A coach from Shinjuku, the bullet train to Nagano and a tour from there, or a driver from your hotel. Here is how the day differs.
The short answer
You can see the snow monkeys on a day trip from Tokyo by coach from Shinjuku, by Shinkansen to Nagano and a group tour from there, or with a private car or a private Shinkansen tour. The coach needs up to three and a half hours each way and brings you back to Shinjuku in the evening; the Shinkansen reaches Nagano in about 80 minutes.
For most visitors the train and the Machinovate tour from Nagano Station make the better day, with Zenko-ji, sake and lunch included. Take the H.I.S. coach if you want nothing to organise, and look at a private van if you are four or five people.
Pick the day you want to see the monkeys, or the first and last day of your trip. We look at the booking calendar of every tour from Tokyo, Nagano and the ski resorts and list the ones that still take bookings.
Starts at: Nagano Station or Hakuba
Starts at: Shinjuku, Tokyo
Starts at: Tokyo
Starts at: Hotel in Tokyo or Yokohama
Starts at: Nagano
Starts at: Nagano
Starts at: Tokyo
Starts at: Shinjuku, Tokyo
Starts at: Shinjuku, Tokyo
Jigokudani lies in the mountains of Nagano prefecture, and the last stretch to the hot pool is a walk through forest. From Tokyo that adds up to a long day whichever way you go. What changes is the time you spend in a vehicle, the train you may have to book yourself, and what else fits into the day.
| Way | Travel from Tokyo | Start and end | Park ticket | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coach tour from Shinjuku | Up to 3.5 h by coach each way, with rest stops | Shinjuku in the morning, back in Shinjuku around 20:00 on the H.I.S. tour | Included on the H.I.S. tour | Anyone who wants nothing to organise |
| Shinkansen and a tour from Nagano | About 80 min by Shinkansen each way, ticket bought separately | Nagano Station, back there in the late afternoon | Included on the Machinovate tour | More time at the park, with Zenko-ji and sake |
| Private car or van | About 3.5 h by road each way | Your hotel in Tokyo | Often extra; ask before you book | Groups of four or five, your own pace |
| Private tour by Shinkansen | Shinkansen with a guide | Tokyo | Not stated | The shortest travel time with a guide, at the highest price |
Travel times are the figures given by the operators and the rail timetable; the coach can take longer in traffic or snow. The tours for each way follow below, sorted by number of reviews.
One tour for each way of doing the day. Every tour on this page is listed further down with its full details.
Take the Shinkansen to Nagano and join the most-reviewed tour on this site: Zenko-ji, sake, lunch and the park. The train ticket is not part of the price.
No train to organise: the coach leaves from the LOVE sculpture in Shinjuku and brings you back to Shinjuku. Up to three and a half hours each way.
Van for up to five from Tokyo. Jigokudani, Zenko-ji, Shibu Onsen, Obuse and Matsushiro are on the itinerary, and the price covers the whole group.
The Shinkansen with a private guide instead of the motorway, about 12 hours in all. By far the most expensive way to go, and new on the platform.
Open a card for the start point, the stops and what the tour leaves out.
Shinkansen to Nagano on your own, then the most-reviewed tour on this site: Zenko-ji, sake tasting, lunch and the park.
A group day trip that starts in Nagano, not in Tokyo. Pickup is at Nagano Station or, for skiers, at hotels in Hakuba. The day combines Zenko-ji temple in Nagano city, a sake tasting, lunch and the walk to the monkey pools at Jigokudani.
Guests coming from Tokyo take the Shinkansen to Nagano on their own; the train is not part of the tour.
Nagano Station, or hotel pickup in Hakuba (Happo area) for the Hakuba option.
Facts from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in November 2026.
Coach from the LOVE sculpture in Shinjuku and back, with a sukiyaki lunch. Up to three and a half hours each way.
A coach day trip from Shinjuku to Jigokudani and back. The tour meets at the LOVE sculpture by Shinjuku i-Land Tower, stops at Shinshu Fruitsland and ends in Shinjuku at Tokyo Mode Gakuen.
The drive takes up to three and a half hours each way, so most of the day is spent on the coach. Lunch is beef sukiyaki.
LOVE sculpture at Shinjuku i-Land Tower. The tour ends in Shinjuku at Tokyo Mode Gakuen.
Facts from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in November 2026.
Private van from Tokyo for up to five, with Zenko-ji, Shibu Onsen, Obuse and Matsushiro on the itinerary.
A private day by van from Tokyo for groups of up to five. The itinerary on the listing names Jigokudani, Zenko-ji, Shibu Onsen, Obuse and Matsushiro.
The price is per group, not per person.
Facts from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in November 2026.
Private car for up to five; tolls, parking and fuel included, park entrance and meals extra.
A private car with driver from Tokyo for up to five people. Tolls, parking and fuel are included; entrance fees and meals are not. Stops named for this tour are the monkey park, Zenko-ji, Obuse, Matsushiro and Shibu Onsen.
The driver handles the logistics and is not a licensed culture guide, so at Zenko-ji you explore on your own.
