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Nakasendo Tsumagojuku

Nakasendo Tsumagojuku

Nakasendo Tsumagojuku
4.5
About
This historic footpath through the Kiso Valley connects the villages of Tsumago and Magome. The partially paved trail is approximately 8 kilometers in length and passes by several historic and natural wonders.
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LaurentT76
Paris, France1,108 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Family
This was our arrival point after our trip on the Nakasendo from Magome. Tsumago has in my opinion less charm than Magome... and especially passes for a "dead" city on this first Saturday of August. No food service appeared to be open, except for a café and a small shop run by a grandmother who sold salty brioche, which was very good. No big crush on this city so, maybe also the effect of fatigue.
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Written August 5, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

NOPPO185
Fujisawa, Japan1,380 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2023
Since I'd come this far, I decided to go to Tsumago-juku, so I extended the trip from Magome. It was about a 15-minute drive.
I parked the car in a car park along the river and strolled around the town. It's less touristy than Magome, and there are rows of simple (modest) houses. However, since it was almost 5pm, everyone had closed their shops, so I could only peek out from the road. Hey, the guy at the car park, you should have told me before I paid. On my way back, the guy was gone and it was just like free parking.
There was no scenery that was particularly better than Magome. Well, I guess that's about it... I just left my footprints
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Written August 5, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Zazabee
Cape Town Central, South Africa50 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2016 • Couples
We took the hike from Magome to Tsumago. I am very glad we did it in this direction because its mostly downhill, and would have been quite exhausting if we did it from Tsumago to Magome.

We stopped at the tourist office in Magome and used their portage service which I was so grateful for as our luggage was very heavy. You have to get there before 11h30 though in order for your luggage to be delivered to Tsumago.

The hike is 8km long and absolutely beautiful! We did this hike in autumn, so the colours were incredible. We felt revived and relaxed in this beautiful forest. You pass many rivers and streams, as well as 2 waterfalls.

The trail is well marked and there are a few toilets along the way, as well as spots to fill up your water bottles. There is also a hut where the family serves tea to travellers for a donation.

Loved this hike and would do it over and over again!

Written December 7, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Alex W
Singapore, Singapore1,426 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2018 • Solo
Having read that the Magome-to-Tsumago section of the Nakasendo trail takes only about two and a half hours, I didn't think it was necessary to spend the night before in Magome itself. As a small village it might prove immensely boring to me.

So I decided to spend the night before in Nagoya. The next morning, I took the 8:00am Shinano train from Nagoya railway station to Nakatsugawa (2,500yen), arriving at 8:49am.

(There is another Shinano train at 9:00am -- that might work too).

Just outside the railway station of Nakatsugawa are bus stops, and the one for the Magone bus is clearly marked (see my photo). The buses are not frequent, but there was one at 9:10am, which made it a relatively short wait.

This 9:10am bus took about 25 minutes (560 yen) to reach Magome, arriving at about 9:35am.

(If you took the 9:00am Shinano train from Nagoya, you'd arrive at 9:48am, so you'd have to wait a bit for the 10:15am bus to Magome.)

Magome is a two street village, and it is quite obvious that you should follow the street that goes uphill because the walking trail is supposed to go into the mountains. You sense that it's the correct street because all the houses look like they have been prettified for the tourist trade. Halfway up the street, there's a Tourist Information Centre on your right where you can pick up a map of the walking trail to Tsumago. At the top of that street, the trail begins.

It's uphill for about 2 km, but not very steep. It was in fact easier than I expected. I wouldn't call this daytrip a "hike". It was just a walk. The elevation of Magome village (about 600m above sea level) is low enough not to present any altitude-adjustment problem. Even its highest point, the Magome-toge mountain pass, is just 810m above sea level.

The route is sometimes stone underfoot, sometimes dirt. At some places, it comes close to the (very quiet) vehicular road and even crosses it here and there, but it was a beautifully peaceful walk. It is well-marked, with signposts every 500m or so.

Most of the time, you're walking through forest, occasionally passing tiny hamlets and farms. Except for the start of the walk near Magome, and the towards the end of the route near Tsumago, you can't see any great vistas; you're mostly among trees. Nearer the Tsumago end however, you're accompanied by the sound of water rushing down rocky streams (very soothing!). At one junction, signs point to a detour to visit 2 nice waterfalls.

After the Magome-toge pass, the route is a gentle downhill one leading to Tsumago, which is another touristy village. It has a Tourist Information Centre too.

Since I started early, I had plenty of time to do the walk, doing it more slowly than I normally do and allowing me to make a couple of detours. Even so, I reached Tsumago a bit too earl, though on the other had, it allowed me time to have lunch there in one of the village's noodle restaurants. I was fortunate to be in a restaurant when it began to rain quite heavily.

