Home > Tours > Traditional Culture > Shirakawa-go and Hida-Takayama Private Day Trip from Nagoya
Explore the well preserved and historical towns of Shirakawa-go and Hida-Takayama on this private one day trip from Nagoya.
For those wanting a taste of traditional, mountainous Japan, this tour to Hida-Takayama and Shirakawa-go is perfect. It's a one day, private tour from Nagoya and includes pick-up and drop-off at your hotel. You will see the nostalgic old town of Hida-Takayama, with the original architecture still intact and dating back over 300 years. You will have the chance to explore the nearby Folk Village or try your hand at some traditional crafts of the area. You will then be transported even deeper into the mountains to the isolated villages of Shirakawa-go, famous for their centuries-old farmhouses built with slanting thatched roofs to prevent snow build up. Explore Japan's countryside, it has so much to offer!
① Depart Nagoya (8:00-10:25)
Get picked up at your hotel in Nagoya by a driver. You will stop at a roadside station for a quick break on the way to Takayama.
② Hida-Takayama – Furui Machinami and Takayama Jinya (10:30-12:00)
Located at a high altitude far from other areas of Japan kept Hida Takayama fairly isolated, allowing the city to develop its own distinct culture. These days it is often known as “Little Kyoto.” Takayama is home to an old Edo era town known as Furui Machinami. Established by former samurai Nagachika Kanamori, it is almost unchanged since it was developed over 400 years old and is the perfect place to feel the atmosphere of an old Japanese castle town. Taste local sake as it was made back then, or try their specialty Takayama ramen or Hida beef. You will explore narrow streets where water flows past traditional houses, with the original sake breweries and merchants’ houses still standing. The town was designated as an Important Preservation District Of Historic Buildings.
③ Lunch in the old town (12:00-12:45)
It’s your choice of where to go for lunch in the old town. 
④ Hida Folk Village (13:00-13:50)
After a stroll through the charming old town, you will head for the Hida Folk Village. Spread out among the hills, the folk village has recreated the traditional mountain village scenery of the Hida district. The park has many thatched-roof houses where you can experience the lifestyle of olden-day Hida. All kept in their original condition, you can see various kinds of daily tools and objects from the past inside, making it easy to imagine how they used to live. Several of the houses contain workshops where you will find artisans carrying out their trade that has been cultivated over the centuries. These include Hida quilting, straw crafts, wood carving, weaving, making ceramics and making shingles for roofs. 
Or Hida Takayama Crafts Experience Center
If you prefer to do something more hands-on, you can opt for the Hida Takayama Crafts Experience Center. There you're able to try your hand at making your own traditional craft, with some of the options being senbei (rice cracker) making, ceramic painting and sarubobo (monkey baby) doll making. The mascot of the Hida region, sarubobo dolls were traditionally made by mothers for their daughters as charms blessing happy marriage and smooth birth delivery.
⑤ Shirakawa-go (14:50-17:00)
Located in the remote mountains that span from Gifu to Toyama Prefectures, Shirakawa-go is a traditional village famous for its almost 300-year-old thatched roof farmhouses. The slanting roofs are designed to withstand the large amounts of heavy snow that falls in the area during winter. Ogimachi Village is where you will head – you may have seen pictures of the many farmhouses covered in snow. You will have free choice of what you wish to see. Some possibilities are:
• Gassho-zukuri Minkaen - an open air museum
• Shiroyama Viewpoint
• Go inside the many gassho-zukuri farmhouses
• Myozenji Temple - see a temple with a thatched roof rather than the usual tiles
• Shirakawa-go no Yu - bathe in a traditional hot spring
⑥ Return to Nagoya (17:00-19:30)
Depart Shirakawa-go for the journey back to Nagoya. You will stop at a roadside station for a quick break on the way home.
<Cancellation Policy>
If you need to cancel your reservation due to your circumstances, the following cancellation fees will be charged.
・From the payment date up to 8 days before the tour: 5% of the total tour amount will be charged
・7 to 3 days before: 20% of the total tour amount will be charged
・1 to 2 days before: 50% of the total tour amount will be charged
・On the day of the tour: No refund
• Explore the old town of Furui Machinami
• Go to Takayama Jinya, an Edo-era government office
• Try local Takayama specialties such as Hida beef
• See what life was like 300 years ago in the Hida Folk Village
• Try a craft making experience
• Visit the thatched-roof village of Shirakawa-go
・This tour does not include a guide. The driver will meet you in the hotel lobby with your name on a signboard. The driver may or may not speak English, however you will be able to communicate using a tablet to translate.
・If you would like to arrange for an interpreter guide, we will arrange with an additional fee of ¥60,000.
・During the high seasons such as December, January, March, and April, when our affiliated cab firms are fully booked, we may need to request vehicle arrangements from a non-affiliated cab firm. In such cases, please be aware that the price may be higher than usual. Your understanding on this matter would be appreciated.
| Price | ￥150,000〜 May to November: ￥150,000 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 10.5 hours (approx.) |
| Hours of availability | 08:00-19:30 |
| Inclusions | • Private transport there and back (from Nagoya) including gas and toll fees |
| Exclusions | • Hida Folk Village (700 yen per adult, 200 yen per child) |
| Participants | 2-7 |
Joe Tham（Singapore）★★★★★
Highly recommended day trip from Nagoya.