Hotel pickup in central Tokyo and Yokohama; pickup in Hakuba, Nozawa or Obuse is also mentioned for this tour.
Facts from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in November 2026.
From Nagano Station: the park plus time in the snow at Shiga Kogen.
A winter day from Nagano Station that pairs the monkey park with time in the snow at Shiga Kogen. The itinerary passes Yudanaka on the way.
The meeting point is the Kokusai 21 area at Nagano Station.
Nagano Station (Kokusai 21).
Facts from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in November 2026.
From Nagano: the park, Obuse and the Masuichi-Ichimura brewery in about seven hours.
A day from Nagano that adds the small town of Obuse to the monkey park. The itinerary lists the Masuichi-Ichimura sake brewery and Zenko-ji temple.
Facts from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in November 2026.
Private tour that travels by Shinkansen instead of the motorway. New on the platform.
A private day from Tokyo that uses the Shinkansen to Nagano instead of the motorway. It is the only bookable day trip on this site built around the bullet train.
Facts from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in November 2026.
Coach from the LOVE sculpture in Shinjuku with a sukiyaki lunch. New on the platform.
A coach day trip from Shinjuku with a sukiyaki lunch. The itinerary lists Shinshu Fruitsland and the monkey park. The tour is new on the booking platform and has no reviews yet.
LOVE sculpture, Shinjuku.
Facts from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in November 2026.
Coach from Shinjuku i-Land that adds Zenko-ji temple, about 13 hours. New on the platform.
A coach day trip from Shinjuku that adds Zenko-ji temple in Nagano to the monkey park, with lunch and a stop at Shinshu Fruitsland. With about 13 hours it is the longest coach day here. New on the booking platform, no reviews yet.
Shinjuku i-Land.
Facts from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in November 2026.
Where each tour starts and ends, how you get there from Tokyo, the time at the park and whether ticket and lunch are part of it. "Not stated" means the listing does not say.
| Tour | Starts at | From Tokyo | Whole trip | Time at the park | Ends at | Park ticket | Lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snow Monkeys, Zenko-ji Temple and Sake Day Trip from Nagano | Nagano Station or Hakuba | Shinkansen to Nagano on your own | 8–12 h | 3 h | Back at the start point | Included | Lunch |
| Snow Monkey Day Tour from Tokyo with Beef Sukiyaki Lunch | Shinjuku, Tokyo | Coach both ways | 1 day | 2 h including the walk | Shinjuku, Tokyo Mode Gakuen | Included | Beef sukiyaki |
| Private Snow Monkey Park and Nagano Day Trip from Tokyo | Tokyo | Private car from Tokyo | 10–11 h | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Tailored Private Snow Monkey and Nagano Day Tour from Tokyo | Hotel in Tokyo or Yokohama | Private car from Tokyo | 10–12 h | Not stated | Not stated | Not included | Not included |
| Snow Monkeys and Snow Fun in Shiga Kogen | Nagano | Shinkansen to Nagano on your own | 9 h | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Lunch |
| Snow Monkey Park, Obuse and Sake Tasting Day Tour | Nagano | Shinkansen to Nagano on your own | 7 h | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Bullet Train Day Trip to the Nagano Snow Monkeys | Tokyo | Shinkansen, as a private tour | 12 h | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Nagano Snow Monkey Day Trip from Tokyo with Beef Sukiyaki | Shinjuku, Tokyo | Coach both ways | 12 h | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Beef sukiyaki |
| Snow Monkey Park and Zenko-ji Temple Day Trip from Tokyo with Lunch | Shinjuku, Tokyo | Coach both ways | 13 h | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Lunch |
Taken from the tour listings, checked in November 2026. The length of the whole day is the operator's figure.
The coach is the way with the least to organise. The H.I.S. tour gathers at the LOVE sculpture by Shinjuku i-Land Tower in the morning, stops at Shinshu Fruitsland on the way, serves beef sukiyaki for lunch and ends in Shinjuku at Tokyo Mode Gakuen, around 20:00. The park ticket is included. The price of the easy logistics is time: up to three and a half hours on the coach in each direction, which leaves about two hours at the park including the walk. On selected dates from late January to late February the tour adds the Kamakura snow huts in Iiyama and returns about an hour later. Ice spikes for the path are sold on board.
Two newer coach tours leave from the same part of Shinjuku: Japan Panoramic Tours with a sukiyaki lunch, and JRT Group, which adds Zenko-ji temple in Nagano and makes for a day of about 13 hours. Neither has reviews yet.
The Hokuriku Shinkansen reaches Nagano from Tokyo in about 80 minutes, so you trade the motorway for a train ride and get more of the day at the destination. The Machinovate tour starts at Nagano Station, visits Zenko-ji temple with a guide, stops for a sake tasting and lunch, and then walks up to the monkeys, with about three hours at the park and the ticket included. It finishes back at Nagano Station in the late afternoon. The train is not part of the tour: buy it yourself, and book the way back for after the tour has ended, not right on the scheduled finish. The JR Pass covers this line; the fastest trains, called Kagayaki, run with reserved seats only. Train yourself or a private bullet-train tour.