I caught the 15:20pm bus from Tsumago to Nagiso (300 yen) -- Tsumago's bus station is a bit downhill from the main street of the village. From the same bus station, you could also catch a bus back to Magome.

The bus to Nagiso took only ten minutes. From Nagiso railway station, you have the option of taking a train back to Nagoya or another one onwards to Matsumoto.

The train to Nagoya (journey duration slightly over 1 hour) departs at 15:55pm, while that to Matsumoto departs at 16:00pm.

I bought the 16:00pm ticket for Matsumoto (2,670yen) arriving at 17:05pm.

Two signs at Nagiso railway station are worth noting: firstly, they only take cash, no credit cards; secondly the ticket window closes at 16:05pm. If you want to take the trains departing after that, pay on board or at the arrival station.

I would recommend the onward train to Matsumoto. It passes through very beautiful mountain scenery (especially with low clouds playing hide-and-seek with the mountains) and Matsumoto has a lovely castle (authentic wooden structure) worth visiting.
Written November 5, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Knightwind
San Francisco, CA158 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2015 • Friends
We visited this town back in December 2015. We did a one-day excursion along the Nakasendo Trail and hiked from Magome-juku to Tsumago-juku. Compared with Magome, Tsumago was less touristy and quieter, but both towns deserve a visit. Both are historically postal towns, so if you want some souvenir, you can buy some stamps at the post office.
Recommendation: This is a must-visit town if you want to see what Japan looked like 200 years ago. If you are thinking about doing the Nakasendo Trail hiking but not sure whether to start from Magome or Tsumago, I recommend starting from Magome, because the uphill walk from Magome is shorter. On a separate note, if you want to go from Tsumago to the nearest train station (JR Nagiso), I recommend taking the (very infrequent) bus or arranging taxi in advance. The hike from Tsumago to JR Nagiso was not fun. The road signs were not consistent, and there were hardly any light when it got dark. In any case, do some research about this leg of the journey before visiting Tsumago.
Written May 16, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

alks_travaddict
Sydney, Australia12 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2016 • Couples
This review is specific to the walking trail from Magome to Tsumago. We did this as a day trip (from Nagoya) however there are several Ryokans in Magome and Tsumago where you can stay the night. Here's a few notes on the logistics: we caught the train from Nagoya to Nakatsugawa and from there a bus took a bus to Magome. It's all pretty straightforward, however make sure you catch the fast train from Nagoya - Hyperdia will help you out. The walk from Magome to Tsumago is under 8kms and mostly down hill. From Tsumago you'll need to catch a bus to Nagiso station and from Nagiso you'll be able to catch a train back to Nagoya. Buses run infrequently so make sure you get a bus timetable from the Tourist Information Centre. We caught the 9 am train from Nagoya and made it back by 7 pm. The walk probably takes 2-3 hours including stops.
We really loved this walk as it allowed us to see some beautiful rural landscapes and the quaint little towns of Magome and Tsumago are really well preserved and lovely to stroll through. Even though we went in late spring, we were delighted to see blooms of cherry blossom along the way near an old tea shop. Highly recommend it!
Written May 1, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

pipi_on_the_go
Whangamata69 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2017 • Couples
Although we were staying near Tsumago we caught the bus to Magome to begin the walk. Do check the bus schedule beforehand to time your walk as it does not run all that frequently.
We are an older couple in our 70s and completed the walk in about three and a half leisurely hours, of which about two hours were walking and the remainder were photo stops plus a stop at the lovely old rest house that gives free (leave a donation) cups of tea, sweets, and if you are early enough, plum wine.
It is definitely not an arduous walk and we recommend it for the forest scenery and sense of history.
Written June 12, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

mexicomango
London, UK170 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2016 • Couples
Glad I got to do this one - this is one of the few places I was able to go in Japan which wasn't overrun, crowded, jostling.

We took the train from Nagoya to Nakatsugawa, then got the bus to Magome.

From Magome, it's a pretty clear direction to walk in. You initially walk through an 'old' looking town with nice fronts. This is where most of the tourists are, they tend to visit this town and go to the viewpoint further up, then by coach to Tsumago (the destination) for a similar look.

There's a cafe somewhere there you can get bamboo walking sticks which you return at Tsumago (the destination). The initial part of the trail is an uphill climb across countryside and roads and a bit of woodland, but after that it's mostly level and not that difficult. It also goes through some small towns, forests and across small streams. Never a dull moment.

The woodlands were the best part of it, it really gave a nice feeling of solitude and isolation. Not that it's empty, there were definitely a few groups walking about there. Say hello and move on. But it's definitely peaceful and serves as a reset button if the crowds in the cities are overwhelming you. Autumn was a great time to go as there were the color changes that added to the atmosphere.

There were a few vending machines along the way, a few toilets and one trash can.

Some parts of the trail requires you to walk along the roads, but you don't have to worry about getting lost, Google Maps does have the walking directions which follows the Old Nakasendo trail.

