Go on a winter adventure – do it yourself or book a day trip out of Tokyo to see the famous Snow Monkeys of Jigoku Valley Monkey Park at Nagano!
When we found ourselves with a spare day on our hands in Tokyo, we decided last-minute to do a day trip to see the Snow Monkeys in Nagano. We successfully made it there and back and had a great time, absolutely freezing at -2 but incredible! But I’m also the first to admit that we made lots of mistakes along the way doing this day trip unplanned and on our own – and in fact, may have done this trip all wrong!
Before I get started, I thought I would let you know that we partner with Klook – a reputable, official Tokyo day tours and attractions seller.
Get up to 10% off Tokyo day trips and other attractions using my Klook discount code:
LETSGOMUMKLOOK at checkout to get 10% off for new customers or 3% off for existing customers!
Buy your discounted Tokyo day tours & attractions online here
Klook conditions: $50 min spend, $50 max discount, 5 times use. Klook new customers can get 10% off and existing customers get 3% off. Klook exclusions list here. This page may contain affiliate links. If you book a stay or an attraction through one of them, I will receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support!
How we did it ourselves – the Snow Monkeys of Nagano from Tokyo in one day
Where is the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park located?
Jigokudani Monkey Park is located in Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture. Jigokudani basically means hell valley due to the hot steaming springs and steep valley sides. To me it looked absolutely beautiful.
Leaving Tokyo for Nagano via Shinkansen
We left our hotel at Ikebukuro, deciding to take the train across to Omiya Station to meet up with the Shinkansen to Nagano, but the standard way from Tokyo is to take the Shinkansen from Tokyo Station. Upon arrival at Omiya, we queued for twenty minutes to buy our Shinkansen tickets from Omiya Station ticket window and boarded the next Shinkansen to Nagano. They leave frequently.
How long does it take to get the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano?
The entire trip from Tokyo Station to Nagano on the Shinkansen takes an hour and a half. It’s a comfortable, smooth but fast ride and a very fun experience. Each seat has a drop-down table, cup holders and device charging plugs.
When we arrived in Nagano we worked out where the rapid bus to the Monkey Park was at the station exit and bought our tickets at the bus stop (not the bus office upstairs). Buses leave frequently and the trip takes a bit over an hour.
Upon arrival, you alight from the rapid bus at the lower carpark and walk up a long hill and a few streets to get to the start of the trail to get to the entrance of the Monkey Park. There are plenty of signs to show you where to go and it takes about ten minutes to get to the trail start.
At the start of the forest trail, you need to ascend a snowy-edged staircase, then walk along a 1.6km level, groomed dirt trail to the valley where Snow Monkey Park is located.
It’s a beautiful forest trail with some points of interest along the way. It is very good underfoot all the way.
The valley itself is icy cold and stunningly beautiful. Gushing steam from a hot spring, steep walls and snow absolutely everywhere in February.
A human snow onsen too!
A river runs through the valley, and across a bridge you can see a human onsen. There isn’t meant to be monkeys in it, but we could see one in there! We continued on to the main event – the monkey onsen!
Hot tip – take some swimmers and you can go in the adult onsen (hot rock pool) and bathe WITH some monkeys for around AUD$10.00 per person!
There is a steep stairway which takes you to the Park ticket office. There you can buy your day ticket and enter the Monkey Park.
Upon entry you can immediately see monkeys everywhere. They sit grooming each other or running about. You are not allowed to get within one metre of them, but it’s easy to get very close. The monkeys are not vicious or scary at all and don’t seem to mind us humans around them at all!
What is the Nagano Snow Monkey onsen like?
Upon crossing a small bridge we could see a people crowding around something. In no time we were there. The Snow Monkey Onsen was a sight to see!
Although groups of people were watching from the sides, it wasn’t hard to get a good spot to see. The monkeys were in the warm waters of a snow-surrounded steaming pool, bathing, grooming, resting. Adults and babies. They were all adorable! Sometimes they stare at you and apparently you aren’t meant to stare at them back, but somehow, I missed that memo. It didn’t bother them, luckily!
Now and then a monkey fight would break out, but it was more chattering and running than anything else. The people watching from the sides of the pool were all delighted at the sight of the antics of the Monkey Onsen. It was freezing standing there watching, but oh so worth it to experience this wonderful sight of the Snow Monkey Onsen.
Time was passing, and as the park closes at 4pm in winter we reluctantly made our way back to the park office exit, having a look around the gift shop as we went. Then we descended the steep stairway down to the forest trail to walk all the way back.
The stairs at the end of the trail and the road below it had become quite icy, so everyone was slipping and sliding a little!
