Eihoji, Enakyo, Magomejuku & Tsumagojuku Day Tour from Nagoya
Description
Join our tour and enjoy a captivating journey through time and culture as you explore the hidden gems of central Japan. Kokeizan Eihoji Temple, nestled in the serene countryside. Explore its peaceful grounds, adorned with lush gardens and ancient structures, offering a serene start to your cultural exploration. Enakyo Observatory for panoramic views of the Ena Gorge. Capture breathtaking vistas of the winding river and surrounding mountains, a perfect moment to connect with nature's beauty. Step back in time at Magome-juku, a beautifully preserved post town along the historic Nakasendo Trail. Wander along cobblestone streets lined with traditional wooden buildings, indulge in local delicacies, and browse quaint shops offering handmade crafts. Tsumago-juku, another charming post town frozen in time. Explore its well-preserved streets, immerse yourself in the atmosphere of Japan's Edo period. Reflect on the day's experiences and cherish memories of Japan's rich heritage.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Magome is a former post town in the Kiso Valley, which served travelers of the Nakasendo, a major route that connected Tokyo with Kyoto during the feudal ages.
Tsumago, located in Nagiso, Nagano Prefecture, is a post town on the Nakasendo, one of the two old routes that connected Kyoto with Edo. At the request of the residents of Tsumago, it was declared that the town be preserved in its so original form and was designated as a Preservation District for Important Traditional Structures in 1976. Just as in the Edo period, it is lined with traditional houses with their old lattice windows.
Eihō-ji is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple located in northern area of the city of Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Founded in the Kamakura period, two of the structures of the temple are designated National Treasures of Japan and its gardens are a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty.
Magomekan is a convenient souvenir shop located in Magome-juku. Here, you can enjoy light meals such as gohei-mochi, skewered rice cakes coated with a sweet miso and walnut sauce.
The pond in Magome-juku offers a beautiful view of Mt. Ena.
The Magome Waki-honjin History Museum is a facility that reconstructs part of the former Waki-honjin and serves as a museum. It exhibits household goods and furnishings from the time, showcasing the culture of the Kisoji region.
The Eihoji Temple Garden is a serene and solemn garden. While there are some steep slopes that require caution, the scenery is beautiful.
An artificial lake created by the Oi Dam. Sightseeing boats operate on the lake, and along both shores stand uniquely shaped rocks. There is also a park on the lakeside.
The scenery is beautiful, and you can enjoy different views depending on where you look. There are also well-developed walking trails to explore.
In the Edo period, this site was used as lodging for feudal lords and officials of the shogunate. Today, it is open to the public as a museum, faithfully reconstructed to reflect the original buildings of the time.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- In general, we do not send out confirmation emails prior to departure. If you would like more information or need to clarify something, please contact us and we will send you the relevant details.
- Upon arrival, please confirm your name with the guide or staff on the participant list.
- Infants under 3 years old are free of charge without seat. If a seat is required, please book under the child's price.
- Please be at the meeting point no later than 10min before departure. The bus will not wait for late arrivals.
- Please refrain from booking any time-sensitive activities such as restaurant reservations, cruise ship departures, or other scheduled commitments immediately following your tour.
- English and Chinese commentary might be given on the same bus in case of low number of participants.
- The tour may be canceled if the minimum group size of 10 people is not reached. Customers will be notified approximately 3 to 4 days before the departure date in such cases.
- In the event of severe traffic caused by holidays or adverse weather conditions, there may be a reduction in planned attractions without refunds.
- The tour schedule may change without prior notice due to weather, road traffic conditions, and other unforeseen reasons. (There might be delays in returning to the designated location.) The duration of transfers are approximate, the exact duration will depend on the time of day and traffic conditions.
- Regarding luggage, we allow one piece of luggage per person during the excursion. Please also ensure that the luggage is manageable and fits comfortably within our vehicle. (The maximum size for luggage stored in the trunk should not exceed a total of 155cm- combined height, width, and depth.) Please also be aware that any items stored in the trunk will not be accessible in between stops on the tour, so keep all valuables with you.
- Our contact number may be unavailable outside business hours (Mon–Fri, 9:30AM–6:00 PM JST).
Reviews(17)
Yukino was the guide who accompanied us, very kind. The meeting point was a bit confusing but Yukino was in contact with us via WhatsApp to guide us and find the meeting point to start the tour.
Dear valued customer, Thank you for sharing your experience! We're glad to hear that you enjoyed the beautiful scenery and that our guide`s kindness and support made a positive impression on your day. We're especially glad she was able to stay in touch via WhatsApp and help you find the meeting point. We also appreciate your comment about the meeting point being confusing. We're sorry for the inconvenience you experienced, and we'll review our meeting instructions to make them clearer for future guests. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back on another adventure in Japan. Best regards, VIP Japan Tours
Good tour guide Bara San, very well organized. Magome-ku is nice place to visit, can skip Tsumago, nothing special.
