Hakuba
Nagano is a great place to stop over prior to heading to Hakuba. We usually stay overnight to recover from travelling and just to relax a little prior to hitting the slopes.
Transport
Alpico SnowBus
The stop for the bus is located at the opposite end to the Midori shopping centre in Nagano. Exit the station and head down the escalator or lift. You will find a newsagents (?) type shop opposite the lift that sells the tickets for the bus. You should buy return tickets and it is cash only. You can also buy the tickets on the bus but again is cash only.
The bus stop is usually one of the end stops to the left of the shop. The trip takes about an 2 hours. We usually get off at the Hakuba Tourist office.
Local Transport
There are ski shuttle buses that visit the various mountains in the Hakuba Valley. They are free if you have lift passes. If not, the cost is about 500 yen and the tickets are bought either from the machine inside the tourist centre or from the bus conductor.
Accommodation
Hakuba Springs Hotel
The hotel is centrally located in Hakuba next to Jacks Bar and Physio and Equipment hire. So you can hire equipment, hurt yourself and get fixed up all near the hotel.
This is our favourite hotel in Hakuba. It has separate male and female onsens (& steam room) on the ground floor that are quite large and all shampoo/conditioner and body wash are supplied. Staff here are SUPER friendly and helpful…and yes, you may just meet up naked in the onsen. Rooms are decent size.
Marillen Hotel
The Marillen is located at the bottom of a blue run near the Ski Jump. A ski in ski out hotel, we did notice that the snow did not reach the hotel one year we were there.
Cozy little hotel but a little on the more pricey end of accomodation in Hakuba. The onsen for this hotel is at The Springs down the street, which means you have to negotiate the notoriously icey section outside the Marillen and then walk down the road with all clothes/towel etc.
Restaurants
We had pizza, burgers as well as Japanese food but kept few notes on where we went. Will have to go for a walk on our next visit and improve this section.
Yamagami Shokudo Neo
This restaurant is located just over the small bridge and opposite where the food vans are often found.
This is the home of the party Gyoza. Also has a BBQ in the middle of the table which allows a little meat and veg grill. Have yet to try something here which wasn’t great. Is a must visit.
Ohyokkuri
This restaurant is located in the street behind Springs Hotel/Jacks bar and has a little water fountain out the front. You ca’t tell the name of the restaurant sine there is no english sign. They don’t take bookings so get there early and line up – definitely worth the wait.
They serve various dishes but our favourite that keeps driving us back is the local “stew” made from chicken, pork, flour dumplings. But you will have to sit “on the floor” to eat. Cash only restaurant.
Cherry Pub
This pub is located in Echoland and the google link is here. It is recommended to make a reservation here as it gets very busy. If staying in Happo you will need to get a taxi and then the restaurant will call you one to get you home. The pub looks really beautiful at night all lit up with fairy lights.
This is the place we go to for a Chicken Parmi fix when we just feel we need a change from Japanese food.
Maeda
This place is known for its soba noodles. It does require a booking and is located up the street from Jack’s bar, not far from the upstairs pizza joint. It probably is on the pricier end of the restaurants we visit but they have english menus and the food & service were great.
Menu items in “Hot Soba” range from Soba noodles in hot soup with grated radish ¥800 to Soba noodles in hot soup with prawn tempura ¥1050, but of course there is also Cold soba which is a more traditional way of eating soba with a similar price range.
Izakaya Restaurant
Just down the road from Ohyokkuri, this restaurant is up some stairs and again requires booking well in advance – unless you are happy to eat early like we do (around 530-600pm). It is renown for their fresh Agadashi tofu and Sukiyaki. Prices are reasonable and the service every time we have visited has been impeccable. The covers that their chopsticks come in are works of art LOL.
Unjaune
This place is opposite the Happo Gondola, over a little bridge and up some stairs. The sign for it is an antlered deer head.
I would rate their burgers as one of our top 10 globally. Big rating but they really are great. Large & filling and you enjoy the view of people coming down to the gondola station. You can also get “naked” burgers – without the bread.
