Matsumoto Private One Day Tour from Nagano
Description
On this full day private tour, visit the city of Matsumoto with your tour guide. Enjoy the historical Matsumoto Castle, the unique streets of Nawate and Nakamachi and see Daio Wasasbi Farm, the largest wasabi farm in Japan in the tranquil Hotaka Town.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Matsumoto Castle (松本城 Matsumoto-jō) is one of Japan's premier historic castles, along with Himeji Castle and Kumamoto Castle. The building is also known as the "Crow Castle" (烏城 Karasu-jō) due to its black exterior. It was the seat of the Matsumoto domain. It is located in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, and is easily accessible by road or rail from Tokyo.
Located south of Matsumoto Castle, Nawate Street is a 200-meter long brick street that ride along the Metoba River. The street has been around since the 1500s and is filled with frog themed statues
The Daio Wasabi Farm (大王わさび農場, Daiō Wasabi Nōjō) in rural Azumino City near Matsumoto is one of Japan's largest wasabi farms and a popular tourist destination.
Hotaka Shrine is a wonderful place to get a sense of Azumino and even greater Japanese culture. Shrines are scattered throughout Japan, but Hotaka shrine is unique for its adjacent historical museum and founding sense of Azumino.
A short walk from the castle, Nakamachi-dori (中町通り, Nakamachi-dōri) is a small section of Matsumoto's town center with streets lined by nicely preserved, old buildings. The buildings include a number of warehouse-type buildings (kura) with large white-painted walls.
Just across a small bridge on the way to Matsumoto Castle, Nawate Street is a row of small shops with a subtle but recurring frog theme. The banks of the river once echoed with the voices of frogs. Kaeru, the Japanese word for “frog” can also mean “to return home.” Thus, as a symbol of the frog history and to invoke a safe return home, a statue of a frog marks the entrance to the street.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Moderate Cancellation Policy:
- We will charge a cancellation fee of 100% if booking is cancelled 14 days or less before event
- We will charge a cancellation fee of 50% if booking is cancelled 21 days or less before event
- We will charge a cancellation fee of 25% if booking is cancelled 30 days or less before event
- Japan Awaits is a licensed tour operator in Japan, with hundreds of registered and vetted tour guides nationwide. We offer tours in any location in Japan and manage all details, including transportation and tickets. Visit Japan Awaits to learn more about our tours or inquire about a custom experience today
- What if I'm late?
- We ask that all guests arrive at the location at least 10 minutes before the designated meet-up time
- Guests are provided with the tour guides’ phone number before the tour and you can call the tour guide if you need help
- Although this is a private tour, the tour guide will only wait for you for up to 30 minutes of start time before the tour is cancelled
- Attire: Please dress appropriately for all weather conditions
- Passports may be required to verify age on the day of the tour
- Daio Wasabi Farm and Hotaka Town: Only available with the private vehicle option. If you choose public transportation, we will recommend visiting an alternative location due to limited public transport access to these sites
Reviews(6)
Communications were great with this company, Japan Awaits. My wonderful guide for the day, Hori Horiuchi, met me at Nagano station and took care of everything from there. Matsumoto Castle was a very nice tour and then we walked through a couple of the shopping streets, visited a Shinto Shrine and toured a very interesting art gallery. Hori provided historical information as well as cultural information. I greatly enjoyed the day and would recommend the tour.
It was perfect! Always happy to recommend. Our guide took our wishes into account and even visited a wasabi farm nit us.
This was a wonderful private day tour for our party of 4, with our guide, Fumiko, who met us in the hotel lobby in Nagano and helped us obtain our train tickets to Matsumoto. Fumiko gave us a wonderful tour of Matsumoto City, including Frog Street, and Matsumoto Castle, and arranged for an outstanding lunch at the Kobayashi Soba Restaurant, who went out of their way of look after special dietary requirements of one of our party. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and spending time with Fumiko in Matsumoto.
After being greeted by our guide Mutsumi, we travelled by train to Matsumoto. On arrival had a surprise with the Matsumoto mechanical clock and then made our way to the castle. This is an example of the finest Japanese architecture of the time. Beautiful gardens as well: challenging steps inside the castle for which extra care is advised. Our guide helped us pick an excellent local restaurant with great affordable food. Anyway a fantastic tour with a very knowledgeable guide which we greatly recommend
Best tour ever! We spent the last two days with our guide Ilhom exploring Nagano and Matsumoto. It was such a delight travelling with Ilhom, he took us to so many great places that we otherwise would have never seen on our own. After first visiting the temple, he took us to a traditional place where they make dumplings, we entered through a very small door where we were able to cozy up next to the fire; so cool! We then experienced being a ninja at a great shop across the street, followed by a 300 year old sake distillery for lunch. Ilhom took us to all the best shops, and seemed to be friends with all the locals. Every part of this trip was amazing thanks to Ilhom, it felt like being guided by a friend, we will never forget it. The monkeys and Ryokan are a must, and I would highly suggest Matsumoto castle for the second day. We also went to a Wasabi farm in Matsumoto which I thought was amazing. I cannot recommend this tour enough, if we are ever able to return for another vacation I will definitely book another tour with him. It was absolutely an experience of a lifetime. Thanks so much Ilhom for such a wonderful time.
We had de Matsumoto pivattour with illhom von Aril 18, 2018. It was the best privat tour i haver had, our Guide ilhom was great, we could speak about everything, he known a lot of things about the places we visited and about the japanese Culture. The Wasabi Farm was great and Matsumoto and the Castle also. we used a car for that tour, it was better for us, because for the rest for our Japanese time we allways used the train. We can definitly recommand this tourcampany and this Guide, if you book that tour, aks for ilhom!
Thank you very much for your review, Florian. We're happy to hear you had a great time on the Matsumoto tour with us, and hope you'll consider us for your next trip to Japan! We hope to see you again soon! :)
