Takayama & the Alps: Beautiful!

From Kyoto we made our way to the Alps region of Japan. The train ride from Kyoto to Takayama was stunning, Takayama was cool, but by far the highlight was our days spent in Kamikochi hiking, relaxing, and enjoying the beauty!

The train ride from Kyoto to Takayama was so beautiful, following a river through gorges, mountains, and forests. Nothing I had read about in guidebooks mentioned how beautiful this train ride was, and we were so lucky to see it on a sunny day!

 






Takayama was more touristy than we expected, but it was a beautifully preserved old wood town. Although there were still tourists, it felt more authentic than Kyoto’s Gion, and we were able to wander the streets in quiet (especially in the morning). We only spent a day here, so we didn’t do much besides walk around and eat some local ramen.

 

The next morning we took a bus to Kamikochi. We had to switch busses in the middle, and we had a 30 minute layover in between. Emmeline and I took the opportunity to check out a free foot hot spring a few minutes up the road. The town is known for hot springs, but we were pleasantly surprised to find a free one, complete with waterfalls, fall colors, and a cute little hut. Perfect way to spend our time waiting for the second bus.

Kamikochi is a little village tucked in the valley of the Alps. You can only get there by bus (no cars allowed), and there’s not much other than a few hotels, a campground, and beautiful walking trails. We stayed at a cabin in the campground. After checking in and getting settled, we decided to go for a walk in the valley to check things out. The weather was a bit cloudy, but it was still beautiful with mountains and fall colors all around.

  

 

 

The next day was a super rainy day, so we pretty much just hung around the cabin or the campground restaurant passing time. Speaking of the campground restaurant, we ordered food by pushing buttons on a machine. So fun!

 


The last day and half that we had in Kamikochi were picture perfect. Sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. The first day we decided to try one of the more challenging day hikes. It was listed as 2.5 hour up and 2 hours down, so we figured we could manage. The visitor center even offered free hiking backpacks that we used for Emmeline. What we underestimated was the nearly 700m elevation gain that went along with the distance. Emmeline did a great job actually hiking several parts of the course, but Nick and I were still super tired by the time we got to the top. It seemed, combined with the rocks and stones at every step, that the elevation climb was pretty constant the whole way.

 
 

But, the views at the top were definitely worth it. You could look out into the valley, and on all sides of us were mountainsides filled with gorgeous fall colors. Because we were at higher elevation, the colors were in their prime already here, and we could stop taking photos. We spent a solid couple of hours at the top, eating our picnic lunch and relaxing before making our way back down.

 

 

   

On our last day, Nick and I were pretty sore from our hike, and the girls actually slept in for the first time all trip, so we decided to do some easy valley walks before catching the bus to Matsumoto. We went back to Mioji Lake from our first walk and had planned on walking farther south to the bigger lake, but we misjudged how long that would take us. In the end we grabbed an earlier bus out, and we were able to drive through the gorgeous mountains and foothills in the daylight before finally arriving in Matsumoto.

 
 

The Alps area is beautiful. Kamikochi doesn’t have a lot of day hike options—either valley walks or mostly multiple day treks, connecting peaks and peaks with stops at huts or camping. There’s a few multiple day hikes that would be awesome to come back and do, especially with the gorgeous fall colors. Also, the surrounding area to Kamikochi was so picturesque when we drove through it, would love to explore that area more too!