Big excitement this morning as we set off for Tokyo station to catch the Shinkansen Asama 517 to Nagano.
The trip was very comfortable and smooth. Our excitement levels rose when we saw snow topped mountains just outside of Ueda.
We changed trains at Nagano to the Shinano No. 14 headed for Matsumoto. The temperature at Nagano was noticeably colder!
This train is called a limited express and the ride was about 50 minutes. As we looked out the window we were surrounded by mountains some completely covered in snow. Further along the track the countryside was covered with a fair smattering of snow.
We arrived at Matsumoto and changed to the Oito train line which is a local train. The mountains with snow were finally getting closer.
Most local train stations had a large bicycle parking station with limited car parking available.
Another quick change over (5 minutes) at Shinano-Omachi for the final leg of our journey to Hakuba. This is where our snow magic begins as the ground is covered with snow, we see the train track is filling up with snow and the trees are holding snow on their branches!
Hakuba, here we are! We thought we’d celebrate our arrival with a cup of hot chocolate and boy was it oishii. We know we are going to love our visit here.
Below is a map of the route taken from Tokyo to Hakuba.