We called in for a snack at a little Enza Cafe on the way down – their warm apple pastries and hot chocolates tasted so good! Unfortunately, a little too good as we missed the last bus before dark back down the bottom of the road at the carpark and so had to wait a very long and cold hour and a half for the last bus to Nagano. The only place to wait was a tiny lit but unheated waiting room. Finally, the bus arrived and got us back to Nagano Station where we caught the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.
How much did it cost us to take the Shinkansen and bus to Nagano?
The three of us cost around (AUD) $210 or 21,000yn one way on the Shinkansen, so that’s AUD $420 /42000 yen return plus almost $60 or 6000 yen each way for the connecting rapid bus from Nagano to the Snow Monkey Park (easy to catch there, not so easy back late in the day at closing time of 4pm), so another $120 or 12000 yen. Total will be around AUD $540/54000yn. Altogether it’s not a cheap day trip, but it’s absolutely worth every cent!
How much does it cost to go to Snow Monkey Park at Nagano?
Entrance to the Snow Monkey Park was JPY800 for adults and JPY400 for children.
When should you visit the Snow Monkeys?
Snow Monkey Park is open every day, year round. Whilst it is very cold in Nagano, winter is the best time to visit because lots of monkeys will be in the hot pool to get warm. You can visit year-round as there are always monkeys about, but the startling sight of snowy monkeys bathing in a hot pool in a snowy valley is incredibly memorable. We visited in February, and it felt like the perfect time to visit.
What should you wear in winter?
Think lots of warm layers. We had our ski jackets on top of undershirts and hoodies and wore our ski gloves, turtle necks and beanies.
Waterproof grippy shoes would be useful but not essential – we did it in trainers. You can hire jackets and boots, or buy some ice grip straps to put on your shoes at the gift shop before you go up the first staircase at the start of the trail. We did it without buying the shoe grips, but I can see how they would be useful, especially towards the end of the day when it got icy. In hindsight, it’s probably best not to leave quite that late in winter!
What we did wrong when doing it ourselves.
We left Tokyo too late at 11am with no pre-planning. We took too much time working out how to meet the Shinkansen, then buying tickets and finding where we needed to go for the Shinkansen – I even managed to forget to take my ticket out of the machine, and with 5 minutes to go before our Shinkansen was due to arrive, had to race back to the office to get someone to retrieve it for me!
When we boarded, we realised we didn’t have a seat as it was a busy Shinkansen and so had to buy what was left – non reserved tickets. This meant we had to stand or sit on the floor for half the trip until enough people left for us to sit down! The Shinkansen home was quieter so we could get reserved seating tickets.
Arriving at Nagano we then had to work out how and where to catch the rapid bus and spent ten minutes lining up in the wrong office.
Because we had left Tokyo late we had no time to spare to stop for a meal and didn’t see anywhere easy to grab food other than vending machine snacks at the stations. It also meant we were leaving the monkey park at closing time and doing the trail on foot when it was getting dark, cold and icy. After visiting the park, there was nowhere open to get food other than a street bakery on the way down to the bus stop and so we then made ourselves too late to catch the earlier, most sensible return bus – because by that point we were ravenous! It was a comedy of errors all day really, but the adventure still gives us some lovely and funny memories to look back on.
All that said, we had an absolutely brilliant day visiting the Snow Monkeys and were so glad we did it – but there are absolutely easier ways to do it than how we did!
How would I do it next time?
I wouldn’t do it ourselves. I would choose an all-inclusive Klook day trip to the snow monkeys out of Tokyo (use my discount code LETSGOMUMKLOOK for up to 10% off at checkout!) – a bus there and back including lunch at about $180 each all up – that’s $540 or 54000 yen.
It costs the same as it cost us to do it ourselves via Shinkansen and bus, but you get lunch included with a bit more sightseeing and won’t have to worry about missing public transport anywhere! (Like us waiting around for a bus in the dark at the end of the day!) It’s a longer day and uses a coach instead of Shinkansen, but it is definitely an easier, smarter choice – and better value!
If you have a spare day to travel outside of Tokyo, then you really should visit the Snow Monkeys of Nagano – it was a wonderful experience we’ll never forget!
Watch our Instagram reel of our day trip to see the Snow Monkeys at Nagano here.
You can learn more about Snow Monkey Park at the official website here.
We partner with Klook – a reputable, official Tokyo day trips and attractions seller.
Get up to 10% off Tokyo day trips and other attractions using my Klook discount code:
LETSGOMUMKLOOK at checkout to get 10% off for new customers or 3% off for existing customers!
Buy your discounted Tokyo day tours & attractions online here
Klook conditions: $50 min spend, $50 max discount, 5 times use. Klook new customers can get 10% off and existing customers get 3% off. Klook exclusions list here. This page may contain affiliate links. If you book a stay or an attraction through one of them, I will receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support!
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This page may contain affiliate links. If you book a stay or an attraction through one of them, I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Prices are correct as of 2024 – always check with the source websites for the most recent prices.
