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Nikkō, the Alps and Hokuriku in 17 days: itinerary and hotels

Seventeen days from the baths of Gunma to the gold of Nikkō, then across the Japanese Alps: Kamikōchi, the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route, the Kenroku-en of Kanazawa, the thatched roofs of Shirakawa-gō and Takayama.

Compiled by Kylian, updated on Sep 5, 2026

The thatched farmhouses of Shirakawa-gō above the rice paddies
  • 17 days
  • 69 places
  • 17 nights
  • fast pace
Start
Niigata
End
Takayama
Main transport
Rental car, plus the Kamikōchi shuttles and the vehicle transfer on the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route
Recommended season
Late April to early November: out of season, most of the mountain roads on this stage are closed

What you get

  • The complete itinerary: 17 days sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Hotel
  • The card of every hotel, with the address and a direct booking link
  • Quota tickets, fixed-date tickets and surcharges flagged in advance
  • The country quick guide: weather, transport, formalities, budget
  • A PDF file of 35 pages

What the price does not include

  • Flights
  • Hotel nights
  • Tickets and admission fees
  • Travel insurance
  • On-the-ground assistance during your trip

The itinerary preview

The free day in full, with its hotel card. This is the sample.

Day 16

The praying hands of Suganuma and Shirakawa-gō

Morning

Suganuma

The smallest of the three World Heritage hamlets of the Gokayama valley: just nine gasshō-zukuri houses set in a bend of the Shō river. The name of the style means hands joined in prayer, after the very steep pitch of the thatched roofs, calculated to carry several meters of snow. Gunpowder for the Maeda was made here, from saltpeter produced under the floorboards of the houses. Almost nobody, unlike Shirakawa-gō.

Afternoon

Shirakawa-gō

Forty minutes' drive. The village of Ogimachi has about a hundred thatched-roof houses, some of them more than two hundred and fifty years old and three or four stories high: silkworms were raised under the roof. The thatch is redone every thirty to forty years, in a single day, by the whole community together.

Wada house and the Shiroyama viewpoint

See the Wada house, the largest, the one of the village headman, and climb to the Shiroyama viewpoint for the overall view in its cirque of mountains. The village is lived in and farmed: it is not a museum.

Evening

Ogimachi after the visitors leave

The village empties of its visitors at 5:00 PM, and that is the moment that counts. Dinner around the farmhouse's central irori hearth, river fish grilled on skewers and mountain vegetables.

Hotel · Night 16

Minshuku Jyuemon

Sleeping in a real gasshō farmhouse in Ogimachi, run by the family: a few tatami rooms, dinner around the central irori hearth, river fish grilled on skewers and mountain vegetables. Shared bathrooms, no luxury. Half board is standard, dinner and breakfast served in the common room.

Address
· 2653 Ogimachi, Shirakawa-mura, Ōno-gun, Gifu 501-5627
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Buy this itinerary

€39 incl. tax

that is €2.29 per day of travel

Billed in euros. If your card is in another currency, your bank converts at its own rate.

  • Secure payment through Stripe, bank card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
  • Available immediately in your customer account: online reading with clickable booking links, downloadable PDF for offline use
  • Method: what is checked, and when

A hotel in the itinerary closed or impossible to find, a place to visit permanently closed?

Within 12 months of purchase, email contact@etaperia.com

Itinerary corrected within 7 days, or refunded in full. Terms in article 12 of the terms of sale, on top of the legal warranty (new tab)

€39 incl. tax · 17 days

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A question before buying? Email Kylian, reply within 2 business days.

The day-by-day rundown

17 stops, 560 km as the crow flies

  1. Day 1 The Mikuni pass and the Minakami valley Takumi no Sato Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  2. Day 2 Dams, waterfalls and an underground station Doai station Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  3. Day 3 Ikaho, Lake Haruna and the road to Nikkō Ikaho Onsen Stone Steps Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  4. Day 4 The shrines of Nikkō Shinkyō Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  5. Day 5 Irohazaka and Lake Chūzenji Irohazaka road Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  6. Day 6 Senjōgahara and the gorge of a hundred statues Senjōgahara Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  7. Day 7 From Nikkō to Nagano across the plateaux Kusatsu Onsen Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  8. Day 8 Zenkō-ji and the Jigokudani monkeys Zenkō-ji Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  9. Day 9 Togakushi and the Matsumoto crow Togakushi-jinja Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  10. Day 10 Kamikōchi, the sanctuary of the Alps Kappa bridge and Taishō pond Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  11. Day 11 Wasabi, sculpture and the foot of the Northern Alps Daiō Wasabi Farm Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  12. Day 12 The Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route Kurobe dam Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  13. Day 13 Toyama, then the Kenroku-en of Kanazawa Toyama Castle Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  14. Day 14 The castle and the tea districts Kanazawa Castle Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  15. Day 15 Contemporary art, gold leaf and samurai 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  16. Day 16 The praying hands of Suganuma and Shirakawa-gō Suganuma Free
  17. Day 17 Takayama, the little Kyoto of the mountains Sanmachi Suji Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF

1 day is free to read above. The other 16 unlock when you buy. Buy the itinerary, €39

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Country quick guide and logistics

The essentials of the country, scannable in ten seconds.

