Anyone have any recommendations for hotels and/or activities around Takayama and Gifu, in April?

You mean other than what's in the guidebooks? They pretty much tell you everything you need to know.

Yep, was looking for someone with personal, relatable experience - but thanks for the tip! I've had mixed results with guidebooks in general - is there any in particular you'd recommend for Takayama?

What sort of hotels?

I was in Takayama this April and might have a suggestion if you want an inexpensive, business-type hotel. The Country Inn Takayama is quite near the station, reasonable walking distance from almost everything else, free wi-fi, on-site coin laundry, very small but reasonably comfortable room, not much for frills. Can be booked on Rakuten Travel. No included breakfast but the hotel is located above a convenience store that has a wide range of pastries and such. Restaurants abound nearby, also. If you prefer something nicer, I can't help.

If you will be there on the 14th or 15th, the Takayama Festival will be on - traditional costumes, historic floats, a very nice experience. If you won't be there then, the floats may still be viewed in a museum/storage building in the temple district. Several other nice museums and temples are in the same, small area. Down the steps from there toward the giant torii gate there is a pretty good ramen shop. There is a nice preserved historical neighborhood just across the river in old Takayama and the riverside morning market is a nice visit. Go early.

Early April is cherry blossom season in most of central Honshu but Takayama is up in the hills and the blossoms come later. See the blossoms elsewhere like Kyoto, Nara, Kanazawa or almost anywhere.

A very nice train ride is up and over the mountains from Takayama to Toyama and on to Kanazawa if that is part of your plan.

For the trip to Takayama, book the Hida Wideview instead of other trains. Big windows, great scenery.

If you can get your hands on a copy of "Japan Solo," it has an easy to follow walking sketch map of all the sites. If not, the JNTO guide, although not as good, is free.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-409.pdf

All the hotels will have tourism-type walking maps but many will be in Japanese. The tourist office at the station will have everything in English.

Just because you gave me an excuse. Takayama, a few of my pics.














My apology for the self indulgence.

Not at all - many thanks for the excellent info and pics! We will in fact be there around the 14-15th, and will try to catch some of the festival. Looks like we've settled on the Associa hotel and spa - it's a holiday trip, and we're not really splurging but not looking to economize either.

Thanks again, and I reserve the right to ping you with more specific questions as the trip gets closer! :-)

I recommend taking the tre 15 minutes train ride to Furukawa and trying a cycling tour with hida satoyama cycling. Look them up. Though I think they shut down for the winter and reopen in spring. The trains to Furukawa are not frequent so need to plan ahead.

We enjoyed Takayama Ouan. It's a big hotel and not terribly cheap- but their breakfasts and dinners are awesome!

We were using our Takayama stop for relaxation primarily- it worked out well