dino84

I'm going to Japan next month and I wanted to try the alpine route. Has anybody travelled there lately? Is it better to travel the whole way through from Omachi or just try from Toyama to Murodo and turn back? We will be travelling with a small child so not really looking at doing much in the way of hiking.

Scott.

wlock

Base yourself at Toyama and take a day trip. You probably won't be able to do it all the way - but go up to the Dam and turn back. It will still be a long day but do-able.

jpatokal

YMMV, but we looked into doing the Alpine Route this year with kids and eventually decided to abandon the plan. According to recent accounts, it's become very popular with the Chinese tour group set recently, meaning long waits at all the transport changes, plus there's still a lot of walking and stair-climbing involved.

That said, I gather the situation will improve somewhat post-Golden Week, when I presume you're travelling. We'll probably give this a shot in the summer when kids are old enough to do a bit of hiking.

dino84

Thanks jpatokal, I was planning on travelling around the 12th so hopefully the Golden Week rush will be well and truly done with by then. Our son's not quite walking age and will be in a baby carrier so the walking and stairs will be more of an issue for the adults than for him.

wlock I thought that the dam is quite close to the Omachi end. If so wouldn't it take longer turning back than walking straight through? I am leaning towards a start from Toyama so we can experience the snow walls in the morning.

Scott.

moelleref

I did the entire route last October and it was a long day. From what we could tell, most people started in Toyama and made a day trip up to Murodo and turned around. However, I would recommend that that you go to at Kurobedaira station so you can ride the ropeway. It's not that far from Murodo.

We started in Tateyama (we planned to start in Toyama, but decided to take the train out to Tateyama and spent the night there in a really basic small Japanese inn near the Tateyama train station. We were the only non Japanese there).

Since we like to hike, we did some hiking at Bijodaira, Midagahara, and Murodo stations. However, most people just went directly to the next station. We never had to wait for transit to the next station; however, we got an early start (since we were already in Tateyama and the time of the year).

After Murodo, we traveled to Ogisawa, caught the bus to Shinano-Omachi station, picked up our luggage which we shipped using the alpine route luggage transfer service, and then took the JR train to Matsumoto.

AlwaysAisle

Japanese website on Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route mention following regarding small children on Frequenty Asked Questions section. I think it is important to note that Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route was completed in 1971 back when access by wheel chairs and such was not considered, it was early ‘70s in Japan, you know...

• Route has elevation difference of 2000 m (6,500 ft.). Some elderly and young children do have more difficult time adjusting compare with healthy adult.

• Can bring strollers onboard buses, ropeway, etc. However, there are many transfers and walking route has many stairs. Which make strollers particularly not convenient.

• Bus ride between Bijodaira and Murod is 50 minutes ride, buses do not have toilet onboard and there is no facility between Bijodaira and Murod.

• Bus route has a lot of sharp curves. Elderly and younger child tend to be more susceptible to motion sickness.