The scenic and spectacular Alpine Route Japan – May 2024
In the Northern Alps of Japan is the beautifully scenic Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Once Spring has sprung and the snow has started to melt away the route opens for us all to pass through (April 15 to November 30). The route connects Toyama to Ogizawa and you use seven modes of transport to pass through it, making it one hell of a day trip. If you are lucky enough (and plan enough in advance) you can find accommodation along the route and spend more time there. We could have spent more time playing in the snow, but we really enjoyed the route as a day trip.
The image above outlines the modes of transport used to traverse the route, you can start at either end of the route. We stayed in Nagano the night before and started at the Ogizawa end. We left Nagano at 8:15am on the bus to Ogizawa, we arrived just after 10, purchased our tickets and got on the Kandan Tunnel Electric Bus at 10:30am to start the route. We got to Tateyama Station just before 5pm and were lucky enough to jump on an express train to Toyama Station that left at 5pm. There is so much to tell you about this day!
Starting at Nagano
We had been in Tokyo so starting in Nagano was the most convenient option for us, its 1hr 38mins from Tokyo to Nagano on the Shinkansen and is covered by the JR Rail Pass, there is a 1hr 19min express option if you are lucky to work it into your timetable. In Nagano we dropped into the information centre in the train station to confirm where we got the bus from the next morning. I was literally outside the train station at stop 25. The first train to leave for the day is 8:15am. I had big plans to be there early to line up for the bus in case there were a lot of people, it was Golden Week in Japan so everyone in the country was basically on holidays and travelling around. But we got to the bus stop at about 8am and there was the biggest line up, we were scared we wouldn’t get on the bus. When the bus arrived, we didn’t fit, but lucky they had sent another bus so we got on the second bus. There were still people waiting behind us that didn’t get on the bus (all the people in the second photo below). If you missed the bus, the next one wasn’t for another hour, which just makes the day so much longer (when you have a nine month old).
What about your luggage?
I 100% would advise you not to take luggage on the route, theres no room for it and lots of stairs! We got our hotel to transfer our luggage to Kyoto for us, we had two large suitcases and it was roughly $60 and it arrived the following day. It as very easy and I recommend doing this.
Bus from Nagano to Ogizawa
So, from Bus Stop 25 at Nagano Station, we got the Highland Express Bus to Ogizawa Station. This cost Y3700 each (roughly $37 AUD each). The bus ride to Ogizawa Station itself is beautiful, you drive out of the city past the beautiful turquoise water and snowcapped mountains filled with trees in all shades of green. There were still some cherry blossoms in bloom when we passed through which was nice.
When you arrive at Ogizawa Station, there is nothing there except the station, so you won’t get lost. There is a big sign that says “Tickets” and that is where you buy your pass for the day. The first bus you get on to start the day, the Kandan Tunnel Electric Bus, runs every 30 minutes. The day pass cost Y12,170 (roughly $120 AUD). You can buy individual tickets along the way, but that would just be a pain.
The Kandan Tunnel Electric Bus to Kurobe Dam
Nothing too exciting here, a bus that takes you through a tunnel underneath a massive mountain – Mt. Akazawa-dake. Its dark in the tunnel and basically only the bus fits through, so nothing to see here. It takes 16 minutes and you travel 6.1km. But once you get off, the Kurobe Dam is delightful!
Kurobe Dam was our first stop on the route; you have to walk a lot of stairs at this stop (actually there are a fair few stairs to climb throughout the day) but the view is always worth it. You walk up all the stairs and are treated to the beautiful mountains surrounding the turquoise blue of the dam. Then you walk down many other stairs to get to the bridge and cross the dam. We spent about an hour here because it takes a while to walk the stairs, then Laws got some ice cream and Thad tried his first ice cream and we had a nice look around before walking on. There were signs for a cafe, but we couldn’t see one open, but there was a small stall selling ice cream and some hot food and a small Family Mart selling bits and pieces as well as drink vending machines, of course.
We were here about two weeks after the track reopened so we saw quite a bit of snow around still, which was beautiful. The snowcapped mountains in the background are always so beautiful, but there was also piles of snow randomly throughout the trek. The walk across the bridge is only really quick and it takes you to the entrance of the next mode of transport. There were also signs here for a Pleasure Boat, which is a 30 minute ride around the dam, but it wasn’t in the water when we were there.
Kurobe Cable Car to Kurobedaira
Once you leave the dam and enter the tunnel, you join the line for the Kurobe Cable Car. The line looked really long and you wonder how so many people can fit in such a cable car, but everyone fit. We only waited about ten minutes for the cable car to arrive and to get on it. This is a quick five-minute ride that takes you to the next mode of transport.
Tateyama Ropeway to Daikanbo
The ropeway was very cool, once again we only waited about ten minutes for this ride even with so many people in line. Try and get a spot standing near the window on this one for a great view of the snowy mountains. This ride takes seven minutes.
