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1-Day Snow Monkeys & Snow Fun in Shiga Kogen Tour
Nagano, Japan
- 9 hours
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Enjoy fun winter activities and visit the famous Japanese snow monkeys during this full-day trip to Shiga Kogen, Japan’s largest and highest ski resort. Start off with some fun in the snow where you for sledding, snow bikes, and snow scooters. After a warm and hearty lunch, head to Jigokudani Monkey Park, where you can observe the famous wild macaques bathing in the hot springs.
- Enjoy sledding, snow bikes, snow scooters at Japan's biggest ski resort
- Observe the Japanese macaques bathing in the hot springs at Jigokudani Park
- Tuck into a hearty lunch at a local restaurant at the ski resort
- Multiple pick-up points are available for your convenience
What's Included
- Transportation from your desired meetup point to all tour destinations and back.
- Snow activity fees in Shiga Kogen
- Entry fee to the Snow Monkey Park
- Shinkansen / 'Bullet Train' tickets to / from Nagano
- Rental clothing including snow jackets, pants, and boots
- Additional snacks, food & drinks
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
Type to search
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.What To Expect
Meet your group at a central location and travel by coach bus to the Shiga Kogen Highlighands.
Head to the ski resort known as one of the largest winter resorts in Japan, the area gained further publicity thanks to its hosting role for the 1998 Winter Olympics. Spend a few hours having fun with some of the ski resort’s different activities which include snow sledding, snow bikes, and snow scooters.
Warm up and refuel with lunch at an area restaurant (included), then head to the Jigokudani Monkey Park.
Take a walk down a forest trail, arriving at an area where you can observe the famous Japanese macaques that warm up by bathing in the local hot springs.
Return back to your original departure point to conclude the tour.
Head to the ski resort known as one of the largest winter resorts in Japan, the area gained further publicity thanks to its hosting role for the 1998 Winter Olympics. Spend a few hours having fun with some of the ski resort’s different activities which include snow sledding, snow bikes, and snow scooters.
Warm up and refuel with lunch at an area restaurant (included), then head to the Jigokudani Monkey Park.
Take a walk down a forest trail, arriving at an area where you can observe the famous Japanese macaques that warm up by bathing in the local hot springs.
Return back to your original departure point to conclude the tour.
Shiga Kogen Ski Area
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park
2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- There are a few days in the year that the monkeys might not come down to the park or that the monkeys leave the park early. While this is unlikely to happen, it is possible and is outside of our control.
- While unlikely, should weather or road conditions make it impossible to access Shiga Kogen, we would switch the activity to a visit to Zenko-ji Temple. As we cannot confirm weather conditions until the day of the tour, we would not be able to notify guests of the change in advance.
- Infants (0-5) are free of charge. (No tour meal is included. Please order foods directly from the restaurant.)
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
- For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start 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.
Traveler Photos
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Reviews
5.0
56 reviews
A_T, Mar 2024
I am rating the tour, not the experience - the snow monkey park was amazing, but the tour was terrible. Someone already covered the 'bunny hill' snow activity experience in the 1-star review here, so I will not repeat that part. Our main point of unhappiness was that the guide wasted the time and shortened our time in the snow monkey park, which was the whole point of booking this tour, and the fact that the guide, when asked about that issue, became unreasonably aggressive and hostile.
The guide showed up saying that 'the company sandwiched another stop' into the itinerary. We did not say anything at that point, as we were certain the 'company' would not have done it at the expense of the main attractions. The additional activity was a chair lift to the top of the skiing hill in a resort - whilst there can be different opinions on whether it is worth it or not, the reality is that we did not buy it, and therefore it should not have been 'sandwiched in' without our agreement - at least an email with a notice of plan changes and a possibility to cancel the tour if we choose not to do it. What we bought was 2.5 hours on the bunny hill and ended up spending 2, and 2.5 hours in the monkey park and ended up spending 2 hours and 15 minutes, which would have been 1 hour 45 minutes if the guide hadn't agreed to extend the trip by half an hour and make it last till 4:30 vs. 4:00 like he intended originally.
The guide did not share any history or fact based information about the area or the monkey park, and became really aggressive after my question about the time that was remaining to be spent in the monkey park. We had 7 people in the group - 4 adults and 3 children. My husband and I had our own snow gear, but the family with 3 children needed winter clothes. This detail is important, cause the journey ended up being: bunny hill - chair lift - and instead of straight to the monkey park, back to the bunny hill so that the family can return the clothes. We spent half an hour there, and the family kept the clothes for the duration of the trip. So we wasted half an hour back at that resort for no obvious reason. At that point, I noticed that it was 2pm, there is only 2 hours left to be spent in the park, and we still have to get there. So I asked the guide if we will be spending 2.5 hours in the park, and his words were "more or less". I wanted to show him the description of the tour to ask why not 2.5 hours, and he just went ballistic immediately, raised his voice, became aggressive and generally very unpleasant. From this point the experience was pretty much ruined, but the monkeys made up for it a little bit. The guide ended up extending the trip by half an hour, so at least that was close to what was in the tour description.
