Things to do in Gifu Prefecture

I found the Takayama and Shirakawago day trip wonderfully rewarding. Takayama’s old-town charm, local crafts, and warm hospitality paired perfectly with Shirakawago’s serene, storybook-like gassho-zukuri houses. The journey felt smooth, scenic, and genuinely enriching—an ideal blend of culture, history, and breathtaking landscapes.

Since our priority is on the Observation deck, my friend and I chose this Klook to Takayama and Shirakawa-go trip. We had a hard time to explore Takayama, since this is a huge place. So you can check first the place in map and what you want to go first. We went to morning market and the oo tori(big gate), we didn’t enter to Jinya(it has entrance fee). And we need to go back to our bus on time. In Shirakawa-go, we almost explored the whole place but it’s a bit rush. We decided to go inside one of the gassho-Hadase house (400yen entrance). Still we enjoyed this trip. Thanks to Jeng(tour guide) who took photos of us in Takayama Old houses. This is still worth it, just needed to plan where to go. In Observation deck area, we had enough time to have view the village and took photos alot.

It was such a value for money experience. We visited three stops. Although we only had ample time for each stop, it was enough for us to experience and make the trip memorable. Our guide was super nice, and is very informative. He knows where good food is.

It was a nice tour although the weather was not on our side but I still had fun. Also got the Hida beef lunch set and was very much worth it. Our guide, Yu, and bus driver Mr. Ito took care of the group. Yu gave some good recommendations and was very professional.

Tour was well organised, but a little rushed. Our guide, Jane Geng, was helpful and did her best to give us a quick introduction to the places we visited. Our bus driver was a good and safe driver. Overall we had a nice and comfortable day trip. PS If you would like to spend more time sightseeing, it might be a good idea to pack a light lunch or snacks on the trip.

The tour stayed on time. Our guide Liu was super helpful and very welcoming as well as knowledgable! very talented and handled 3 languages beautifully. The driver made the transport so peaceful and we were able to rest between stops! every location was beautiful and spiritual, this tour made our day because of sites visited, people we met and the transport journey!

I booked this tour thinking it was a good value..... I was actually worried that it would be difficult being among so many loud Chinese people since the guides were in English and Chinese, but when I actually went, it was an unnecessary worry. My wife and I were the only Koreans, but there was a mix of people from various countries. If you book early, it's cheap, and the guide was a young and friendly man, so I was very pleased. He was Chinese but spoke English well, so it wasn't difficult to understand him, and he took very good care of us. The floor of the vehicle was sticky, perhaps because a drink had been spilled and not cleaned up, and it wasn't a very comfortable bus. It was an old Hyundai bus. The 2 hours in Takayama felt too short, but it was a great trip with good weather and a wonderful guide. Koreans shouldn't necessarily insist on a Korean guide only, this tour is a great value and quite good. Especially in Takayama, as soon as you get off the bus, go to the morning market and take care of lunch........

My wife and I just got married and wanted to experience the country side of Shirakawago and the heritage of Hida-Takayama. We’re fortunate enough to get seats in the front row of the bus. The incredible scenery and changing leaves in the fall by themselves would have easily been enough, but what took this over the top was the exceptional hospitality of our guides. They provided the perfect balance of historical education on the bus while allowing us to experience each destination in a unique way. The restaurant in Shirakawago was extremely unnexpected and delicious. I highly recommend skipping the observatory and experiencing the city. I also highly recommend trying the world famous pudding in Shirakawago and the famous Hida beef in Takayama! Can’t thank our amazing host/guides enough! Truly life changing! Btw, we took these photos ourselves on our phones, enjoy!

loved this morning so much. easy to use and clean with fantastic views of beautiful Japan