Nagano

What to bring: Drinks and snacks, waterproof shoes, waterproof jacket, umbrella, hat, phone cross-body strap, backpack, wet wipes. We went on a small tour with our Alpan guide, just 11 of us. It started at 8:00 AM and ended at 1:30 PM. First, don't go to the snow wall; go to the pond first and walk as far as you can. You can see everything at the snow wall in about 25 minutes round trip. You can see the pond with melted ice, the hot springs in the distance, and if you're lucky, even the mascot bird. The bird poses well, so you can comfortably take photos. Although it was a very quick tour, I'm satisfied. I'm thinking of going again personally during the upcoming winter season. Alpan guides are the best! If you get an Alpan guide, your trip will be much easier.

The trip was super nice. It still pushed through even though we're only 5 in the group. The pacing just feels right for both the snow monkey and the shrines. Helen, our tour guide, was also very accommodating and friendly.

We loved this tour! It was fun but also easy and stress free having Dillon as our guide, and transportation via bus to all sites. Dillon had an incredible wealth of knowledge about all things Snow Monkeys, Sake, and Zenkoji Temple. We enjoyed this experience and is a highlight of our trip! Be mindful the walk to see the monkeys is long but worth it, and if you do the dark passage at the temple, it takes up a bit of your free time that you may otherwise prefer to use for exploring shops and food options.

the most beautiful place I have been to in Japan. the beginner/first time visitor trek allotted 1.5hrs is more than enough time to take photos/videos along the ways and reach the Bridge where restaurants are. you can have lunch here. try the apple pie and apple ice cream.

We really enjoyed this tour and the cherry blossom in Takato was breathtaking. Our guide, Carp Feng, was excellent and patient and made the trip even more memorable. We highly recommend this tour to everybody during the cherry blossom season.

We had a great time on this tour and are so glad we booked it! If we could give extra stars, we would. Carp was such a great tour guide — so engaging, friendly, and informative. We appreciated how kind and considerate she was with pointing out where the stamps were when she saw we were collecting them + making sure we were on time but also giving us a lot of grace and space to take in everything. There were clear instructions and communication on how to meet, what the schedule was going to be, and they even provided us food at the end of our long day. Moreover, the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route was BEAUTIFUL. We were in awe of everything and truly believe we had such a great time thanks to Carp. She even helped us get into another tour with her last minute for a few days later to Hitachi Seaside Park! The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route tour was definitely one of the highlights of our Japan trip. Thank you Carp!

Meeting point at Nagano Station very convenient. Our guide very friendly and responsible. At each stop, they ensure every participants are present. Beautiful scenery. We transferred onto different transportation to reach the Alpine. Highly recommended.