Booking fee
The booking fee includes the costs of booking your tickets such as charges for payment processing. It also covers the provision of our customer care center for processing your order, and all charges imposed by our suppliers.
* This tour requires at least one of the following per booking: Adult, Senior
This value-packed trip with a government-licensed and experienced multilingual tour guide is a fantastic and efficient way to explore Takayama!
Takayama features an atmospheric townscape, with Meiji-era inns and hillside shrines in a riverside setting. In addition, many museums, galleries and temples make their home in the city's 17th century layout. Be sure to come see the Takayama Festival, held once in spring and once in autumn, but be prepared for the crowds as the festivals attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
Let us know what you would like to experience and we will customize a four-hour tour that's best for you!
Note*1: Please select your must-see spots from a list in the tour information to create your customized itinerary.
Note*2: National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter certification is issued by the Japanese government requires a good knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture and history.
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Meet up with guide on foot within designated area of Takayama
Licensed Local English Speaking Guide
Customizable Tour of your choice of 2-3 sites from 'What to expect' list
Transportation fees, Entrance fees, Lunch, and Other personal expenses
Private transportation
You cannot combine multiple tour groups.
Guide Entry fees are only covered for sights listed under What to Expect.
Departure Point
Traveler pickup is offered
This private tour is a walking day tour. A private vehicle is not included. Public transportation or local taxis maybe used to transfer between sites. Exact transportation costs can be discussed with the guide after a reservation is finalized. Please have Japanese Yen on hand for your transportation costs. If you wish to arrange for a private vehicle, please contact us directly. All Private vehicles must be booked 5 days in advance. Maximum number of passengers: 7.
Traveler pickup
Takayama Station, 1丁目-22-2 昭和町 高山市 岐阜県 506-0053, Japan
Sanmachi Suji, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan Sanmachi Street is a popular sightseeing area in Hida-Takayama. As an old town, the area has houses and stores from the Edo period (1603 - 1868). The area is lined with shops carrying local specialties such as Japanese sake, senbei (rice crackers), barbecue yakiniku Hida beef, and croquettes. The area has a lively atmosphere with people shopping and eating.
Sanmachi Street is a five-minute walk from JR Takayama Station. Be sure to stop by when you visit Takayama. 15 minutes
Hida no Sato, 3-chōme Nishinoisshikimachi, Takayama, Gifu, Japan Hida Folk Village (飛騨の里, Hida no Sato) is an open air museum exhibiting over 30 traditional houses from the Hida region, the mountainous district of Gifu Prefecture around Takayama. The houses were built during the Edo Period (1603 - 1867) and were relocated from their original locations to create the museum in 1971.
In a village-like atmosphere, the museum features buildings such as the former village head's house, logging huts, storehouses and a number of gassho-zukuri farmhouses. These massive farmhouses are named after their steep thatched roofs which resemble a pair of hands joined in prayer ("gassho"). They were moved here from nearby Shirakawago, where gassho-zukuri houses are the reason for the region's World Heritage status.
Admission
700 yen (parking: 300 yen) 15 minutes
Takayama Jinya, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan Because of its valuable timber resources, the Hida Region around Takayama was put under direct control of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1692. The Takayama Jinya (高山陣屋) served as the local government office headed by the officials dispatched from Edo (present day Tokyo).
The building complex was in official use until 1969, and is now open to the public as a museum. It includes various nicely maintained tatami mat rooms that once served as offices, conference rooms, guest rooms and residential space. There is also an interesting interrogation room.
Beside the main building stands a large storehouse built in the 1600s. Known as the biggest traditional rice storehouse in Japan, it now functions as a museum, showcasing belongings and official documents of past feudal lords, old maps of the Hida Region and historic town plans.
Admission
440 yen 15 minutes
Hida Takayama Art and Festa Forest, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan Located outside of Takayama's city center, the Matsuri no Mori (まつりの森, lit. "Festival Forest") showcases the key aspects of the Takayama Festival, which takes place for two days each spring and autumn. The festival is known as one of Japan's three most beautiful, along with Kyoto's Gion Matsuri and the Chichibu Yomatsuri.
From the museum's entrance, an approximately 50 meter long hallway leads to the main exhibition space which is located underground, giving it a cave-like atmosphere. The hallway is lined on the left by eleven miniature festival floats, one third the size of those used in the autumn festival. On the right are ostentatious golden-lacquered folding screens which depict famous floats from festivals in Kyoto and other cities. 15 minutes
Higashiyama Walking Course, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan The Higashiyama Walking Course (東山遊歩道, Higashiyama Yūhodō) is a pleasant walking route through Takayama's temple town (Teramachi), the city's rural "suburbs" and Shiroyama Park, a wooded hill and former site of Takayama Castle.
Along the 3.5 kilometer long course, you will pass more than a dozen common temples and shrines, the ruins of Takayama's former castle and ordinary scenes of a rural Japanese town. While the Higashiyama Walking Course is by no means a stunning sightseeing experience, it offers a pleasant way to spend one or two hours and get to know Takayama's calmer side. 30 minutes
Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall(高山祭屋台会館).
The Takayama Festival, held in spring (April 14 and 15) and autumn (October 9 and 10), is ranked as one of Japan's three most beautiful festivals (the other two are Kyoto's Gion Matsuri and the Chichibu Matsuri).
Four of the autumn festival's eleven floats (yatai) are exhibited at the Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan (高山祭屋台会館), a hall next to Sakurayama Hachiman Shrine. The elaborately decorated floats are several hundred years old and beautiful examples of Takayama's legendary craftsmanship.
Adjacent to the Matsuri Yatai Kaikan lies the Nikkokan, a spacious hall containing impressive models of the different precincts of Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, one of the most ornate and celebrated shrines in the country. The miniature models are beautifully intricate and are accompanied by short explanations in Japanese and English. Photos are permitted inside both halls. 30 minutes
Hida-Takayama Miyagawa Morning Market, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan Two morning markets (朝市, Asaichi) are held in Takayama on a daily basis from around 7:00 (8:00 in winter) to noon: the Miyagawa Market along the Miyagawa River in the old town, and the Jinya-mae Market in front of the Takayama Jinya.
The stands sell local crafts, snacks and farm products such as vegetables, pickles and flowers. There is typically a pleasant atmosphere around the markets, as tourists and locals alike saunter from stall to stall purchasing goods and food and talking. 30 minutes
Hida Kokubun-ji Temple, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan Hida Kokubunji Temple, about a five-minute walk from JR Takayama Station, is a well-known Buddhist temple in Takayama. Its iconic three-storied pagoda was constructed in 1820. A Buddhist statue thought to have been made in the Heian period is enshrined in the main building. Be sure to take notice of the huge gingko tree on the grounds. It is over 1,260 years of age. 30 minutes
Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine in Takayama is the venue for the Takayama Festival in the autumn. Next to the shrine is the Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall, or Yatai Kaikan, where four of the actual floats used in the festival are on display. The shrine is 15 minutes by Machinami Bus (clockwise) or a 20 minute walk from JR Takayama Station. 20 minutes
Kusakabe Folk Museum, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan The Kusakabe Folk Museum is a historic private residence that was opened to the public. The building was constructed during the Meiji period in Edo architectural style. It is due to its splendid architectural technique, the entire building is designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The museum is thirteen minutes by Machinami Bus (counterclockwise) or a fifteen-minute walk from JR Takayama Station. 10 minutes
Yoshijima Heritage House, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan Yoshijima Heritage House was built in Meiji 41 (1908). Because it has been a Sake brewery since olden times, a huge sakabayashi (sign of a shop dealing in sake, made of Japanese ceder leaves) is hung under the eaves. In contrast to the masculine style of the Kusakabe house, it can be said that this Yoshijima house is a structure possessing subtlety and feminine beauty. 10 minutes
Takayama Showa Museum, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan Takayama Showa-kan Museum, The retro streets of 1950 are reconstructed inside the museum, and the lifestyle and culture of that time period are nostalgically revived. There is Midget Alley, a barbershop, a photo studio and a general store. Many nostalgic items are on display, and visitors can see and feel the good old days. 10 minutes
Hida Takayama Retro Museum, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan There is old good atmosphere with a set of Showa movies at Hida Takayama retro museum. You can actually “See it”,“Snap it” and “Play it” a figure, magazine, poster, toy, game, showa retro pachinko, etc. It is an experience-type of museum that you can feel the life and culture of Showa. 10 minutes
Service animals allowed
Public transportation options are available nearby
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
Wheelchair accessible
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
This is a walking tour. Pick up is on foot.
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
billandjoe
10 Apr 2023
Yoko is a consummate pro. Gracious, knowledgeable, thoughtful, and punctual. Great advance communication, planning support, and on-the-ground flexibility. Fluent English. She is a lovely new friend.
Discover134293
07 Apr 2023
My review is being done late, as I was in Takayama on October 22, 2022.
Well then.
I would like to commend not only the organization of TripAdvisor, but especially my guide, Yoko Tabata. I was very lucky! Yoko Tabata, in addition to speaking English fluently, knows Takayama in depth with all its historical and cultural particularities, including gastronomy! Thank you for the tips and for the excellent company.
Hope to be able to come back soon.
eg2431
08 Mar 2020
We didn’t know much about Takayama before arriving but our guide, Lily, was so knowledgable we certainly came away knowing a lot more. Lily confidently guided us around the streets of Takayama, taking us to historical sights and areas of cultural interest that we would never have been able to find or understand ourselves. She was kind, friendly and helpful, helping us understand Japanese culture much better. The tour was very insightful as well as being fun and enjoyable along the way.
Thank you Lily for a wonderful day!
Emma and James
This tour in
Japan
is organized by
Japan Guide Agency
We always double-check the availability with our local partners for each booking. Even though this is usually a swift process, it can take up to 24 hours. Once this process is completed you will receive your voucher or ticket by email. If our local partner is not able to confirm your booking we will offer you the best possible alternative. If the new date and/or time doesn’t fit your itinerary, we will reimburse the full amount paid.
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