Published on Jul, 2024

Swimming monkeys was fantastic to see and the beautiful blossoms. Joy was very knowledgeable and was able to answer any questions that the group had. She was a very good guide to have!

Published on Apr, 2024

Wonderfully trip to Nagano area. Cherry blossom was amazing and the monkeys enjoyable. Our guide Kunihiko Endo was very kind and full of information. I highly recommend.

Published on Apr, 2024

Endo is knowledgeable, had wonderful energy and very organized! I recommend going during cooler climates to see the monkeys bathing.

Published on Apr, 2024

I seldom give Excellent to a tour but this one is worth it!!! Although the weather was not good, we felt so happy during the whole day. The monkeys are super cute and the cherry blossoms are gorgeous. What we did not expect was also the lunch! Everyone had a traditional, beautiful Japanese set with very nice service. And I need to give my greatest Thanks to our guide - Jens. He is funny and knowledgeable and explained a lot to us. Also, due to the rain, the route to the monkeys was quite bad. Jens kept walking behind my mum and aunt to ensure their safety. How sweet! Thank you so much and hope to join the tour again!

Published on Apr, 2024

This was an amazing day out from Tokyo. We got the Shinkansen from Omiya, arriving at 9:30, but as advised on their website this was plenty of time to join the tour at 9:35 as there is only one Shinkansen ticket gate at Nagano station and the meeting point is directly opposite. Jens, our tour guide, was very good and explained how the day would go, and then we spent 50 minutes on the bus to the Snow Monkey park. The monkey park itself was amazing. The walk from where we parked up to the main park did take us half an hour, despite only being 1.6km according to the sign, as it was quite steep and slippy in places, but it was a beautiful walk. We were lucky with the weather as I imagine it wouldn’t be quite as pleasant in the rain, but we had some stunning views in the sunshine. When we got to the park there were monkeys everywhere. Walking across the path, sleeping right next to the path, babies playing. It was a great experience to walk amongst them. Only one got in the hot spring, but quite a few were gathered around it. To be honest, even without the monkeys, it was a lovely park for a walk around. After this, we had lunch at a nearby hotel/restaurant. I really enjoyed it as it was the first time on my trip I’d been able to have a proper Japanese meal as a vegetarian (it’s not a very veggie friendly country!) and we were served quite a big bento meal. The other two members of my party don’t really like sushi/noodles/Japanese food in general though, but there is another little cafe near the park entrance (Enzo cafe) where you can get drinks and snacks. The afternoon cherry blossom viewing was next, and they took us to Takeda Castle in Niigata. We were so lucky to be there for full bloom, in the middle of the cherry blossom festival. There were food and drinks stalls, fairground games, and hundreds of people enjoying the 2000+ trees in full bloom. It was beautiful and exactly what we hoped for from this trip. Unfortunately we had to leave before it got dark so didn’t see it all lit up, but we did have a 1.5 hour journey back to Nagano Station. We got there in plenty of time for our 19:05 Shinkansen back to Tokyo. We loved this tour experience and would highly recommend it. Well worth the price, even with the Shinkansen from Tokyo cost on top.