Sign in with Facebook- Join for free
- Sign In
Sign in with FacebookLatest Nagano hotel reviews
Pro
The mountains, great outdoor leisure opportunities
Con
Transportation to Yudanaka and the Monkey Park is infrequent, and the track up to see them was a little straining
In a nutshell
Mountains, monkeys, soba, and snowboards.
3 Reviews Without a doubt, one of the coolest spectacles in all of Japan is to watch the wild snow monkeys of the Japanese Alps sit out a snowy winter day soaking in the hot waters of a naturally-heated onsen. At Jigokudani Yaenkoen monkey park, just above Nagano, you can see these migratory macaques, the...
5 Reviews The main hall is typical Buddhist architecture from the mid Edo Period. The principle image is enshrined inside the altar in the innermost temple. Admission to the inner temple is 500 Yen, and visitors can walk around the kaidan ordination (the dark corridors under the main hall - it is said that if...
2 Reviews Nagano Prefecture has the second largest number of spas in Japan, and there are many hot spring resorts here - Yudanaka-Shibu Onsen, Hakuba Onsen, Omachi Onsen, Shirahone Onsen etc. We went to the Yudanaka-Shibu Onsen Resort and stayed in a ryokan (with its own bath). This town has 9 different hot...
2 Reviews Nagano has many winter resorts, very suitable for skiing enthusiasts. E.g. Hakuba (the resort's powdery snow is said to be of the highest quality in the region) and Shiga Kogen (with 21 ski areas, including some courses used in the 1988 Winter Olympics). During our Shinkansen train ride from Tokyo...
1 Review and 13 Opinions This is a very traditional ryokan. The whole place is so Japanese. It's taken care by 2 elderly...
2 Opinions
various soba restaurants on Zenkoji Omotesando: Nagano - birthplace of Soba!
chatterley Says: Nagano Prefecture is actually the birthplace of soba, and so the soba dishes in this region are quite well known. There are quite a number of soba restaurants lining the Zenkoji Omotesando street. We took our lunch at one of the restaurants (it is located opposite Suyakame,...
various shops along Zenkoji Omotesando sell these: Oyaki - a local dumpling dish
chatterley Says: The "Oyaki" is a round, flat dumpling made of wheat flour, with different types of fillings - seasonal and wild vegetables, pork etc. It is either steamed or baked, and costs 180 Yen. It is best eaten as a snack. Various shops on the omotesando of the Zenkoji Shrine sells...
dagusan Says: The best place to play darts and drink in Nagano. Fair-priced drinks, and good atmosphere with a wall of windows overlooking the street below (from 2bd floor). Looks like a typical urban Western pool/dart bar. Hip Hop nights get packed and the occasional Tattoo Festival is...
dagusan Says: THE Gaijin hangout in Nagano. It moved to a new location just as I was leaving so don't trust that pre-2004 Lonely Planet your friend's sister lent you. The "Master" (Proprietor) Shigeru (Shiggy) cooks a wicked burger - which are usually sold out by 8pm.A good place to ask...
Nagano Dentetsu Line (Nagoden)
chatterley Says: To travel from Nagano City to Yudanaka Onsen town, we had to take the Nagano Dentetsu Line (private-run train line). There are 2 types of fares - local train costs 1130 Yen (one way, from Nagano to Yudanaka) while the limited express costs 100 Yen more (it is slightly faster...
Nagano Shinkansen (from Tokyo to Nagano)
chatterley Says: Using our JR pass, we reserved tickets on the Nagano Shinkansen to and from Tokyo to Nagano. From Tokyo to Nagano, we used the Asama 509 train that departs at 0840h and reaches Nagano City at 1022h.From Nagano back to Tokyo, we used Asama 532, leaving at 1458h and arriving...
chatterley Says: Nagano can be considered a fruits paradise, and various fruits can be enjoyed during different times of the year:Tsugaru Apples - Aug-SepSensyu Apples - OctFuji Apples - Nov-DecKyohou Grapes - Sep-OctShinano-purple Grapes - SepKawanakajima-hakutou Peaches - Aug-SepNashi...
Yawataya Isogoro: Shichimi Togarashi - a special Japanese condiment
chatterley Says: This shop has been selling this condiment outside the Zenkoji Gate for 270 years. Besides this shop, you can also buy it from other shops located on the Zenkoji Omotesando. Shichimi Togarashi is a special type of Japanese condiment. Translated into English, it means...
kiwigal_1 Says: The currency in Japan is the Yen. The note pictured is the 1000 Yen bill which is the smallest. The other notes are 5000 and 10000 yen. Just recently a 2000 Yen note was introduced in Japan. The coins come in 500,100,50,10,5 and 1 yen denominations.When travelling to Japan...
kiwigal_1 Says: Nagano is located in a part of Japan that gets heavy snowfall in winter. If driving the roads can get very slippery from the ice. Chains are not always necessary but if planning a trip to a nearby skifield I recommend taking chains with you.
kiwigal_1 Says: As many of you know, Nagano played host to the 1998 Winter Olympics. I have placed a map of the venues in a travelogue with a good link to information on these places should anyone wish to know about it. The last Winter Olympic games were held in Salt Lake City, Utah in...
vic&michael Says: Ok, so it is FREEZING on the mountain! Make sure you bring warm clothes to wear as well as ski pants and ski jacket!! Bring warm, thick socks and a woollen hat and scarf too! I was silly enough to forget my scarf on my first day skiing, and my face and neck froze. It snows...
smallfry Says: If you like monkeys AT ALL, you must visit the Jigokudani Monkey Park in your trip to Japan. This is a sanctuary for the Japanese Snow Monkey, and the place you can watch them play and soak in the natural hot springs. It's in the middle of nowhere, really, a jaunt from the...
kiwigal_1 Says: This pic is one of my favourites. This monkey reminds me of a Japanese Oji-San (Old man).Please look under General Tips for Information on how to get to the monkey park and also my Monkey Park Travelogue for pictures!
devmicha Says: This is the ONLY time I will reccoment JTB travel (Excet that you can fly anywhere on your birthday for 10,000yen). Go to JTB and ask for the most inexpensive trip to Nagano available. We went for a package that inluded the night bus up and back, 2 days of snowboarding, lift...
kiwigal_1 Says: This park is world famous and often referred to as The Monkey Park . It has Japanese Macaques (the most northern most monkey's in the world) bathing in a hot-spring in winter to keep warm. The monkey's seem oblivious to the photographers and tourists that flock to see them....
Sponsored Links
As of May 3rd 2002 I no longer live in Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture which is the place I called home for 16 months. Most of the pictures I have put here were taken the winter of 2000-2001....
I lived in Shinonoi from June '03 to April '04. It's a 10 minute train from downtown Nagano City, but it may as well be an hour. As it is primarily a suburb of seniors, Shinonoi was a very very quiet...
The reason we chose this place was because we would like to travel to a place very different from the main big cities like Tokyo. We wanted to feel and see something, together with our son. Also, I......
Is probably the only place in the world that you can see wild monkeys bathing on onsens
A group of JETs (English teachers in Japan from all over the world) decided to go skiing in the weekend of March 12-13th. We set off in the bus, late Friday night from Kyoto Station and arrived at our...
Build your own Nagano page
Sponsored Links
Comments