Hotels in Hakuba

Happo (a suburb of Hakuba) has a great variety of bars and restaurants and a very good mountain right neat to the village. Access to other nearby mountains is by free shuttle bus. Normally these mountains have heaps of snow but this year the season started badly, we were there just as decent snow started to fall but some lifts and ski runs were not open due to lack of snow up till that point. Not a criticism of Hakuba, just nature playing games. Highlights, well snowboarding fresh snow three days in a row, great runs, the food, cheap drinks from vending machines all over the country, friendly people... just go and find out for yourselves. One thing that could be better is assess to Hakuba by train, have to change train a couple of times and use local commuter trains for the last part of the journey. This is still better than the bus because I am a normal size Australian and the bus seat pitches are set for small Japanese people, very cramped and slow. The trains are much more roomy and faster. The government could consider running some express or limited express trains from the closer big cities like Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo during the winter season. Something most Australians don't know, the Japanese use courier companies to send their ski and snowboard gear directly to their hotel and then home again. They have a very efficient system, it's cheap and usually overnight or two days at the most. They can collect from the airport and deliver back to an office at the airport as well. So if you want to do some looking about while you are there, why not courier your gear instead of trying to carry it around with you.

ONSEN .... We love ONSEN! After a long day on the slopes there is nothing better than a muscle relaxing soak in an Onsen. It will take away soreness and relax the entire body. The Japanese people are lovely respectful and generous of heart. Everything has a place and purpose. We have been to Hakuba 3 seasons in the last 4 and we will continue to return to this beautiful area of the world. We ate at Jankenpon, Ramen ZuZu, pizzakaya, Bikey Bar, Escal Plaza and in house at Sejour Mint. A variety of cuisines but mostly Japanese like Ramen, Gyoza, Pork cutlet curry, Chicken Katzu don and Miso to name a few. Transport is very good and free shuttles to and from ski resorts is offered in and around Echoland.

Hakuba is a relatively quieter ski resort. It was the site of the Nagano winter olympics. A little bit of a challenge for those not used to a little independent travel as it is slightly less accessible. Trains come from Matsumoto and are infrequent - the earliest arrives at 1130. Best bet for an earlier arrival is the one hour plus bus ride from Nagano (about one per hour) or a direct bus (5 hours) from Tokyo station /Haneda /Narita. Good range of choices of ski rental outlets and stores to purchase equipment as well as a well stocked supermarket. There is a shuttle that connects the various ski slopes and some hotels but not ours. Nonetheless, some ski rental outlets, hotels and ski school provide pickup services. We had excellent ski and snowshoe instructors from Evergreen and they really made the experience fun. The snowshoe walking season opens earlier than elsewhere on Honshu island. We especially enjoyed the snowshoe walk - the youngest in our group was 10 and he was able to make the 5 hour walk. Excellent views from and of the mountains. For families, it can be a little quiet after it turns dark (4pm in December) but this is perfect if one is looking for a bit of peace and quiet after a day on the slopes. Get a good hotel with wifi and the kids will be entertained... There are a number of tours (e.g. snow monkey) out of Hakuba but we did not try these. Perhaps the next time we're there...

Hakuba is an excellent place for winter activities. There are many mountains that are good for ski-ing but only Goryu and Hakuba 47 are linked. You will need to take a shuttle to visit different mountains such as Happo-one and Tsugaike Kogen. I like Tsugaike Kogen the best because it has very wide, and long intermediate runs and it has a gondola that goes up all the way from the base to the top with a mid station in between. There is no point getting an all mountain pass, it is better to ski one day at a time to try different mountains. Don't waste time commuting between mountains. There are also a good variety of restaurants in the area and there are buses that will take you around. I had a car so I drove to different areas. The Izakayas are the best because you can try different types of food such as sushi, tempura, yakitori, and shabushabu all in one place. The restaurants are usually quite small, so either go early or after 8pm for dinner.

Snow was awesome. Although mountains are tiny they are designed for crowds so it never feels busy except happo. There are many options for food but they are all expensive (about ¥3000 pp per night) and have very limited hours 5pm to 10pm. There is not much apres in this town. Shuttle bus free but does not run nearly often enough and is always silly full. Everything is soooo spread out with nothing in between. When its cold you have to pick your restaurant book and catch a cab. Wondering around and popping in and out of places not really the go here. Happo is much better place to stay than echoland if you want night life. People are really nice. It is full of aussies and japanese but it is Really spread out so not crowded.

Our accomodation,Hakuba ski condos was excellent and perfect for our family of 6. We ate at fish republic a couple of times which served excellent calamari Caesar salad and fish options. Aussie chef cafe style with great wines. We are gluten free and they catered really well for us. The owner of our accomodation, Bob L was fantastic for transporting us to the various resorts to ski, everything else was within walking distance. Hakuba is a great place to ski. By Australian standards their bad snow days are good for us. We got 2 excellent days after a good dumping of snow. If you can go midweek crowds are less but still we found it easy to find space on the runs we liked. The kindest I waited to get on a lift over 3 days was 5 minutes!!