Hakuba, located in the Northern Alps of Nagano prefecture, is a popular summer vacation area and is relatively easily accessible from Tokyo. It offers a variety of outdoor activities at an altitude of 700–800 metres.
Activities available include hiking, rafting, climbing, paragliding, mountain biking, bird watching and more! You can also enjoy kimono experiences, Taiko drumming, traditional cooking classes, Matsumoto castle tours and snow monkeys.
Beautiful hikes with traditional Japanese sights, even in the small towns & villages can be found during the warmer months...
During winter months, Hakuba Valley is home to nine Ski resorts which include a total of 135 lifts (with 5 gondolas) accessing over 200 Ski runs.
There are 960 hectares of skiable terrain which equates to 137 km of piste!
The Hakuba ski resorts aren't all interconnected via the slopes (Only Hakuba 47 and Goryu and separately, Cortina and Norikura), but different resorts can be accessed using a common lift ticket and there are free shuttle buses to get around to the different ski areas.
If you don't fancy driving in between during your time on the slopes, we recommend these buses but remember you'll need to return to where your car is parked before closing time.
Alternatively keep to the resort you began at, then change to another location on a second or subsequent day.