Drive from Narita to Hakuba

[idhktiger 0]

Hi Everyone,

 

This my first post on this forum.

I am planning at trip to Nagano next winter and I'm looking at the options I have for getting there.

 

I'm wondering how long the drive from Narita to Hakuba would take, and how much would a rental van cost (to fit four adults + gear).

 

How much cheaper would it be if I took train + bus?

I'm thinking about a car as the resorts I'm thinking about aren't on site

 

Thanks in advance

[sava 0]

driving = stress

[Fattwins 0]

what resorts are you thinking about?

 

The big companies are located inside narita so you can check their websites for prices. Also Toyota rents cars as well.

[Markie 0]

The drive from Narita to Hakuba is about 5-6 hours. The cost by Shinkansen and bus is about 12000 yen. By train all the way via Matsumoto is about 10000 yen but takes a bit longer. Maybe about 7 hours because of waiting at connecting stations.

I also plan to take that trip during Christmas and if I can get enough people, I'll charter a coach. That is the cheapest. It becomes less than 10000 yen per person.

[SnowConnection 0]

If you can read road info (in Kanji) well, it may be good to pick/return a rent-a-car at Narita airport. But, not, it would be much stress. An idea is to reach Hakuba village by train & bus, then to pick/return a rent-a-car there. Local companies can provide local service for snow roads. (Narita has no snow.) If you want to go around many Hakuba ski resorts, a rent-a-car is strongly recomended. A rent-a-car company office is Hakuba office of "JR Eki Rent-a-car".

http://www.ekiren.co.jp/

Hakuba office : 0261-71-1222

E-mail: reserve@mx.ekiren.co.jp

Location: JR Hakuba station (09:00-18:00)

When you pick up a car at the Hakuba office, you have to return the car to the office. You required earlier reservation cos #cars are less. Check the car has snow tires. Probably, English conversation would be tough. You may inquiry by e-mail.

[Kumapix 0]

I hear if you stay with Fat Twins he had a free shuttle service to Narita

[Markie 0]

Yes, Fattwins is always TOO nice and lets his friends take advantage of his generosity.

[eskimobasecamp 0]

OR there is the chuo taxi operating between Narita and Hakuba (only in winter) - door to door - Call 0262-82-7777 to book it (busy in winter, so do it in advance) - they'll want to know your flight details and how much luggage each person has with them. Costs 8000yen per person between Narita and Nagano city, and a bit extra all the way out to Hakuba, maybe 11000yen?

 

That said, having a car whilst in Hakuba would make life easier as you have the pick of quite a few resorts you could go to and everything in the village is so spread out.

[OUfreeski2 0]

Word, need a car in Hakuba

[TJ OZ 0]

I don't think you need a car in Hakuba. The free shuttle service is good between the resorts and there are plenty of taxis. With four people it makes it pretty cheap. If you go by train look at the JR 4 pass. You must get it before you arrive in Japan. If you do get a car make sure it has snow tyres and I'm not sure if they all have them but maybe GPS. The tranfers are quite easy from Narita to Hakuba by train and bus with very little time in between.

[SnowConnection 0]

I agree with TJ OZ as for Hakuba snow visitors. My idea dated May 18 was for people who want to drive rent-a-cars. Note that you can not enjoy Sake and beers before driving a car.

[fb_steve 0]

I think it all comes down to cost and if it's worth hiring a car there. Having a car would give you much more freedom to visit distant resorts. It would also allow you to move freely around town. I found not having a car very frustrating in a few situations, taxis were an option, but we were on a strict budget. For example the busses only run in the morning and late afternoon, missing the 10am bus meant missing most of they day. The need to go into town for food and unfortunately medicine was also very limited to lifts by locals, walking was sometimes an option but anything more than 20 minutes at night gets very cold, especially when its dumping pow!

 

This perspective is from a tight budget though, if there are a few of you, hiring a taxi would be fine for trips around town, but not exploring other distant resorts and attractions like the snow monkeys (which from Hakuba is a long tedious process of several busses ad trains if you do it solo! Well worth it though).

 

As for getting to Hakuba, if you're not planning on a visit to Tokyo first then investigate the taxi service eskimobasecamp mentioned, a mate of mine used that and had no problems, late at night also. That price of 11,000 yen sounds about right, well worth it!

[Fattwins 0]

walking to certain places in hakuba is far if you are tucked away somewhere. If you are in the center of town you are pretty close to everything. The buses in Hakuba run pretty good till about 10am after that then you have to take a taxi to the resorts. Things may improve as Hakuba/Myoko/Shiga Kogen have formed a tie-up so there could be changes, i hope.

 

Look at the costs of a car from narita with 4wd and snow tires vs the cost of bus or train to hakuba or nagano and renting a car there.

[soubriquet 0]

The last time I was in Chiba, there were plenty of AWD cars on snow tyres. I doubt you would have any problem at all hiring something appropriate at Narita.