Shirakawa-go & Takayama Old Town Day Tour (Optional Hida Beef Lunch)

Our guide, Tao, was very patient and has been deeply involved with Japan for 20 years, so he has a great understanding of Japanese culture. My navigation was a bit off, but Tao patiently guided me to the parking lot. The parking lot was on a slope, and my navigation led me behind it, making me think there was no road.😅 Sorry for the trouble! It rained on the way there and back today, but luckily the weather was clear and sunny during our sightseeing.☀️ We arrived in Takayama at 10:30 AM. Takayama Old Town has many interesting small shops. We passed by Takayama Betsuin and also visited Takayama Jinya, the only existing county magistrate's office in Japan. Around 1:00 PM, we had a Hida beef set meal for lunch. At 1:55 PM, we arrived at Shirakawa-go Gassho Village. The village architecture, with its thatched-roof wooden houses, was truly impressive. We departed at 3:25 PM for Nagoya. The itinerary was excellent and saved us the hassle of traveling on our own.

The Takayama and Shirakawa-go day tour was excellent! Although I didn't receive the email with the meeting point and tour guide information the day before, I found the tour guide at the meeting location the next morning, confirmed my registration details, and completed the day tour. The weather was beautiful today, the driver drove smoothly and steadily, and the tour guide managed the time perfectly. They also thoughtfully provided maps for Takayama and Shirakawa-go, which saved a lot of time we would have spent figuring things out ourselves. We had 90 minutes in Takayama in the morning and 90 minutes in Shirakawa-go in the afternoon, which was enough time to walk to the Shirakawa-go observation deck. I chose the option with lunch, and the lunch duration was 40 minutes. The restaurant had already prepared the meals when we arrived, and the tour guide thoughtfully arranged our seats; everything was perfectly organized. The day tour concluded with a smooth return to Nagoya Station by 6:00 PM. This was my second Klook day tour, and I've been very satisfied both times.

The itinerary was very smooth! We gathered at 7:50 AM, and as soon as everyone arrived at 7:55 AM, we departed. Our first stop was Takayama at 10:15 AM, where we had 90 minutes for free activities. The second stop was for lunch (40 minutes for dining). Although there were only a few slices of Hida beef, the lunch was delicious and provided a good opportunity to eat and rest. The tour leader thoughtfully arranged seating based on the booking groups (2, 3, or 4 people). Our third stop was Shirakawa-go at 1:45 PM, where we had 90 minutes for free activities. There was plenty of time to walk around and explore all of Shirakawa-go. Overall, the timing was very well-paced. Our tour leader, Xiao Yu, was friendly and attentive, and we also thank the driver for his hard work. The seats on the bus were very comfortable, and the one-day tour was a lot of fun.

The view is amazing! Worth the price! It’s summer yet the view is so good. I wanna come back in winter or spring. I also want to commend our driver. He’s so nice and drives smoothly, you wont feel he’s stepping on the brakes. 100% professional driver, I am amazed! The tour guide is nice as well. He took care of us during our trip. Huge thanks to you both!

I think this may be my favorite tour I've ever done in Japan! Both locations were so beautiful and competely worth the money! I got the kobe beef sukiyaki lunch and it was very nice and set up for when we arrived. Takayama is definitely deserves the "Little" Kyoto" nickname is has and I could have spent another hour there exploring more. Shirakawa-go was a beautiful breath of fresh air and really peaceful to just take a walk and enjoy!

This trip is worth taking despite the 3hr one way drive. The scenery, food and experience is truly worth it. The tour guide is very helpful, he created a group chat for us to communicate and to make sure that everyone is on time. The only thing that needs to be improved is the direction on how to get to the meeting place. It was quite vague and hard to find. The guide was kind enough to wait for those who were not yet there by 8am.

Our guide's attentiveness was exceptional! There were two of us who were Japanese, and the rest of the group was foreign. At the beginning, the guide asked, "I can speak Japanese, but the tour will be conducted in English and Chinese. Is that okay?" They also gave us great recommendations in both Takayama and Shirakawa-go. All the foreign guests, except for one group, were punctual, which allowed us to enjoy the trip without any worries. Thank you very much. One minor point: I wish we had more time in Takayama than in Shirakawa-go. I usually travel by car, but since it was a day trip, I couldn't drink alcohol, so this was my first time trying a bus tour. I wanted to do some sake tasting, but unfortunately, I only had time to visit one place. I wish I had one more hour. Other than that, I was very satisfied!

we love the experience of exploring takayama old town and beautiful shirakawa-go. also Bara-San lead us wonderfully, he is so kind and informative. lunch was nice too! hida beef and pork was delicious!

Went for the English tour and Bara-san was great at explaining the various points of interest in esch location. I reccomend getting the Hida beef lunch meal so you can spend your time in Takayama exploring. For goshuin seekers and fans of Kimi No Nawa, Hie shrine is located at the outskirts and is worth a visit too!

The tour was excellent. Our tour guide, Bara San, was very helpful with historical explanations for each location we visited. The Hida Beef lunch was also delicious. Bara San was extremely helpful in providing a map route for places to visit, especially given the tight schedule.