8 Days 7 Nights Nagoya, Tateyama Kurobe, and Hida Tour

Nagoya - Gero Onsen - Takayama - Shirakawa-go - Tateyama Kurobe Day 1: It takes about 40 minutes to travel from Nagoya Airport to the city center, costing around ¥1000. Most restaurants close at 10 PM, while izakayas usually stay open until around midnight. On weekdays, closing times might be even later. Day 2: Purchased the Hida 3-Day Pass from JR, which includes round-trip bus tickets to Shirakawa-go (~¥12000). Visited Gero Onsen. The town was larger than expected, with shops, shrines, and everything you need. Explored Gero Gassho Village, which is relatively small with limited photo spots, but the mountain slide was very fun. Note that most restaurants are closed on Mondays, so plan accordingly. Day 3: Visited Takayama and Shirakawa-go. The bus pass needs to be exchanged in person, and staff will explain the bus schedules in detail. There were quite a lot of visitors, but about 10-20% of the shops were closed. Around 3-4 hours is sufficient to explore. Returned to Takayama and enjoyed Hida beef sukiyaki. Day 4: Spent the day exploring Takayama City, which has a nostalgic atmosphere. Strolled through the old streets and then returned to Nagoya. Day 5: Had Hida beef barbecue, visited Nagoya Castle, Osu Kannon, and Osu Shopping Street. Day 6: Joined a 2-day, 1-night local tour to Kamikochi and Tateyama Kurobe. Kamikochi is stunning with its clear mountains, majestic snowy peaks, and picturesque scenery that is truly refreshing. Day 7: Explored Tateyama Kurobe using six different modes of transportation, which took about 8 hours including sightseeing. Unfortunately, the weather was bad with strong winds and heavy rain, and the temperature dropped sharply, making it hard to enjoy photo-taking or the experience. Day 8: Visited Chubu Electric Power Museum, explored the underground shopping streets, and then headed back home.