It was a cold day with a lot of snow, which was amazing to look at when in the park, but eventually we got very cold (even with our own winter clothes). We were hoping to warm up in the van, but the driver did not send any warm air to the coach, there was cold air blowing from the vents above us, while he selfishly warmed up the front area and the front window, and the guide spent the entire hour back browsing on his phone. It was a miserable cold one hour ride in a very cold van, with the family huddled in the back and us two sitting behind the driver, hoping for some heat.
The monkey park is amazing, it is experience like no other. We found it would have been better if this experience was not 'scheduled' to get back to the van on time, as one can spend hours just looking at those creatures and their interactions. So if you are going to spend the money on this tour anyway, may as well get a taxi instead for this amount of cash to get to the park from Nagano station and get an admission ticket. Or take a bus to get there - once you get to the Nagano station, there are big signs everywhere indicating where the buses are, and English does not seem to be an issue there.
Response from Host, Mar 2024
Dear Alexandra,
Thank you for your time and consideration to review the tour. We are deeply sorry and disappointed to hear that you had a negative experience, but we also appreciate you bringing these issues to our attention.
As someone who has previous snow experience myself, I can empathize with you that the chosen snow activity hill may feel underwhelming at first glance. The location is selected with guests of various ages or experiences in mind, as well as the variety of snow toys provided. The snow toys, such as sleds and snow bikes, are suitable and can be enjoyed by all guests regardless of their age or prior experience in the snow.
"Sandwiched another stop" may not have been the most optimal word choice to describe the ski lift journey to the top of the skiing hill. Rather, I would describe it as a bonus activity for the chance to see an incredible view and the experience of riding a ski lift. Unlike previous years, it is an included stop in our tour this season and has received positive feedback from many. Regardless, it should be clearly indicated on our tour page, especially in the itinerary section. The tour itinerary should give you a clear idea of what to expect, so I understand that we fell short on this and I apologize.
The tour itinerary displays 2.5 hours at the Snow Monkey Park as you mentioned. However, the 2.5 hour time includes the time it takes to walk to and from the park on the 1.6km trail. To avoid confusion on this matter, this should also be noted in the tour itinerary, and we are sorry this was not depicted on the tour page. On the other hand, we are pleased that your tour guide could extend the time spent at the park to closer align with the tour description.
We believe that one of the benefits of a group tour are the various personalities, age levels, and energy guests can bring that can enhance the experience. On the contrary, a group tour can come with some challenges such as moving at various speeds or having different needs. The family who joined the tour with you brought young children, and they chose to rent winter clothing/boots that we provide. We allow guests to wear our rental items if they choose, so we include the time it may take to find size suitable wear as well as return the clothing items. We recognize it was not necessary for you as you brought your own snow gear, and we appreciate your time and patience as you waited for the other family to rent and return gear from us.
As we believe tour explanations are important and can enhance the overall experience, we regret that we lacked in this area by not providing sufficient information regarding the monkeys or area history. We strive to provide clear explanations to our guests when relevant, and we're disappointed that we fell short. Our sincere apologies for this.
We're sorry you felt your guide responded to you unpleasantly during the tour. The behaviour you described is unacceptable, and we apologize for any discomfort and trouble it may have caused. As you may notice from other reviews, we are known for the caring and friendly demeanors of our guides. We will review this issue with our team and take steps to improve our attitude and overall guest interactions.
It is our goal to provide guests a safe and comfortable ride on our buses between tour destinations. In this case, it may have been considerate for your tour guide to ask the guests if the temperature was okay or if you were feeling cold and tried to adjust the A/C, if possible. We regret that you felt cold for the bus ride back, and we are sorry this was a poor end to your tour experience.
On the bright side, we're glad to know that you enjoyed the monkeys. I agree with you, one could easily spend hours observing these adorable creatures. We appreciate your kind feedback on the Snow Monkey Park.
Thank you again for your detailed and honest feedback, we take your concerns very seriously, and we will take the necessary steps to improve as a team. We wish you all the best.
Snow Monkey Resorts
Nicole_M, Feb 2024
We had a wonderful time in this tour. The snow monkeys are truly a once in a lifetime experience, we will take those memories with us!!