Daikanbo is the first of the cool spots to stop, you walk up another million stairs to get to the lookout at the top – totally worth it. They have dug a snow cave into the wall at the top of the lookout. The views were spectacular from this spot. We spent about half an hour at the top, playing in the cave and taking photos.
Tateyama Tunnel Trolley Bus to Murodo
Another tunnel bus, this one runs under Mt. Tateyama and takes you to Murodo which is the highest stop. This is the stop that has most the accommodation, but I don’t think there is a lot of it. We saw a few people skiing down the mountains, and this is where they have carved out the snow wall. When you get off at Murodo, you come to a larger building with a restaurant upstairs. We were hungry so went and ate straight away, hot curry at the top of the mountain was delicious. One thing we didn’t realise, there was a sign saying they close the snow wall off to people walking at 3pm everyday. It was 2:15pm but the time we had had lunch and so we were then in a bit of a hurry. But in saying that, we got back close to 3:30pm and there were still people setting out, so not sure how accurate the sign was.
The snow wall was really awesome, you can walk down a path in the snow and then come back along the road through the snow wall, or visa versa. We had fun playing in the snow, eating snow, building snow men, and just hanging in the snow. You could spend a lot of time here if you like playing around. We would have stayed for longer if we didn’t have a bus to catch. We didn’t really think about the time and the last bus, but there is a timetable, and it has in red writing “Don’t miss the last bus”. From what I can tell, the last bus was 3:30pm, so we were in luck this day. I don’t know what you would do if you missed the bus, there is no accommodation, but I am glad we didn’t have to find out. You can check the timetables here Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route Timetable | Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route (alpen-route.com)
The snow ploughs pictured above are the machines they used to clear the snow wall, pretty impressive.
Tateyama Highland Bus to Bijodaira
This was actually a lovely bus trip, it leaves through the snow wall so you can drive through it and then goes down the mountain. The mountain was still very covered in snow as we were leaving so it looked very beautiful.
There is a prerecorded message that comes through in English and tells you about the local area as you go. The driver pulls up at significant spots like Midagahara, for a view of the Shomyo Falls (pictured below), the biggest tree, and other significant viewpoints.
Tateyama Cable Car to Tateyama Station
This was a quick 7 minute trip to the Tateyama Station, you don’t see much on this one other than the concrete walls of the structure and a little bit of greenery. By this stage you are almost at the end and had enough of being squeezed into small areas with a lot of people, so it’s nice to be a quick trip.
Toyama Chiho Railroad to Toyama
We had to buy extra tickets to catch this train as it is just a local train and not part of the route. We got the express train, so it was Y1230 + Y400 extra for the express ticket. so roughly $16 AUD each. It is an old rickety train with old school seats, but it was cozy enough for the 45-minute ride to Toyama, we grabbed a couple of beers at the souvenir shop after we got off the cable car, and most people had the same idea because we weren’t the only ones drinking them on the journey out.
Recommendations
We spent most our time at Kurobe Dam, Murodo and Daikanbo. They are the three main stops with beautiful lookouts and things to do. The bus on the way back down the mountain was also beautiful and nice and relaxing, it stopped to show you Shomyo Falls but from Tateyama Station there is also a separate route that goes to the falls so you can see them close up, we didn’t get a chance to do this, but I am sure it is beautiful.
Wait times
We hardly had to wait, the whole transit system is very effective, mostly we waited ten to fifteen minutes to get on each mode of transport. The longest wait was 30 minutes and that was getting onto the last cable car at Bijodaira to get to the Tateyama Train Station. It was 4:30pm and obviously prime time to leave the track for the day.
Temperature and clothing
It was lovely, even though we were in the snow, we hardly needed jumpers. Don’t be fooled like us and think it will be cold. We took extra jackets and just ended up carrying them all day. I was pretty happy in a long sleeve shirt and jeans.
We wore our hiking boots but we saw people just wearing joggers and sneakers. If you want to walk through the snow I would recommend hiking boots or snow boots, but it was so flat by the time we got to it that joggers and sneakers would have been fine. If you only walk the snow wall, you just stay on the road and so joggers or sneakers are fine.
Live Cameras
The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route website has live cameras so you can have a look at what is happening at the top three stops – Murodo, Midagahara and Daikanbo. Here is the link Live Camera | Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route (alpen-route.com) They also have a time lapse from the day you can watch.
Travelling with children
Easy day trip with our little man, lots to see and he was happy to be in the carrier for it all. There were no spots that were really suitable for him to crawl around so keep that in mind if your child doesn’t like the carrier that much.
There aren’t many food options so depending on if your baby eats solids or not, I recommend taking some food for them. Thad is still breastfed so that makes it easy for us, and he just eats whatever we are eating so he had curry for lunch with us. We had a beanie for Thad, but honestly it wasn’t that cold up there, obviously check the weather before you go and have a look at the cameras, but most days I checked the weather up there was just beautiful.
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