Nakanoyu Onsen Ryokan — Hotel in Matsumoto

Let me quickly get to practical info I wish I had: From Tokyo take a 2.5 hour train to Matsumoto. You can either spend a night here (Castle is great) or time your train to get there before 3:30pm, the one time of day they provide free mini van shuttle 1.0 - 1.5 hours (depending on road construction). Hotel is high in the mountains. 12:00pm only shuttle back time, so plan your trip back to Tokyo around 2pm.||Best to book 2+ nights, as you arrive around 5:00pm. If looking for an activity, stroll down the road and take pictures of monkeys. Or time enough for a quick onsen. Two separate hot springs for men and women. One private one for couples not as good as the other two. Dinner: only 6:00 or 6:30pm times. Dinner was fantastic, varied both nights. 80-90% Japanese guests stay here, but English is spoken well by the hotel. ||Wi-Fi no issues - quick and normal. TV has the usual 6 Japanese channels. Bed futon on tatami mats is only about 4-5 inches thick. I slept okay but wouldn't want to sleep on them all year. Breakfast: 7:00 or 7:30am only. Kamikochi shuttle leaves at 8:00, 8:30, or 9:00am. Bus in only to Kamikochi, no cars. No park entrance fee.||Kamikochi National Park is stunning. About 9 miles of valley floor, hiking along the beautiful Azusa river, surrounded by trees and steep mountains. Minus the water falls, it's comparable to Yosemite valley (I'm from California). From Taisho pond to Myojin bridge is a 2 hour hike, flat trail. An occasional monkey can be seen; plenty of bear warning signs (saw none, signs indicate when they were seen last, with local hikers blowing whistles to warn them). Option to keep going adds 2 more hours of hiking. About $6 to take a public bus back to the ryokan. ||In sum: we paid about $300 a night. All the meals and shuttle(s) are nearly worth this amount alone. Highly recommend getting out of the city for amazing day of hiking in nature, followed by a dip in the hot springs, followed by an exceptionally varied Japanese dinner and breakfast (high cuisine from a USA...

We’ve just had 4 nights at this Ryokan and can highly recommend it. It’s a big place, popular with Japanese families and, for a ryokan, is relatively economical. The staff are friendly, helpful and speak some English. The Ryokan offers a free transfer to and from Matsumoto, but if you are coming by public transport from Takayama you need to take the Matsumoto bus and get of at stop K26 - Nakanoyu. The buses have announcements in English so it’s very easy. Nakanoyu bus stop appears to be in the middle of nowhere but there is a little hut manned by a chap who will phone the Ryokan to request a free pick up. Funnily enough, right next to the hut is a cave onsen that belongs to the inn. You can book a half hour slot, complete with transport to and from the ryokan. It’s a slightly odd experience! Breakfast is at either 7 or 8am - you need to decide the night before - and dinner is at 6 or 7pm. The menu changes each day, based on the day of your stay, so the people at the next table could be eating the day 3 menu while you are being served the day 2 selection. Everything we had was fresh and delicious, with lots of fish, pickles and hida beef on our last evening. In the morning there are 2 minibus trips to Kamikochi, one at 8 am, the 2nd at 9. On the way back you need to get the public bus back to Nakanoyu bus stop and ask at the hut for the minibus to collect you. It all works very well, so there is no need to hire a car. Private cars aren’t allowed in Kamikochi anyway. The hiking trail up Yakedake starts from the ryokan but be warned, it’s a hard walk to the top. We certainly needed a long soak in the...

We spent two nights at Nakanoyu Onsen Ryokan and it was an absolute treat. The free shuttle bus from Matsumoto station made it easy to get to this out-of-the-way spot up in the mountains, and they also offer a shuttle to Kamikochi in the mornings. The Ryokan is beautiful, simple and elegant-- it felt very traditional, very classic, at least from my limited knowledge of Japan. My husband and I were the only American tourists there, and the vast majority of the guests staying there were Japanese. The food was excellent-- kaiseki with tons of tiny, delicious dishes at breakfast and dinner, and if you're going hiking in Kamikochi, they will pack you a lunch for a very reasonable fee. The onsen are outdoors, fenced but with a nice view-- one overlooks the woods, the other the mountains-- and they're open 24/7 so you can go enjoy the steamy hot springs any time you want. The rooms are simple and spare, tatami mats and futons, and the futons are pretty thin-- not cushy. Shared bathrooms. Kamikochi, a sprawling national park, is a spectacular place to go for a day hike or for more serious trekking, and if you're planning to day hike, as we did, Nakanoyu is a wonderful place to stay for easy access, gourmet food, relaxing hot springs, and for a foreigner, a really authentically Japanese...