Dear valued customer, Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We're delighted to hear that you found the tour well organized and that Bara-san provided good guidance throughout the day. We're also happy that you enjoyed visiting Magome-juku and especially the local preserved trout specialty. At the same time, we appreciate your honest feedback regarding Tsumago. Every traveler has different interests, and comments like yours help future guests set expectations and help us continue refining our tour offerings. Thank you again for joining us, and we hope to welcome you on another adventure in Japan soon. Best regards, VIP Japan Tours
Summer was great! she did a tour in English and Chinese. There was plenty of time at each location! X
Dear valued customer, Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We’re happy to hear you enjoyed the beautiful scenery and had plenty of time to explore each location. We’re also glad that our guide’s English and Chinese guidance helped make the experience more comfortable and enjoyable for you. We truly appreciate your comments and hope to welcome you again on another adventure in Japan! Best regards, VIP Japan Tours
The tour company didn't go above and beyond but it was still worth it. The driver was pretty rough and swerved around a lot, the tour guide gave very basic explanations in the bus but did put in good effort at the stops to translate for us and show us good spots, which makes up for the rest. The locations were very nice and worthwhile. Overall I am pleased 4/5
Dear valued customer, Thank you so much for sharing your experience! We’re glad to hear that you found the locations nice and worthwhile, and that our guide’s efforts at the stops helped enhance your experience. At the same time, we’re sorry to learn that the driving and parts of the guided experience did not fully meet your expectations. Your comments are important to us, and we will use them to improve both our transportation and overall service quality. We appreciate your understanding and hope to have the opportunity to provide you with an even better experience in the future. Best regards, VIP Japan Tours
I visited Magomej-uku and Tsumago-juku, two stations on the old Nakasendo road that led from Edo (Tokyo) to Nagoya and Kyoto. The two villages have been well preserved and you can't even see the electricity poles. If you love things from the past it is worth spending a day in this region. The route of the ancient road can also be done by bus or private car, since the paved road runs parallel to the old road, my bus driver, taken from Magome towards Tsumago, advised me to make the last stretch on foot to taste the old route without making the step between the two villages and not face the many ups and downs that still exist. There was some snow.
Dear valued customer, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We’re glad to hear that you appreciated the historical atmosphere of Magome-juku & Tsumago-juku, an ancient route that offers a different perspective. It’s wonderful that you enjoyed how well the villages have been preserved and that you could experience a short walk along the old trail, even with a bit of snow adding to the scenery. We also appreciate your practical observations about the transport options and walking suggestions, which can be very helpful for future travelers who want to balance comfort with a taste of the past. We hope to welcome you again on another tour in the future! Best regards, VIP Japan Tour
The tour takes you on a great itinerary of places of interest outside of Nagoya. However, I was in a group of 9 and was the only non-Mandarin speaker. I was happy to give the tour guide the benefit of the doubt and participate fully. While the tour guide did the tour in both languages, he gave more details in Mandarin. I only realized this when I used Google Translate and read the translation of what he was saying to the Chinese tourists. I am unsure of the guide’s English proficiency because when I asked questions outside of the script, he struggled to answer them in English. This was disappointing for a 9-hour tour.
Dear valued customer, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re truly glad to hear that you enjoyed the itinerary and the destinations included in the tour. We sincerely apologize that the language experience did not meet your expectations. We understand how important clear and balanced communication is, especially on a long tour, and we’re sorry that you felt the English explanations were limited compared to those in Mandarin. This is certainly not the experience we aim to provide, and we appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We will use this feedback to review our guide assignments and improve language support to ensure all guests feel equally included and informed. We truly value your feedback, as it helps us improve our services for future travelers, and we hope to have the opportunity to provide you with a better experience in the future. Best regards, VIP Japan Tour
It is very well spaced. Time given to enjoy each location is enough. We had Janet as our tour guide. She is great, informative and very friendly.
Dear valued customer, Thank you so much for joining our Eihoji, Enakyo, Magomejuku & Tsumagojuku Day Tour and for leaving a wonderful review! We’re delighted to hear that the pacing of the tour felt just right and that you had enough time to enjoy each location. We’ll be sure to share your kind words with our guide Janet—she’ll be so happy to know you found her informative and friendly. We truly appreciate your feedback and hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you on another tour in the future! Best regards, VIP Japan Tour
Excellent day trip. Well organized. Attentive tour guide. Information about the destinations provided via WhatsApp. (Also paper maps). Good value for money (lunch not included). Eihoji is amazing and very well well kept. Many tourists there when we visited. 1 hour was a good duration to stay there. 10 minutes walk from the bus parking lot to get to the site. Steep in places. Enakyo was a stop for a few pictures of the lake and mountains. And ice cream. Magomejuku is a post town on the ancient Nakasendo road from Tokyo to Kyoto. It is an attractive street, shops, hostelries, etc.. Quite steep and big cobbled stones. Easy to trip. I witnessed several people falling. The stop was 2 hours, which as I did not eat lunch, was too long for me. Most of the people on the bus went to a restaurant recommended by the tour guide, and accompanied by the tour guide. Tsumagojuk is another street on the Nakasendo road. Not steep, and easy to walk. The 1 hour stop was enough time. 5 minutes wall from the bus parking.
Dear valued customer, Thank you very much for taking the time to share such a detailed review. We’re delighted to hear that you enjoyed the beautiful weather, found the tour well-organized, and appreciated the guidance and information we provided along the way. It’s wonderful to know that Eihoji and the Nakasendo post towns left a strong impression on you. We’re also glad the pacing at each stop generally worked well, and we appreciate your feedback regarding the duration in Magomejuku. Comments like yours help us continue to refine and improve the experience for all guests. Thank you again for your kind words and for recommending the tour. We hope to welcome you back on another journey the next time you’re in Japan! Best Regards, VIP JAPAN TOUR
This is a great tour showing beautiful historical sites, most of the places are post card gorgeous and Liu our tour guide was kind , informative and caring. We highly recommend this tour
Dear valued customer, Thank you very much for your wonderful review and recommendation. We’re delighted to hear that you enjoyed exploring the beautiful historical sites and found the scenery truly postcard-worthy. It’s also great to know that guide Liu made your experience enjoyable with kindness, care, and informative guiding. We truly appreciate your feedback and hope to welcome you again on another memorable tour in Japan. Best Regards, VIP JAPAN TOUR
Great tour around different points of interest nearby Nagoya. Liu provided a lot of great information on the history of each of the sites we visited as well as recommendations for other things to do in Nagoya. Great experience!