Jens, our tour guide, was outstanding!!
Thank you for making it an incredible experience.
Highly, highly recommend !!
Response from Host, Mar 2024
Dear Nicole,
Thank you very much for the review of the tour, it's much appreciated! We always aim to delight our customers with our customer service and our attention to detail, so I'm glad Jens was outstanding! We look forward to making your day again in the future!
Snow Monkey Resorts
Anahi_S, Feb 2024
We did not have a good time. It was boring. Unnecessary the amount of money that was charged. Tour guide did not explain anything. He was just there with us taking personal pictures with his camera, and NOTHING ELSE. For the " snow experience " it was just a bunny hill to do a silly tubbing. Nothing important, nothing excited. And we were there on the bunny hill for over AN HOUR.
This was a complete ripoff since you can go see the monkeys on your own.
Response from Host, Feb 2024
Dear Anahi,
Thank you for the feedback. We are truly sorry your tour experience didn’t match your expectations. I understand that you were expecting more from your guide and snow experience in general. I can imagine your disappointment, as I'm sure you were very much looking forward to a fun-filled day in the snow and to the Snow Monkey Park. The experience you described is not at all what we strive for. As you may notice on other reviews, we are known for positive experiences and caring deeply about our customers. We can’t fix the past but your concerns have been brought to our team's attention and we will strive to do better. Until then, please accept my sincerest apologies on behalf of everyone on the team. Again, thank you for taking the time to review the tour.
We wish you all the best.
Snow Monkey Resorts
Vladina_S, Jan 2024
Our guide Endo met us Nagano station and we then drove to Shiga Kogen. There were 6 people on our tour. The first part of the day was spent doing snow activities, which was so much fun, particularly for a non-skier. It had been snowing all day, so we got the experience of fresh powder snow. It's definitely a good idea to bring your own waterproof clothing if you have it, they have some pants/jackets/gloves for rent as well but maybe not all sizes. We had lunch there, and the standard options are not really vegetarian friendly but our guide and the chef were very helpful in finding us a vegan option.
We then went up the chair lift to 2000m, it was absolutely freezing (below - 10°) but the view from the top was worth it. The guide mentioned we would've spent more time at the top if the weather was a bit warmer.
The last part of our trip was spent at the Snow Monkey Park. The park is about 30min walk each way and when it's icy it's definitely worth buying the crampons. The park itself was very crowded when we went, but it was really cool to see the monkeys, there were quite a lot of baby monkeys.
Overall, we had a great time, and would recommend it as a good option for a day tour from Nagano.
Barry_g, Jan 2024
The tour was wonderful! The pickup was easy with little wait time. We had a blast at the resort and seeing all the monkeys! Our guide Jens was amazing and very knowledgeable about everything for the tour and Japan in general. Without his help we would have been stuck at the train station with no idea where to go. The whole experience was amazing!
Karen_T, Jan 2024
Seeing the snow monkeys up close. Was lucky enough to see quite a few of them with their little babies.
Also enjoyed the trip up to play in the snow.
Daniel_H, Jan 2024
This was a wonderful experience. Orlando was a fantastic guide, and David at the company worked with us to make sure we got to complete all of the activities despite our Shinkansen being delayed due to the earthquake.
susangraham, Dec 2023
So well organised. We received an email two days before that due to weather conditions the snow fun had to be modified and we would do chair ski lift as well as shortened snow fun. Thought decent to notify us as we had chance to cancel if didnt suit us. This actually ended up suiting us more as great views! Lunch was lovely. Endo great travel guide. Fyi snow monkeys were at end of day not start as we had imagined but still went well! Endo even gave us a great recommendation for dinner which we loved! Can recommend staying at hotel courtland if you do tour as it just over road from meeting point.
Karen_G, Dec 2023
We did this tour on Christmas Day and had a fantastic time. Endo our guide was great, the snow activities, sky lift and snow monkeys were all incredible, we would highly recommend this tour.
Michael_M, Aug 2023
We got off the "bullet train" and there was a short wait at the train station. From there we took a small bus that was otherwise very nice. We drove for a while into the mountains. We went to an area where you could take sleds and snow bicycles down a small hill. It was fun but as someone used to snow it wasn't super exciting. Then we took a chair lift to the top of the mountain with beautiful views. Then we went to the snow monkeys. It was a bit of a walk but pretty easy. The monkeys were fun and we watched them for a while before we headed back down the mountain. Overall it was a great day with Rayu!
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1-Day Snow Monkeys & Snow Fun in Shiga Kogen Tour
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