Snow Monkey Park

[Mel]

Has anyone visited the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park? The pictures online look so cute! But is it worth the long trip from Tokyo?

[Anjali Payal]

Not me, but one of my friends have visited it.

Actually, its not only about the Snow monkey park. There are so many other places to move around nearby. The whole Nagano prefecture is amazing! There are many attractions like Yuzawa, Hakuba, Sugadaira and Nagano city.

It is pretty far from Tokyo. It is also quite expensive to travel in Shinkansen ( Bullet trains ) from Tokyo to Nagano (round trip around 20000 yen! ). But if you consider the whole pretty places to roam around, the price seems very cheap. Jigokudani monkey park will take just a few hours of yours. But considering all nearby places, you can plan a good trip of 3 to 5 days. Here are some pictures from that area to blow your mind!

[iamnicole]

hmmm I think I'd visit the other islands like cat island instead of the snow monkey park. But I've read that this is the only place where we can see monkeys bathing in a hot spring. When you visit the park, you can see the monkeys all over the place, freely moving around, which is good for them to be in a natural habitat. Is it just me but, I think I'd skip this place when I am in Japan. The location is quite far and may take most of the time on the road. Visiting the place also requires lots of walking so, if walking is not your thing, just proceed to your next itinerary.

[FoodieSam]

This sounds like my kind of thing. Nature, walking, animal spotting... the only thing missing to make it perfect would be great food!
Is shinkansen the only way to get there? I was reading another post about taking night buses to places. It would be cheaper, but I guess it depends quite how far away Nagano is.
Those photos look like they're from different times of year - is it good to go there all year round then?

[Tara4Eva]

what?! 1st picture looks so europe-y.
Is that really from Japan?!?!?!