Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route — Attraction in Tateyama

The whole booking process was very confusing to us. The website stated e-tickets were not available anymore for the date we wanted to leave, we barely understood that we could still try to get same-day tickets if we went to the train station early. Then we re-checked the website the day before our departure and it said there were still seats available for this day (but we couldn't buy any e-tickets anymore as it was past 3pm the day before the trip). Maybe they were mentioning that for the same-day tickets? Or they added more e-tickets in the meantime? No clue.

The website is full of confusing information and should definitely be reviewed to make it more simple. Somewhere it says you can buy same-day tickets from Toyama or Tateyama, somewhere else it says from Tateyama with no mention of Toyama. We had to book 2 sets of tickets in Toyama station, having 1 for a departure from Tateyama only. We were told we would have to pay the Toyama-Tateyama portion even if we wouldn't use the train, but when we arrived in Tateyama, we realized we could have been refunded this portion if the train station clerk hadn't stamped the tickets. So we couldn't get a refund. Proper information should be provided beforehand and given properly to the staff working in Toyama station.

We didn't enjoy the whole route as we thought we would, because it was too crowded. So many groups of people were traveling, all transports were packed. How can you enjoy anything in those conditions? They should definitely put less people in the cabins, it's way too saturated, you just feel like cattle! I wish we also had more information about what to see and do at all parts of the journey. Heard about an onsen and saw pictures of an area where you can slide on the snow but never understood where it was. We were expecting way more, it was too pricey for the conditions in which...

The snow was good. But you have to wake up extremely early. That is a huge problem if you ask me. Because there is a huge usage of trains, buses and cable cars. Because I went in June, it was pretty warm and so the puffed jackets were a huge problem in the city. Because of that the jackets were a huge inconvenience. Plus, because we woke up super early, we got extremely tired and sleepy during the journey. The reason? Well, the point is, there is a lot of walking in the middle of shifting to trains and buses and if you are carrying lot of heavy bags and luggage, you will be exhausted at the end of the whole journey. But the trolley bus was a pretty good experience. The trolley bus is actually a train but with no tracks(as they call it). The point is the trolley bus is a bus(of course as it is in the name) with some kind of rope attached to the roof(it is a similar idea of the ropeway’s rope fixing but with a driver controlling the wheel and acceleration.).While GOING to the mountain, I prefer you don’t need to sleep in the express 50min bus ride because they tell a lot of information. But while coming back it will be a good sleeping time. On the mountain(in June), there is a little snow compared to April where there is a HUGE amount of snow and the snow walls will be very tall. Whereas in June it’s fine. It will not be extremely cold and snow will still be there. Overall it was a tiring but good experience but may not come again. Recommendation to come here-60-70%. But in April-90%(for the famous snow wall). In October-100%(for fall colors). Overall...

We were so looking forward to this, and it was going to be the highlight of our trip.

Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan. Just a day before, there was the 6.3 earthquake that struck the Kanazawa Prefecture and which killed one and injured many others. There was lots of uncertainty and checking with the train station if the train services would run. Then the day of travel was stormy with heavy rains.

We did mostly enjoy the train journey from Toyama, followed by the cable cars, electric buses, tour bus, back to cable car and electric bus, before the final tour bus to Shinano where the luggage were forwarded to. The Chinese and Taiwan tour groups were back, and the transport options were super crowded. Case in point was the first cable car, which we felt was overloaded so much so that other passengers were practically sitting in our laps.

The scenery was beautiful even for a downcast day, and the mountains were wreathed in fog and mist. The 25 minute walk across the Kurobe dam was enjoyable even while wearing a poncho and carrying an umbrella in addition to the travel backpack.

The Alpine snow corridor was disappointing. It was raining hard, so we did not walk the entire stretch. Moreover, since it has been open for over a month, the wall had melted and was black with car fumes and pollution.

Would we do this again, even with sunny skies? Probably not, due to the travel just to...