Are you planning a trip to Takayama? Maybe a side trip to the Nakasendo route? Here is a sample itinerary for you. It is fun to drive and enjoy the scenery along the way, and stop for some snack and picture breaks! But please note that these areas have heavier snowfall compared to big cities when the winter sets in. Make sure your car is equipped with snow tires and other winter gears, and check traffic information, as depending on the weather, the roads may be closed. Have a safe drive and enjoy!
Start your Day 1 with the “Morning” culture in the region. What the locals call “Morning” is originally a breakfast service offered by many coffee shops in the region, which gives you a complementary breakfast when you order a drink. Recently we also see some shops offering special morning set menus that cost more or less the same price as the drink itself.
It takes about one hour and a half to get to Magome via the Nagoya Expressway Ring Route, Tomei Expressway and Chuo Expressway. It is always fun to buy some snacks at SA (service areas) or PA (parking areas) on expressways. If you would like to make a toilet break and buy some snacks, Enakyo SA is one of the biggest on the way.
Park your car at the public carpark at the entrance of the town and set off for a walk through this beautiful post town. Magome was one of the important post towns on the historic Nakasendo route that connected Edo (former Tokyo) and Kyoto. After having local soba noodles for lunch, you can visit the Memorial Museum of Tōson Shimazaki, a poet and novelist who was active in the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa Eras of Japan, or just stroll and enjoy shopping at cute little souvenir shops.
If you are visiting Magome in autumn, do not forget to try kurikinton. Kurikinton, for some Japanese people in Kanto region, is a dish made of mashed sweet potatoes and candied chestnuts served during the New Year period, but here we talk about a dessert made of freshly picked chestnuts mashed and mixed with sugar and shaped like a chestnut. Kurikinton is only sold during the chestnut season, usually September to December.
Website: https://visitgifu.com/see-do/magome-juku-historic-post-town/
If you have extra time, you could also visit Tsumago, which is another important post town next to Magome. It is located about 20 minute-drive away from Magome. But shops and restaurants close relatively early in winter time, so if you plan to visit these two towns, you may want to leave Nagoya a little earlier.
Let’s head to Takayama. It takes about two hours from Magome. There are plenty of accommodation options near JR Takayama Station. Do not worry if your hotel does not have any parking space, as there are many public carparks in the area.
Check-in to your hotel and relax a little before going out again for dinner.
If you are a meat lover, you cannot miss Hida beef. There are restaurants within a walking distance from Takayama Station that offer Hida beef. Try some local sake too. Please note that many restaurants close before 9:00PM, so make sure you go early.
Many hotels and ryokans in Takayama have onsen (hot spring). If you don’t feel comfortable with using a public bath, you can check if your hotel has private onsen options, so you can book a time slot and enjoy the onsen all to yourself with your loved ones.
Check out of your hotel and let’s make our way to Shirakawago, one of the world heritage sites in Japan. As tourist vehicles are not allowed in the village, we need to park our car at the tourist carpark across the river. It is about a 45 minute-drive from Takayama to Shirakawago Seseragi Park where the carpark is.
Crossing the suspension bridge that connects the carpark and the village, you will be in the center of this unique village of gassho-style houses. Some houses are open to public. While the Wada House is one of the biggest houses in the village and designated as a National Important Cultural Property, you can choose other houses to visit if you would like to avoid the crowd. After a walk, have lunch at one of the restaurants in the village - a bowl of soba in a gassho-style house, or ramen in a restaurant hidden behind a souvenir shop, or the regional dish “hoba-miso”, which has a mixture of miso paste and mushroom, vegetables, spring onions and sometimes a few slices of beef on a dried magnolia leaf and is grilled over charcoal.
Website: https://www.vill.shirakawa.lg.jp/en/
Let’s head back to Takayama. Park your car in one of the public carparks near Takayama Jin’ya and take some pictures on the iconic red bridge over Miyagawa river before starting a walk through the small alleys of the old town of Takayama.
While it is fun to try street food, like Hida beef sushi on a cracker, dumplings with sweet soya sauce, Hida beef buns, there are also plenty of cafés in the area so you can sit down and chill over a cup of coffee, or tea, or matcha.
Website: https://www.hida.jp/english/
It’s time to say good-bye to the old town of Takayama and head back to the modern Nagoya. It is about a two-hour drive via Tokai Hokuriku Expressway. If you would like to make a pit stop, you may want to stop at Hirugano Kogen Service Area for a view of Mount Dainichi and buy some cheese cake as an addition to your souvenir collection, as Hirugano Kogen highlands are known for milk and cheese production.
Read more:
Let’s visit world heritage sites in Japan! (Part 1)
https://propertyaccessjapan.com/articles/post/lets-visit-world-heritage-sites-in-japan-part-1
Let’s visit world heritage sites in Japan! (Part 2)
https://propertyaccessjapan.com/articles/post/lets-visit-world-heritage-sites-in-japan-part-2
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