There's also a waterfall you can detour to (it's signposted) along the way, pretty decent. It's shortly before Tsumago itself.

When you finally arrive at Tsumago, you can get a bus back to Nagiso Station. There's a train from Nagiso to Nagoya but it is infrequent, you can either wait for the direct one or change at Nakatsugawa.
Written November 14, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Aiste L
7 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2015 • Friends
We had very nice weekend walking from Magome to Tsumago and camping at Nagisosanrokuararagi Camping Ground. We took a train to Nakatsugawa from Nagoya (around 1 hour) and 30 min bus ride from Nakatsugava to Magome (bus goes every hour from 07:42 to 18:30). When left bags in Magome tourist information centre - for 500 Yen they will transfer it to Tsumago Information centre. You have to leave the bag till 11:30 and take bag from Tsumago till 17:00.

From Magome to Tsumago walking takes around 2-3 hours and has very nice view. From Tsumago we took bus to Araragi Onsen (bus takes 10 min. goes every day 8:22;10:47;12:47;15:07;18:07). In Araragi they have two Onsen - one in hotel - big and nice and one small one - very local only indoor. After that we went camping to Nagisosanrokuararagi Camping Ground (http://nagiso-araragi-camp.com/). The owners are two old people, very firendly and helpfull. Walking from Onsen to camping site takes around 1 hour - 4 km, but you can make a call and the man will pick up with the car. They have also bangelow houses to rent - the camping sight with fire place cost 1000 Yen + 500 Yen per person. That old man english is poor, but he always ready to help and give a ride down the mountain or up if you need. Next day from the camping place we climb the mountain. The map for climbing you can get from camping site owner. Climbing trip takes around 6 hours - to go slowly up, have lunch on the top and go down. The mountain road up is quit difficult, but fun if you want some adventure, the view worth the hassle. From Araragi back to Tsumago or Nagiso Station bus runs every day 7:35;9:05,11:45;14:00;15:55 and cost 300 Yen. Also in the camping you can rent tesmall tent 1000 Yen and big 2000 Yen - you can rent sleeping bag, bbq staff and so on. They also sell 6 pack beer for 500 Yen. At night was a little bit cold, so take warm clothes. We had great time!
Written June 8, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

mordecai12
Singapore, Singapore112 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2014 • Couples
Prompted by TA community's reviews and National Geographic write-up on the above walk, we made our way from Kyoto, starting at 8am, took shinkansen to Nagoya, then the limited express Shinano train to Nagiso, the rail town stop closest to Tsumago and took a cab paying about 1400yen to the ryokan and dumped our luggages. This trip did worry me, coz I didn't want to spend more than 1 day at the ryokan, if necessary, and we needed to complete the 7.7km walk by 5pm that very day, coz the dinner at the ryokan would start at 6pm.

We were constantly worried about the time, so arriving at the ryokan at 11.10am and missing the last bus to magome at 10:12am, and being way too early for the next bus at 12:47, we decided to pay 3500 yen for the cab ride to Magome. Why ? Because you don't want to backtrack again to Magome, you would want to see the town too before you start the walk., take some photos etc. After all, people wrote that it's a pretty attractive town. By the way, ALL the reviews recommend starting the Nakasendo Walk from Magome.

Now The Walk itself : to be honest, the walk is pretty ordinary. Aside from the padi fields, some quaint houses ( which you can see in Kyoto or Takayama) small streams and woods you pass, the only attraction pointed out to us at the ryokan was the ordinary-looking twin waterfalls. At late May, with beautiful weather of 23 degrees, we met less than 7 people on the trail. All were young foreigners who must have read about the trail online like us. None Japanese. Think : that speaks a lot about the attractiveness of the walk to the local Japanese people. Many Taiwanese tourists descended on Magome town when we were there but none walked the trail. They were taken to the two towns by tour coaches.

The first 2.2 km stretch was no ordinary walk in a park - it was pretty tough, walking gingerly, watching your step over uneven trails, mostly climbing a little, over boulders. This is not a very suitable walk for children under 12 or people past 65. Think : if you miss a step or trip, or sprain an ankle, over mountainous trails, with nary a house or soul in sight, you can get into a lot of trouble so be realistic. in fact, we were in a bit of a hurry to complete the trail as logically it can get cold after dark and there are no street lamps on the trail. If you give up halfway for some reason, you probably have to pray for a kind soul to take you to the next town or wait forever for the infrequent bus. We took 3 hours 40 mins to complete the trail.

In fact, while walking on the trail, I wonder how in the world the Walk made it to the list of "1000 things to do before you die" People would definitely get a much better and more enjoyable experience hiking at Kamikochi, hiking haven for Japanese, with its boardwalks and well-marked and well-maintained trails.

So would I go for the Walk again ? Definitely not.
Written June 3, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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