winter sports enthusiasts from all over the world. It was also the venue of the 1998 Nagano Olympics. There are 10 unique snow resorts, with the entire area known as the Hakuba Valley. The green season (spring to autumn) is also abundant in attractions, including a terrace at the top of the mountain where you can take in the panoramic view of the Northern Japan Alps from an altitude of 1,289 meters, facilities where you can enjoy mountain biking and canyoning in the midst of nature, and a hot spring.
Select departure point in Hakuba.
- Please be aware that the travel time, routes, and public transportation schedules displayed may be subject to unexpected changes or cancellations due to factors like seasonal, weather, and traffic conditions. Please check with relevant public transportation authorities or travel agencies for the most up-to-date information.
- Please be aware that the suggested routes are ones that go through Gifu Prefecture, and may not necessarily be the shortest route for your travels.
From Gifu
Access
About 20 mins by train from Gifu Station to Nagoya Station.
About 2 hours 5 minutes JR Limited Express Shinano from Nagoya Station to Matsumoto Station.
About 1 hour JR Limited Express Azusa from Matsumoto Station to Hakuba Station.
Accommodation
Gifu City
From its mountaintop perch, Gifu Castle gazes down over Gifu’s eponymously named largest city. The castle was a base for warlord Nobunaga Oda in the 16th century, and although it’s now a reconstruction, the views are still expansive.
Down below, you see the pristine Nagara River, where every evening from mid-May to mid-October ukai fisherman keep alive a 1,300-year-old tradition of catching ayu sweetfish with cormorants. Nearby is the Kawaramachi district and its collection of historic wood-latticed buildings that today house a range of cafes and stores. Contrasting that, other parts of Gifu city are modern, packed with things to do and places to stay—from Western-style hotels to traditional ryokan inns.
Gifu Station is only 20 minutes from Nagoya by train. Nagoya can be easily reached on the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo (1 hour, 40 mins) and Osaka (50 mins).
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From Takayama
Access
About 2 hours 35 minutes by bus from Takayama Nohi Bus Center to Matsumoto Bus Terminal.
About 5 minutes walk from Matsumoto Bus Terminal to Matsumoto Station.
About 1 hour JR Limited Express Azusa from Matsumoto Station to Hakuba Station.
Accommodation
Takayama
Gifu’s Takayama city is steeped in history. You can see it in neighborhoods lined with old wooden buildings and feel it in Takayama’s 300-year-plus spring and autumn festivals, especially when towering floats are paraded through the old quarter. You can taste Takayama’s history, too, with local sake brewing that has been honed over centuries—tipples that pair perfectly with regional cuisine like Hida wagyu beef.
For travelers who want to take their time in Takayama, the city has a wide range of accommodation options, from mid- to high-range ryokan inns featuring tatami mat guestrooms to budget-friendly minshuku bed and breakfasts. There is also a variety of Western-style accommodations. Takayama can be reached from within Gifu prefecture by JR trains from Gifu Station (2 hours) and Gero (50 mins). It is also connected to Kanazawa and Tokyo via Toyama on the Hokuriku Shinkansen. As a side trip or for an extra night, only 15 minutes by train from JR Takayama Station is Hida Furukawa, which offers its own distinct old quarter and is surrounded by the rural beauty of mountains and sprawling rice paddies.
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From Gero
Access
About 55 minutes by JR Limited Express Hida from Gero Station to Mino-Ota Station.
About 30 minutes by train from Mino-Ota Station to Tajimi Station.
About 1 hour 40 minutes by JR Limited Express Shinano from Tajimi Station to Matsumoto Station.
About 1 hour by JR Limited Express Azusa from Matsumoto Station to Hakuba Station.
Accommodation
Gero
Gero is considered to be one of Japan’s three most famous onsen (hot-spring) towns, known for its soothing, mineral-rich water and pristine natural setting.
Located on the Hida River, surrounded by mountains, hot-spring bathing has been documented in Gero for more than 1,000 years. For generations, the clear alkaline water has had a reputation for leaving skin feeling smooth and sleek, a beautifying effect you can experience for yourself at Gero’s collection of open-air public baths for communal bathing. If you are shy about bathing with others, don’t worry; Gero also has several relaxing footbaths dotted around town and lodging facilities normally provide the opportunity to use private baths.
For travelers who want to immerse themselves deep in Gifu culture, Gero is home to dozens of traditional-style hotels with their own mix of indoor and outdoor hot-spring baths. These inns also feature tatami mat guest rooms and multi-dish meals centered on regional cuisine. Gero is also easy to access by train, being 50 minutes from Takayama or 90 minutes from Nagoya.
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From Shirakawa-go
Access
About 1 hour 25 minutes by bus from Shirakawa-go Bus Terminal to Kanazawa Station West Exit.
About 1 hour 5 minutes by Shinkansen from Kanazawa Station to Nagano Station.
About 1 hour 10 minutes by bus from Nagano Station to JR Hakuba Station.
Accommodation
Shirakawa-go
The UNESCO World Heritage-designated village of Shirakawa-go is one of Gifu’s and Japan’s most iconic sights. The steeply thatched roofs of the village’s farmhouses here are especially beautiful when Shirakawa-go is under several meters of snow in winter and the rice paddies are a fresh green in summer.
For a very special experience that will immerse you in Japan’s past, some of Shirakawa-go’s thatched farmhouses provide rustic accommodation for small numbers of guests that features sunken hearths, aged wooden beams and tatami mat rooms. Travelers can also stay in traditional ryokan inns or western-style lodgings.
Located in Gifu’s mountainous northwest, Shirakawa-go is 50 minutes by bus from Takayama city. Travelers can also take buses from Kanazawa (85 mins) and Nagoya (3 hours), both of which can be accessed by the bullet train (shinkansen) from Tokyo.
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From Magome
Access
About 25 minutes by bus from Magome (bus stop) to Nakatsugawa Station.
About 1 hour 15 minutes by JR Limited Express Shinano from Nakatsugawa Station to Matsumoto Station.
About 1 hour by JR Limited Express Azusa from Matsumoto Station to Hakuba Station.
Accommodation
Magome
The Nakasendo is an old highway between Tokyo and Kyoto along which there used to be many post towns, places where travelers could spend the night. Among these is Magome Juku, awarded a one-star rating by the Michelin Green Guide Japan.
Magome Juku stands out as a distinctive post town in Japan due to its location on steep and challenging terrain. It is said that the name Magome (written with "horse" and "basket") derives from the fact that travelers were forced to leave their horses at the inns because the road was too steep for horses to climb.
The cobblestone streets are lined with old, lattice-windowed residential houses, museums, tea houses, and souvenir shops on both sides, a scene that very much resembles how the post town looked in the Edo period hundreds of years ago.
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