Great hospitality and itinerary. Awesome Hida beef lunch at Takayama. Shirakawa-go is charming. Awesome sights!
Grace Enriqueta Victoria（Philippines）★★★★★
My trip to Shirakawago Japan
The scenery was so good and our driver was very accommodating and friendly. Inspite of the rain we enjoyed our tour immensely. Our van was clean and well maintained and I love your service, it was efficient. Will recommend your tour to others!
CK Lau （Singapore）★★★★★
Knowledgeable and helpful guide made for a pleasurable trip
Kazuo was our guide for the one day trip and we had a great time visiting the very scenic spots with his commentary in English. Even though our group consisted of just me and my wife, he actually managed to bring a long a flag of our country on a telescopic rod so we could spot him wherever we went!!
Jane Cheong（Singapore）★★★★★
Great tour
The tour was indeed pleasant and my family had a great time thanks to Yamada san. We really enjoyed the convenience of having a private car and driver to take us around the region.
Leonard Yip（Singapore）★★★★★
Great trip to Shirakawa-go
Kazuhiro was a very safe and smooth driver. Thank you so much for the arrangements. We enjoyed ourselves today.
Jievo Jose Garcia（Australia）★★★★★
Great experience by great staff
By far one of the best tours we've done in Japan. Not only were the locations breathtaking but the driver was very friendly and compliant. The person I was in contact with from the this travel company was very helpful and informative when talking about the situation and possible limitations of the trip. Despite having a specific amount of time per location, we still felt as if we could freely do what we wanted. Would highly recommend!
Veronica Thu（New Zealand）★★★★★
Enjoyed with an excellent driver!
We are very pleased with Ms Kojima. She is very friendly and she is an excellent driver!
Rachelle Chua（Philippines）★★★★★
Our Shirakawa-go and Takayama trip with Omakase Tour!
We booked our Shirakawa-go and Takayama trip with Omakase-tour.com I specifically wanted to book with Omakase-tour.com because I have read a lot of good reviews about them. I sent them an email and they were very swift with their response. I booked the one that included the guide, the driver and vehicle with pick-up/drop-off from our hotel in Nagoya. There were 5 of us: 3 adults, 1 teenager and 1 pre-teen. The trip was last December 24, 2023.
During the whole booking process, Omakase-tour.com was very attentive and thorough with the details of our booking. I want to thank them for having Toshi-san as our guide for this trip.
We were very fortunate to have Toshi-san as our guide during our trip to Shirakawa-go and Takayama. Even before the day of the trip, he was already frequently updating us about the weather at Shirakawa-go, about what to expect and clothing/shoe items to bring (because of the snow).
During the day of the trip, the more than 3 hours drive from Nagoya going to Shirakawa-go did not feel long, because aside from being mesmerized by the beautiful scenery around us, Toshi-san kept us entertained with games, trivia and stories. He created a mini trivia game that kept all of us including my teenager and pre-teen hooked. He even arranged prizes for all of us. Before we even noticed it, we were already at Shirakawa-go.
He brought us first to the top of the mountain (view deck) to admire and take pictures of the whole of Shirakawa-go, he then guided us going down the mountain path by foot towards the Shirakawa-go proper. Along the way he told us stories and facts about Shirakawa-go. I was also able to take so many pictures while going down the mountain, it was really breathtaking! We were able to go inside one of the farm houses and learned so much about how life was back then 200 years ago. He never tires of answering our questions as we were very curious about the farm houses in the area. It was my first time to see Persimmon Trees! My teens were able to play snow because the whole town was covered in thick snow when we visited last December 24, 2023. Toshi-san brought us to a store that sold tasty pork buns, beef cubes on stick and sausage. All of them tasted really good especially the sausage, as Toshi-san informed us that the sausage in this area is especially good and you can only find this here. We never wanted to leave the place as it was really so breathtaking.
After Shirakawa-go, Toshi-san brought us to Takayama, He brought us to a store that sold Hida Beef sushi, it tasted so good! He also brought us to the historical houses and shared so many facts about the area. We also went to a shop that sold Hida Beef curry, Toshi-san was so helpful when I was deciding what to buy, he asked the store person which was the bestseller among them.
Toshi-san also brought us to an archery place to try out ancient Japanese Archery, he told us that this was how the Samurai trained during their time. It was very interesting and challenging! I was not able to hit any bulls-eye out of all the 10 tries haha!
It was already early evening when we finished the trip. Toshi-san brought us safely back to the hotel. He double checked the vehicle to see if there were any things left. He gave a special gift to my son which made my son really happy.
All in all the whole trip was so meaningful and truly truly memorable. I know this is because Toshi-san really took good care of us and guided us throughout this whole trip. He is truly a great guide.
I would 100% recommened Omakase tours and Toshi-san to all my friends!