Weather and when to go

  • From late April to early November. April and May for the snow wall of the Alpine Route, July and August for Kamikōchi and the plateaux.
  • Mid-October to early November for the foliage of Nikkō and Irohazaka, the most famous in the Kantō.
  • Out of season, most of the mountain roads on this stage are simply closed.

Transport and permits

  • Japan only accepts an International Driving Permit in the 1949 Geneva Convention format (UK, US and Spanish licenses, among others) or, for French, Belgian, Swiss, German and Monégasque licenses, the official Japanese translation from the JAF; valid for one year.
  • Two valleys on this stage are closed to cars, Kamikōchi and the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route: plan for the shuttles and for the vehicle transfer from one end to the other.
  • The Shiga Kōgen and Irohazaka roads are seasonal and one-way in places.

Formalities and safety

  • Valid passport, no visa for a tourist stay of 90 days maximum. This stage belongs to the first of the two stays of the Japanese route, the 88-day one.
  • Altitude to consider: Murodō is at 2,450 meters (8,040 ft) and the Shibu pass above 2,000, with sharp cold even in summer. Volcanic gases at the Shibu pass and near Shirane, stopping forbidden in places.
  • Black bears in every massif on this stage, Nikkō, Kamikōchi, Togakushi: bell, no food left outside. Travel insurance with medical costs and repatriation is essential.

Budget and meals

  • Japanese yen. Cash is essential in the minshuku, the temples and the mountain parking lots; 7-Eleven and post office ATMs take foreign cards.
  • Indicative meal budget outside half board: ¥900 to ¥1,500 at midday, ¥2,000 to ¥3,500 in the evening. No tipping.
  • Left to you: gas and tolls, the tickets for the Alpine Route and the vehicle transfer, the Kamikōchi shuttles, entry to the Nikkō shrines, the ropeways and the thermal taxes.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I receive?

Your Étaperia itinerary, available immediately in your customer account after payment: readable online with clickable booking links, and downloadable as a PDF for the trip. Every day is sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening and says where you spend the night, with the address and booking link for each place to stay. Timed-entry tickets are flagged in advance.

How is this better than what an AI gives me?

A generative AI composes a plausible list in seconds, without saying what was checked or when. At Étaperia, every itinerary is compiled day by day, with the booking constraints spotted before it is too late to get them. The Method page says what is checked, against which source and on what date.

Can I adapt it to my dates and my pace?

Yes. The days are self-contained blocks: you can shift the departure, stretch a stage or skip a day without breaking what follows. Only timed-entry tickets require adjusting the dates accordingly, and they are all flagged.

What if a hotel or a place in the itinerary has closed?

Email contact@etaperia.com within 12 months of your purchase. If a hotel in the itinerary is closed or can no longer be found, or a place to visit has closed permanently, the itinerary is corrected in your customer account within 7 days, or you are refunded in full. A hotel fully booked on your dates, a seasonal closure or a change in opening hours or prices is not covered. This guarantee comes on top of the legal warranty of conformity; details in article 12 of the terms and conditions of sale.

Module, classic or complete itinerary: which one should I choose?

A classic is a short trip built to stand on its own, designed for a first visit to the country. A module covers one region in depth. The complete itinerary crosses the whole country, and buying it also unlocks each of its modules in your customer account.

Can I get a refund if the itinerary doesn't suit me?

No. It is digital content delivered right away, and you waive your right of withdrawal at checkout. To judge before you pay, every product page gives one full day for free and the list of every stop. After purchase, the guarantee applies: a closed hotel or a permanently closed place is corrected within 7 days, otherwise you get a refund.

Who is selling you this itinerary

  • Consumer mediator: ANM Consommation
  • Payment handled by Stripe: Étaperia never sees your card number
  • Publisher, not a travel agency: you book flights, hotels and tickets yourself

In the same country

This module is one leg of the full itinerary: Japan itinerary: 88 days from Hokkaidō to Okinawa, hotels and bookings

For a first trip to the country, see instead: Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto in 12 days: a first trip to Japan, no car needed

The complete itinerary

The classic itineraries

Or take it one module at a time

To read before you go

Our articles about Japan

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