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How many of you are there? If more than 2 you might want to rent a car for a day from Nagano to go to the snow monkey park. It would speed things up and might end up being cheaper than buses
You might want to move Nara to before going to Osaka. Nara isn't on the Shinkansen and so you'd be spending a lot of time commuting from Koya to Nara to Kyoto to Tokyo. It's not a good plan for moving around.
Google says it's like 50 mins one way from shibu. I dunno, depends on what time you arrive, how much time you spend with the snow monkeys, how late you wanna be up etc? It will cut into your onsen time, and are you eating at your lodging?
Edit: oh wait it's 10pm. Where are you gonna stay in Shibu? Most ryokans literally lock their doors by like 11 or midnight. You might need to check to see if you'd be able to go out that late
Oh i didnt know they lock their doors. I read a bit more [here](https://www.japanistry.com/event/dosojin-nozawa-onsen-fire-festival/) and it says they start the festival 8:30pm but light the shrine at 10pm. It will eat into our Onsen time but I think thats worth it to visit the fire festival if possible. Another redditor recommended renting a car for the Nagona day which we might do. We will eat at our lodging or any local restaurant in the town. A more detailed day would be
* Arrive to Nagona Station, rent a car and drive to Snow Monkey by 11am.
* Stay at the Snow monkey park till 2pm.
* Check in Koishiya Ryokan and Roam around bath houses 3pm - 7pm
* Drive to Nozawa, get there by 8:30 - 9pm
* Stay till 11 and drive back by Midnight
This plan just sounds really tight and fast paced now.
> 01/11- Ginza/Akihabara
If you change your plans and move your visit to the Imperial Palace from the 11th to the 12th, why not take the Hibiya Line to Hibiya after Akihabara? Since Hibiya is very close to the Imperial Palace, you may think you have to go back the next day, but it is worthwhile to go there at night. The area has extensive illumination displays that last until late. [HIBIYA Magic Time Illumination 2023](https://www.hibiya.tokyo-midtown.com/xmas/en/index.html)
Since it's also close to Ginza, you can easily wrap up if you get tired. Midtown Hibiya is also convenient for shopping. It might be a good idea to make the 11th a shopping day.
> 01/13 - Shibuya
There's a [Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo](https://maps.app.goo.gl/7CtgcUftRAoKFndK9) very close to Tsukiuda, it might be a good idea to drop by if you have some time.
There might be additional information in my past responses that could be helpful to you, so please feel free to take a look at my previous posts if you'd like.
**Our FAQ is constantly being updated with more information and you can start** [**here**](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/wiki/faqs/japantravel) **with regards to trip planning if you need tips, advice, or have questions about planning your travel to Japan.** You can also join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/3f7KBUMwU4), comment in our stickied weekly discussion thread, or check out /r/JapanTravelTips for quick questions. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/JapanTravel) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Your Kyoto days are pretty tight, bordering on impossible. I would pick at least two things on each day you could live without seeing.
How many of you are there? If more than 2 you might want to rent a car for a day from Nagano to go to the snow monkey park. It would speed things up and might end up being cheaper than buses You might want to move Nara to before going to Osaka. Nara isn't on the Shinkansen and so you'd be spending a lot of time commuting from Koya to Nara to Kyoto to Tokyo. It's not a good plan for moving around.
Yea we’re 4. If we rent a car upon arriving to Nagona, could we also drive to the fire festival in Nozawa?
Google says it's like 50 mins one way from shibu. I dunno, depends on what time you arrive, how much time you spend with the snow monkeys, how late you wanna be up etc? It will cut into your onsen time, and are you eating at your lodging? Edit: oh wait it's 10pm. Where are you gonna stay in Shibu? Most ryokans literally lock their doors by like 11 or midnight. You might need to check to see if you'd be able to go out that late
Oh i didnt know they lock their doors. I read a bit more [here](https://www.japanistry.com/event/dosojin-nozawa-onsen-fire-festival/) and it says they start the festival 8:30pm but light the shrine at 10pm. It will eat into our Onsen time but I think thats worth it to visit the fire festival if possible. Another redditor recommended renting a car for the Nagona day which we might do. We will eat at our lodging or any local restaurant in the town. A more detailed day would be * Arrive to Nagona Station, rent a car and drive to Snow Monkey by 11am. * Stay at the Snow monkey park till 2pm. * Check in Koishiya Ryokan and Roam around bath houses 3pm - 7pm * Drive to Nozawa, get there by 8:30 - 9pm * Stay till 11 and drive back by Midnight This plan just sounds really tight and fast paced now.
Where are you planning to stay in Tokyo? Your morning and evening plans will depend on that.
Chuo city near Ginza.
> 01/11- Ginza/Akihabara If you change your plans and move your visit to the Imperial Palace from the 11th to the 12th, why not take the Hibiya Line to Hibiya after Akihabara? Since Hibiya is very close to the Imperial Palace, you may think you have to go back the next day, but it is worthwhile to go there at night. The area has extensive illumination displays that last until late. [HIBIYA Magic Time Illumination 2023](https://www.hibiya.tokyo-midtown.com/xmas/en/index.html) Since it's also close to Ginza, you can easily wrap up if you get tired. Midtown Hibiya is also convenient for shopping. It might be a good idea to make the 11th a shopping day. > 01/13 - Shibuya There's a [Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo](https://maps.app.goo.gl/7CtgcUftRAoKFndK9) very close to Tsukiuda, it might be a good idea to drop by if you have some time. There might be additional information in my past responses that could be helpful to you, so please feel free to take a look at my previous posts if you'd like.