Top Nagano Day Trips

What a great experience on 09 June with a local tour guide. I hope I recall your name correctly, Hana San who also has work experience with Fujitsu. Being the only guest on this tour, meant I got the full attention of the team, from setting the pace, to learning a lot more about the attractions and their history in a 1 on 1 experience and to sharing some of our personal stories as well. We started with the tour of Zenkoji temple and it's surrounds which included other temples and stores that used local produce to create local delicacies. That was followed by a short walk to the sake tasting and that in itself was quite a great experience, learning about the different ways sake is made and how different levels of refinement are achieved. Next was a sumptuous lunch, a full course meal, at an upmarket and serene venue away from the city close to the snow monkeys. After lunch, we took a brisk stroll to view the monkeys, the gods smiled on us that day, offering great weather and a perfect close up of the snow monkeys, many with young offspring, presenting many perfect photo opportunities. Sadly, the day had to end but it was money very well spent and a moment that I will always cherish.

First off, I made a mistake when I booked the tour last month. By the time I realised my mistake the original booking had expired but the local tour operator, Snow Monkey Resort, graciously allowed me to join the tour with no extra charge. Trust me, such service attitude is rare these days. Second, the tour was very professionally organised. The Tateyama Alpine tour is extremely popular and it requires multiple modes of transport to get to the Snow Wall. The tour guide Taka was not only friendly but was also able to get us properly organised through one mode of transport after the other without missing a beat. Of course, the Kurobe Dam was an engineering masterpiece by itself and the Snow Wall was breathtaking; both totally worth a visit despite being packed with tourists.

We had a wonderful tour with guide, Endo. The pacing was excellent with enough time for the snow monkey park and the cherry blossom viewing without feeling rushed. The lunch was also delicious. I like that they scout out what cherry blossom sight is at peak so it will change on different days.