Takayama Budget Travel Guide is written for the benefit of those who are planning a trip to this city in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. I hope my description will provide you the necessary information to prepare for your trip. I have also listed here the places of interest that you can visit while in Takayama.
Takayama, or in full Hida-Takayama, is a city in Gifu Prefecture, in Central Honshu, Japan. The city has a population approaching 100,000. While it traces its beginnings back to the Jomon period, present-day Takayama was founded in 1936. Since medieval times, it has been a renowned source for good timber. The people of Takayama excelled in carpentry and were employed in the construction of the Kyoto Imperial Palace as well as some of the finest temples in Kyoto and Nara.
On 1 February, 2005, Takayama underwent a massive expansion, absorbing nine surrounding towns and villages from Ono District and Yoshiki District. The newly expanded Takayama covers an area of 2,177 sq km. It is the largest city in Japan in terms of area.
The name Takayama means "tall mountain". It is a common place name, for there are at least two other towns in Japan by that name (one in Gunma Prefecture and another in Nagano Prefecture). To differentiate it from the other two, it is often called Hida-Takayama.
Today visitors come to Takayama to experience its quaint Edo-period streets lined with dainty shops and eateries. The city is famous for two annual Takayama festivals, Sanno Matsuri on 14-15 April and Yahata Matsuri on 9-10 October. Both involve the parade nof floats and portable shrines through the main streets of the city.
The Takayama railway station is on the JR Takayama Line. From Tokyo, take the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train to Nagoya. Then transfer to the Wide View Hida Limited Express train that runs to Takayama. If you hold the Japan Rail Pass, you can take the Hikari train which takes 4 1/2 hours. Otherwise you can also take the Nozomi train for ¥14,800.
An alternative to trains is to take the bus. You can catch one at the Shinjuku Bus Terminal to Takayama. It takes 5 1/2 hours and costs ¥6500.
Budget Travel within Takayama
Once you got to Takayama, it is easy to explore it on foot. Some youth hotels also rent out bicycles for ¥600 a day.
Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?
The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!
If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.
Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.
AsiaExplorers is researched and written by Timothy Tye. Reasonable care is taken to check and verify the accuracy of the content. AsiaExplorers disclaims responsibility for any inconvenience, mishap, injury or death resulting from following the tips and advice provided directly or indirectly by this website. All pages may be printed out for your own personal, non-commercial use. You may use the information on this website on your blog or website so long as you place a dofollow link back to the page in AsiaExplorers where it appears. Photographs not credited to a third party belong to Timothy Tye and may not be reused in any form unless you are first given permission. Write in to inquire if interested. Third party photographs are governed by their respective licenses. To contact Tim, write to the following email address:
