Tsumago & Magome worth going?

[infinitesadness]

Self-driving through Central Japan was thinking of I should stop by Tsumago and Magome on my way to Takayama from Nagoya.

Wondering if it would be similar to Takayama?

Will also be going Shirakawago, Matsumoto, Kawaguchiko.

 

[kifo]

Self-driving through Central Japan was thinking of I should stop by Tsumago and Magome on my way to Takayama from Nagoya.

Wondering if it would be similar to Takayama?

Will also be going Shirakawago, Matsumoto, Kawaguchiko.

tsumago and magome are postal towns along the nakasendo, and that makes it quite different in character from the other towns like takayama, shirakawago (village), matsumoto (city), kawaguchiko (resort)...

the best is to hike the trail between tsumago and magome, and stay a night either of those towns to experience the rusticness after all the day-trip tourists have gone home

 

[thwysg]

Not sure if you wanted to drive between the two posts. People visit here to do the trek from one post to the other. Since you're driving, you might wish to visit just one of them instead.

 

[infinitesadness]

tsumago and magome are postal towns along the nakasendo, and that makes it quite different in character from the other towns like takayama, shirakawago (village), matsumoto (city), kawaguchiko (resort)...

the best is to hike the trail between tsumago and magome, and stay a night either of those towns to experience the rusticness after all the day-trip tourists have gone home

Ah... I read that accommodation there is really basic so I have no intention of spending the night there. Not much of a hiker also since I have back pain.

Worth a look see still?

Btw, heading up in Feb.

 

[Nalgene123]

Self-driving through Central Japan was thinking of I should stop by Tsumago and Magome on my way to Takayama from Nagoya.

Wondering if it would be similar to Takayama?

Will also be going Shirakawago, Matsumoto, Kawaguchiko.

Actually for most people the whole point of going to Tsumago and Magome is to hike between the two towns...the route is actually part of the old Nakasendo and people go there to get a feel of the past....you can park your car at Tsumago...there are car parks along the road outside the town and walk to Magome before taking the bus back to Tsumago

Both Takayama and Tsumago/Magome have the same concept which are just old towns...but Takayama is def much bigger in size to both Magome/Tsumago.The latter just has one road passing through so it's not very big.......you can do Tsumago/Tsumago as a day trip from Matsumoto

 

[kifo]

takayama is a city, so it is huge compared to towns like tsumago and magome. takayama was also never a postal town, as it is not on any of the ancient kaidos that reaches edo.

a key feature of accommodation in tsumago and magome is to replicate the feel of being a ordinary traveller back in the edo period. obviously they are not trying to be your 5 star hotel or exquisite kyoto ryokans... as i had described, it is about being rustic and authentic.

 

[thwysg]

If you're driving down from Matsumoto, you might as well stop over at Narai-juku 奈良井宿 instead of Tsumago/ Magome. It's also a postal town under Nakasendo.

 

[kifo]

Narai juku was one of the bigger postal towns on the nakasendo. It is much bigger than typical postal towns like tsumago and magome. The old street is much longer and wider than tsumago and magome, and cars can drive along it, so it might break the illusion as bit. Tsumago and magome have a very different feel compared to narai juku.

 

[no2bayes]

Self-driving through Central Japan was thinking of I should stop by Tsumago and Magome on my way to Takayama from Nagoya.

Wondering if it would be similar to Takayama?

Will also be going Shirakawago, Matsumoto, Kawaguchiko.

Tsumago & Magome are scenic and tiny postal towns and definitely worthy of 1-2h stop over visits for some nice photos of the houses and shops. They are different from Takayama, which is a larger town with a JR station. At Magome, be sure to walk to the hilltop of the town for a nice panoramic view.

I did the hike in 2010 between these two postal towns and suggest that you skip the hike if you have back pain.

 

[infinitesadness]

If you're driving down from Matsumoto, you might as well stop over at Narai-juku 奈良井宿 instead of Tsumago/ Magome. It's also a postal town under Nakasendo.

Narai-juku?
I'll check it out.

Narai juku was one of the bigger postal towns on the nakasendo. It is much bigger than typical postal towns like tsumago and magome. The old street is much longer and wider than tsumago and magome, and cars can drive along it, so it might break the illusion as bit. Tsumago and magome have a very different feel compared to narai juku.

Thanks for all your inputs. I think I'll just check out one of them. Magome is the one with the hill top point?