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It's a pretty quiet town (but we did visit during the virus, so couldn't accurately judge this). Beautiful mountain panoramas and a good selection of restaurants. Would especially recommend Hakko and Goen.

Monkey Park is good for first timer, apart from this, winter time is good for snowboarder, must visit ShigaKogen Ski Resort, because base lift is above 1000m, much better snow then Hakuba, to me, One of the best Snow Resort in Nagano Prefecture. Yamanouchi split in to 2 zone, the tourism zone on the top and non tourism zone at the bottom, I prefer the non tourism area, people are more real and food are cheaper yet taste better and fresher. Restaurant to visit Soba Yariya by a humble family, and Jin Sushi run by owner chef, cheaper and good quality then those tourism area. Enjoy yourself!

Shibu Onsen itself isn't that big (basically one street), but very authentic - it's a great jump-off point for exploring the nearby area and well-connected to Nagano. I loved the town after dark when everyone is walking around in their yukata. There is no late-night convenience store nearby, so if you need anything for your trip the next day, best get everything you need in Yudanaka or Nagano. I went for the onsen (which were lovely) but also went to the Snow Monkey Park as it is close by. It is a cute experience seeing the monkeys running around, but the area is very small and if you spend half an hour, you've seen everything (twice, probably) and it's a hassle to get to (2KM walk through the forest, with really muddy, slippery roads). I imagine it would be nicer / less hassle in the summer.

Shiga Kogen is a huge resort to ski. You can ski all day with skiing the same run twice if you want to! Excellent snow too. Make sure you book dinners in Ichinose if your accomodation doesn't include dinner. Ichinose is the best area to stay as it's central and has the most restaurants and shops.

Nice place for skiing. Bus to shiga kogen from Nagano station plenty n we’ll organise. But do check your accommodation for alternative restaurant n convenient store availability nearby. Rooms may be too small so do check for sizes

Make sure you double check the shiga kogen lift status before you go in the morning. There is a bus at 8:20 but not another one until 10:50 and the lifts start moving just a bit before 8. For snowboarding and skiing as a family Ichinose is a great choice. It's the second ichinose stop on the bus and there's a snowcan rental right there. The lifts sometimes close at 4 but the buses back are 3:55 and 5:10 so you may get stuck for an hour waiting and the restaurants all stop service from 4-5:30. It's weird. Also, in Yamanouchi, if a restaurant isn't open before 6, don't think it's closed. It seems dinner starts at 6 on the dot. Ryuoo was not worth it but the boot rentals are cheaper than at the snow monkey park and you'll need boots because it can be muddy. They also don't have smaller sizes (I typically wear a 38 European and the smallest boot was still too big). Also don't despair If you get to Yamanouchi and there's no snow. Half an hour up the mountain it's a winter wonderland so even if you're not skiing you should definitely go up there.