Back to the mountains and old, rural Japan. Takayama is located a couple of hours north of Nagoya by train, but the best bit, is the journey there.
You climb aboard the 'wide view' Hida train from Nagoya and head up and up through stunning mountain valleys. The train is dwarfed by the scenery and beautiful river below, but it is clear the Japanese have realised this and so the train has huge windows (hence the 'wide view'). A top tip is to sit at the front of the train, as you can see into and through the driver's compartment giving you not just views from your own window, but also out the front. Chris was hopping from one side of the train to the other trying to get the best views as the train went through tunnels and over bridges, switching from one side to the other.
After about 2 hours of stunning views, we arrived into Takayama.
If we are honest, Takayama was a bit of a disappointment. We had seen (better) rural communities along the Kiso valley and Takayama was really a city with a few small old(ish) streets. The walks were rather uninspiring compared to others we had done in Matsumoto and Nagano and the centre was either a ghost town or packed, where the tour groups congregate. However, (as I sit with the amazing views again on the train passing by), we will still cover the town.
The town
The town does offer quite a lot, but I guess as we have seem similar elsewhere we were... a little bored. There is a nice morning market which is worth a look and a few streets with old(ish) buildings. It is quite good fun exploring the streets - just get rid of the map and wonder. You may find yourself wondering where everyone is as the streets are empty even though there was a lack of accommodation available, but you will soon find them near the most photogenic areas.
A short walk to the south of there town the is a good onsen (1,000 yen) and a folk village, which is worth a visit if you like that type of thing (Chris visited this back in 2007).
Our saving grace was the sake tasting for 200 yen (you get to keep the cup) where you can taste about 10 different varieties! We were a little sozzled and so after we started to get a few looks from the owners we made a hasty retreat. We may even do a blog review of the sake we tasted if we get time.
Walking around
There is a walking map you can pick up from the info booth just outside the station. We did most of the walks on there, but would only recommend the shrine walk to the north - the rest are just uninspiring. The walk takes you from one shrine to the next through the suburbs. One had some monks chanting which was nice and rather relaxing. However, if you have seen shrines before, you will be disappointed - there are only so many shrines one can take.
Day trips
There are options for day trips into the mountains, or onsen towns/villages and traditional towns which look fun and interesting, but they are rather expensive as they are not on the JR pass and (we think) more accessible and better from Matsumoto and Nagano. But again, if you have not experienced it before, it could be worth it.
Due to a lack of accommodation we had pre-booked three nights, but we had 'done' Takayama after 1 full day, so looked for day trips and take advantage of our JR pass. We decided on Kanazawa - it would be a long day, but we were not disappointed and wished we had kept our schedule more flexible and stayed there instead - read our post on it here.
I don't like writing negative blogs, but blogs are supposed to be honest opinions. Many people love Takayama, and maybe we are just a bit jaded at seeing the same things too many times. In our opinion go for the train journey, but don't bother staying in Takayama - there are much better places and it is easy to move on as the train links to the Shinkansen lines in the north and south, giving you several route options.
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| Whatever they are... they are everywhere |
You climb aboard the 'wide view' Hida train from Nagoya and head up and up through stunning mountain valleys. The train is dwarfed by the scenery and beautiful river below, but it is clear the Japanese have realised this and so the train has huge windows (hence the 'wide view'). A top tip is to sit at the front of the train, as you can see into and through the driver's compartment giving you not just views from your own window, but also out the front. Chris was hopping from one side of the train to the other trying to get the best views as the train went through tunnels and over bridges, switching from one side to the other.
 |
| Amazing view |
After about 2 hours of stunning views, we arrived into Takayama.
If we are honest, Takayama was a bit of a disappointment. We had seen (better) rural communities along the Kiso valley and Takayama was really a city with a few small old(ish) streets. The walks were rather uninspiring compared to others we had done in Matsumoto and Nagano and the centre was either a ghost town or packed, where the tour groups congregate. However, (as I sit with the amazing views again on the train passing by), we will still cover the town.
The town
The town does offer quite a lot, but I guess as we have seem similar elsewhere we were... a little bored. There is a nice morning market which is worth a look and a few streets with old(ish) buildings. It is quite good fun exploring the streets - just get rid of the map and wonder. You may find yourself wondering where everyone is as the streets are empty even though there was a lack of accommodation available, but you will soon find them near the most photogenic areas.
 |
| A typical street |
A short walk to the south of there town the is a good onsen (1,000 yen) and a folk village, which is worth a visit if you like that type of thing (Chris visited this back in 2007).
Our saving grace was the sake tasting for 200 yen (you get to keep the cup) where you can taste about 10 different varieties! We were a little sozzled and so after we started to get a few looks from the owners we made a hasty retreat. We may even do a blog review of the sake we tasted if we get time.
 |
| Sake sake and more sake |
 |
| After a few |
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| A few more... |
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| All gone |
Walking around
There is a walking map you can pick up from the info booth just outside the station. We did most of the walks on there, but would only recommend the shrine walk to the north - the rest are just uninspiring. The walk takes you from one shrine to the next through the suburbs. One had some monks chanting which was nice and rather relaxing. However, if you have seen shrines before, you will be disappointed - there are only so many shrines one can take.
 |
| A shrine |
 |
| Beware of the bears |
Day trips
There are options for day trips into the mountains, or onsen towns/villages and traditional towns which look fun and interesting, but they are rather expensive as they are not on the JR pass and (we think) more accessible and better from Matsumoto and Nagano. But again, if you have not experienced it before, it could be worth it.
Due to a lack of accommodation we had pre-booked three nights, but we had 'done' Takayama after 1 full day, so looked for day trips and take advantage of our JR pass. We decided on Kanazawa - it would be a long day, but we were not disappointed and wished we had kept our schedule more flexible and stayed there instead - read our post on it here.
 |
| Noodle time! |
I don't like writing negative blogs, but blogs are supposed to be honest opinions. Many people love Takayama, and maybe we are just a bit jaded at seeing the same things too many times. In our opinion go for the train journey, but don't bother staying in Takayama - there are much better places and it is easy to move on as the train links to the Shinkansen lines in the north and south, giving you several route options.
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