Every snow monkey tour ends on the same forest path and at the same hot pool, so the monkeys themselves do not separate a good tour from a poor one. What does is the part around them: how you get to Nagano prefecture, how long you are left at the park, and what the price leaves for you to pay or organise.
Start point and time on the road
The tour with the most reviews does not leave from Tokyo. It starts at Nagano Station, or at hotels in Hakuba for skiers, and the Shinkansen ticket from Tokyo is your own business. That sounds like a drawback until you compare the hours. The bullet train needs about 80 minutes, the coach from Shinjuku up to three and a half hours in each direction, and a private car takes about as long as the coach. Every way from Tokyo, compared.
Time at the park
The Machinovate tour plans about three hours around the park, according to an identical listing of the same tour. On the H.I.S. coach the park stop lasts about two hours including the walk, which is 30 to 40 minutes each way in winter, so the time at the pool itself is short. Anyone who wants to photograph the monkeys at leisure is better off starting in Nagano. The tours from Nagano Station.
Ticket, lunch and the extras
Both the H.I.S. coach and the Machinovate tour list the park entrance and lunch as included; the Machinovate tour adds Zenko-ji temple with its guide and a sake tasting, while the inner sanctuary of the temple is extra. Private car tours are the opposite case. Luxurious Travel Master excludes all entrance fees and meals, and the other private listings leave the park ticket open. In winter, tickets may need to be reserved for a time slot, so ask your operator who takes care of it. Private tours and what they cover.
Group size
The coach and the Nagano tours are priced per seat, the van by Zameer haider per group of up to five. For a couple the shared tours cost less; with four or five people the van comes close to the shared tours per head and picks you up at your hotel in Tokyo. The road is still about three and a half hours each way.
Where you sleep the night before
Skiers in Hakuba can join the Machinovate tour by its winter shuttle, and Machinovate runs the same kind of day from Nozawa Onsen. Tours from Hakuba and Nozawa Onsen. If you stay in Yudanaka or Shibu Onsen, the park is close enough for a tour of about four hours with soba and an onsen bath. Staying in Yudanaka or Shibu Onsen.
Season
None of this matters as much as the month. Snow lies at the park from about mid-December to March, and that is when the monkeys bathe most; in October and November, the mating season, they may arrive late or stay in the forest. No tour can promise the monkeys. The best time to see the snow monkeys.
The verdict and its exceptions side by side
| Photo |
Tour |
Starts at | From Tokyo | Park ticket | Lunch | Reviews ↕ |
Price ↕ |
Book |
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Snow Monkeys, Zenko-ji and Sake from Nagano
Machinovate Japan Ltd
|
Nagano Station or Hakuba |
Shinkansen to Nagano on your own |
Included |
Included |
★ 4.9 (993) |
$138per person
|
Book now
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|
Snow Monkey Day Tour with Sukiyaki Lunch
H.I.S.
|
Shinjuku, LOVE sculpture |
Coach, up to 3.5 h each way |
Included |
Beef sukiyaki |
★ 4.6 (361) |
$119per person
|
Book now
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Private Snow Monkey and Nagano Day Trip
Zameer haider
|
Tokyo |
Private van, up to 5 |
Not stated |
Not stated |
★ 4.9 (230) |
$419per group
|
Book now
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Snow Monkey Park, Soba Lunch and Shibu Onsen
SHIBS TOURS
|
Nagano, Iiyama or Yudanaka |
Starts in the mountains |
Not stated |
Soba |
★ 5.0 (17) |
$126per person
|
Book now
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Each price is the one GetYourGuide or Viator shows right now, taxes and fees included. Shared tours are charged per person and private tours usually per vehicle; the line under the price tells you which.