From the same station, o8Experience combines the park with Obuse and the Masuichi-Ichimura sake brewery in about seven hours, and a second Machinovate tour adds sledding and snow play in Shiga Kogen (all tours from Nagano Station). Train plus tour usually costs more per person than the coach; the current prices are in the list above. Between 4 April and 19 June 2027 Zenko-ji holds its Gokaicho, held every seven years, and Nagano will be busy on the roads, on the trains and in the hotels.
A private car or van turns the long road into a day you shape yourself. The van tour by Zameer haider takes groups of up to five from Tokyo, with Jigokudani, Zenko-ji, Shibu Onsen, Obuse and Matsushiro on the itinerary. Luxurious Travel Master also takes up to five, picks up in central Tokyo and Yokohama and includes tolls, parking and fuel; park entrance and meals are extra, and the driver is not a licensed guide, so at Zenko-ji you explore on your own. The road takes about three and a half hours each way, as on the coach. The price is for the vehicle, so with four or five people the cost per head comes much closer to a coach seat. Private tours compared.
Two things to settle with the operator before you book: whether the park ticket is included, and how they handle busy days. On peak winter weekends and holidays the car parks near the trailhead can be closed to private cars, and in winter tickets may need to be reserved for a time slot, so check before you go.
MY Travel Consulting runs the only bookable day trip here that is built around the bullet train, as a private tour of about 12 hours. You avoid the motorway and travel with a guide, but this is by far the most expensive way to see the monkeys, and the tour is new on the platform without reviews.
Every way ends on foot. From Kanbayashi Onsen a forest path of about 1.6 kilometres leads to the pool, mostly flat but with a short climb at the start and steep steps at the entrance. In winter the path is packed snow and ice, and the walk takes 30 to 40 minutes each way, so wear snow boots or ice spikes. Prams, wheelchairs and wheeled suitcases cannot use it. Between November and March the park is open from 9:00 to 16:00. The path in detail.
The monkeys are wild and come to feed every day, but no tour can promise how many sit in the pool. Snow lies around them from about mid-December to March, and that is also when they bathe most. Inside the park you keep a distance of one to two metres, do not touch or feed them, and leave the flash and the selfie stick in your bag. On a coach day you are back in Tokyo late, so plan a Tokyo food tour or a sumo morning practice or show for another day, and if you are combining day trips, the Mt Fuji day trip comparison covers the other classic day out from Tokyo.
Most of what travellers write about a day from Tokyo comes down to time. The coach reviews praise the guides and the monkeys, then mention a rushed stay at the park or a day far longer than the timetable suggested. A private car spends the same hours on the road, which one reviewer holds against it. If you want more time with the monkeys, the Shinkansen to Nagano saves the most hours.
“We loved our experience! Despite some peaks of heavy snow (late December season), it was really fun and interesting. The time allowed to stay in the park was way too short for us. We had to rush a lot, scared to miss the bus. …”
“Very good tour and guides, we all felt very welcomed. The bus ride felt very long but it was completely worth it! We saw monkeys in the thermal waters even by the end of March!”
“Everything was perfect, the guide as well as the organisation in general. The monkeys are fascinating, the snow houses surprising, the meal very good. But more than 13 hours in total spoils a substantial part of the pleasure.”
“Innacurate schedule. This trip will take much longer than they tell you.”
“The activities were great; we loved the snow monkey park. We also loved the temple, but didn't have enough time to see it properly. The description of the tour is totally misleading. A. It's not a tour, it's a taxi service. B. A 10-hour 'tour' is actually 3.5 hours there, 50 mins from the park to the temple, and 3.5 hours back. That's 2 hours to actually do anything. …”
Real traveller reviews from GetYourGuide.
Up to three and a half hours each way, with rest stops. The H.I.S. tour leaves Shinjuku in the morning and is back in Shinjuku around 20:00, about an hour later on the dates that include the Kamakura snow huts.
Yes. The Machinovate group tour, the Obuse tour by o8Experience and the Shiga Kogen tour start in Nagano, the first and the last at Nagano Station. The Shinkansen from Tokyo takes about 80 minutes and is not included; the JR Pass covers it, and the fastest Kagayaki trains need a seat reservation.
For most visitors the Shinkansen and the Machinovate tour from Nagano Station: less time on the road, about three hours at the park, and Zenko-ji, sake and lunch on top. The coach is cheaper and needs no planning, but you spend up to seven hours on it.
Not always. Luxurious Travel Master lists entrance fees as extra, and for the other private tours the listing does not say. Ask the operator before you book; in winter, tickets may need to be reserved for a time slot.
With four or five people it can be. The price is per vehicle, the driver picks you up at your hotel, and you can add Zenko-ji, Obuse or Shibu Onsen. The road takes as long as on the coach, and the driver is usually not a licensed guide.
Start point, way from Tokyo, park ticket and lunch in one table.
See the comparison