Yamaya
We stopped into this place only because we were hungry with still a way to walk and it looked open. We were so glad we did. Located about halfway between the tourist centre and the train station, we were the only non-Japanese in the place and the lady didn’t really speak english but was very helpful and patient. The food that came out of her kitchen was amazing – noodles with a sauce and pieces of fried chicken…so delicious.
Happobijin Ramen
This restaurant is located in the same complex as the public baths at the lights not far from the Tourist centre on the way to the train station. The same lights have Lion Cafe and the Lawsons.
The Ramen here is quite good. What is really impressive is watching the old guy making it. It is like a military operation. Also well priced.
Lion Cafe
This cafe is located at the lights near Lawson, Tourist Bureau.
This cafe has the coolest coffee art/hot chocolate art. Usually a little lion paw or a cute bear face. The hamburgers here are good as are the toasted sandwiches.
On some nights you can find a food truck serving noodles here.
Lawson (Like 7 Eleven)
The local late night take service station type place is AWESOME. The food at Lawsons is great. Everything from sushi to rice balls to fried chicken. All is quite tasty and it even has microwaves if you buy something that needs heating.
Yakatori Van Man
Usually just over the bridge near the party gyoza place is the guy with the Yakatori van. We met this guy years ago – an ex-national skier/snowboard instructor who moonlights in food trucks. Yakatori cooked over coals right in front of you (they cool very quickly!), you can also get Takoyaki (octopus balls) in the accompanying van and apparently he does wraps (according to the advertising on his vans). His english is pretty good and he is always up for a laugh – especially at us trying to get the ball on the the end of the wooden handle of the kendama (Japanese skill game).
Syo
Another restaurant in Echoland, just down the road from Cherry Pub. This time Italian cuisine, just for a a change. Is also a hotel so you need to book ahead of time. Prices were reasonable for hotel restaurant food and the serves were pretty generous.
Gravity Worx
Another Italian restaurant. A quaint little place filled with plants, dried goods and preserves on the main road following the railway track – about a 30 min walk from the Hakuba tourist/information centre. Great pizza and pasta, made from scratch with homegrown vegies and herbs. Prices range from about ¥600 for a small basic pizza to about ¥1300 for bacon mushroom spaghetti pasta. They close early – about 8pm so book before you go.
Things to See and Do
Snow Boarding!
Go snowboarding. Don’t limit yourself to Happo. Make sure you jump on the bus to other mountains. Our favourite mountain is Tsugaike which has a great beginner section to the left and a Burger King at the gondola half way station. On many occasions we have had the mountain to ourselves, especially to the left fields of the gondola. Even the year Japan had the worst snow year, we could board in Tsugaike – but higher up, of course. There is a free bus HV3 (with your lift pass) that leaves the Tourist centre about every hour.
Timetable for shuttle bus service to all Hakuba Valley is here.
Onsen
Visit the public onsens. Each building is a bit different – from wooden structures to concrete buildings. However they are nearly all the same in their requirements to be naked. The reason for this is the springs are natural and do not contain any chemicals – so you must wash yourself before you enter the springs and must not wear clothes which contain contaminants. They often will supply a small modesty towel which you may use to cover yourself as you walk to the springs but do not put it in the water. Men and women usually bathe separately but some places are now catering for the European visitors and allow people to bathe together in bathers. Some onsens have different baths at different temperatures – but they all feel HOT when you first get in. Don’t move too much and your body will soon adapt and relax. Awesome for recovering after a day on the slopes!
Sumo, ex-wrestler & his restaurant
Sumo wrestling is seasonal and we have yet to time our visit and time in Tokyo with a big tournament – on the still to do list. As is visiting an ex- sumo wrestler’s Chanko Nabe restaurant somewhere in Hakuba. Chanko Nabe is the food of the sumo and is basically a hot pot of beef, chicken, pork or fish and lots of fresh vegetables, tofu, egg, rice and noodles. One problem is we are not sure of the name of the restaurant.
Hakuba Glass Kobo Gaku (glass beads)
We never got a chance to do this but it is still on the list for another time. Only 15 minutes walk from Bus Terminal Tourist Info centre.