Matsumoto Discovery - Half Day Walking Tour
Description
Discover a real feudal era castle and the historical streets! Matsumoto is a city with deep-rooted living traditions and proud people who retain an ancestral way of life that we have to honor and respect! Get an introduction into Matsumoto’s past and present during a 3 hour half-day walking tour. Make your stay in Matsumoto the most unique and enjoyable experience possible! Your guide will help you enjoying the best of the city. Our half-day Matsumoto Castle Town Walking Tour is designed to reveal the living traditions of our city by following a different route to and from the castle, and in doing so, bring the history and tradition of the famous castle town to life! Take more than just a tour, discover ancient history and wisdom, have a unique and enlightening experience! Get a glimpse of all there is to explore in Matsumoto City!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Matsumoto Castle is one of five castles designated as ‘National Treasures of Japan’ and the oldest castle donjon remaining in Japan. Construction began in 1592 of the elegant black and white structure with its three turrets. Because of the elegant black walls, Matsumoto Castle is sometimes called ‘Crow Castle’. Please note that the stairs to reach the top of Matsumoto Castle’s tower are steep and narrow.
Nawate Street is a row of small shops with a subtle but recurring frog theme. Aside from a variety of snack shops, the street also has plenty of little nick knack shops and souvenirs. Yohashira Shrine is also on Nawate Street and is a lovely place to sit while enjoying your taiyaki or rice crackers. Feel free to stroll along Nawate Street and enjoy a relaxed rural village atmosphere within the heart of the city. Here you will find warm culture and hospitality and maybe a souvenir or two!
Nakamachi Street is a historic shopping area known for its old traditional storehouses called “Kura” which are characterized by their black-and-white, criss-cross patterned walls. This beautiful street is also a popular shopping area among the locals with many shops and restaurants to choose from. You can find many Japanese handicrafts, such as pottery, lacquerware and wooden crafts. Nakamachi retains this mercantile spirit, landmark of which is the old “Kurassic-kan”, a fully restored Sake warehouse, open to the public for viewing and host to many cultural activities.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Please note that the stairs to reach the top of Matsumoto Castle’s tower are steep and narrow.
Reviews(51)
Had a great tour with Keith as the guide. Very knowledgeable. Climbing inside the castle is not for the faint of heart. Very steep.
Thanks for the great review! We appreciate you taking the time to write it. We are happy to hear that you enjoyed your tour with your guide. The castle stairs can be challenging but we are glad that you found the tour worthwhile. We hope you made some wonderful memories in Matsumoto!
Tom was an excellent guide. He was super knowledgeable, fun and has been living in the area for a long time so he knew so much about Matsumoto. We had a wonderful time listening to his stories and he was very helpful with answering our questions and providing suggestions on where to eat in the area and in other towns we are going to visit. I can’t recommend this enough!
Thank you very much for your wonderful review! We really appreciate you taking the time to write it. Your guide will be very happy to know that you enjoyed his tour. It is great that he was able to entertain and educate you and give ideas for places to eat. Thank you for the recommendation and we hope to see you again!
We enjoyed this tour with Keith! He did a wonderful job keeping us on track and dealing with our groups various pick up and drop off needs! Thanks Keith for all the insights and fun facts. We especially enjoyed getting to stop at the shrine for a quick visit and goshuin! Highly recommend this tour if you want to get to know a bit more about Matsumoto!
Thank you for joining us! We're glad the tour gave you a good sense of Matsumoto. Appreciate your flexibility with the logistics. Hope to welcome you again soon!
It was a great tour for learning about the area and visiting the castle. Our guide, Keith, was very knowledgeable, and easy to follow; a fellow Canadian!
Thank you for your kind words! We are happy knowing you had an enjoyable experience learning about our castle and the castle town around it. We hope to see you in Matsumoto again someday!
An outstanding experience. Keith was extremely knowledgeable and inviting. He was very patient and answered any questions we asked. Highly recommend Keith and Viator.
Thank you very much for your kind review! Keith will be happy to know that you enjoyed your tour with him. Our guides are always happy to answer any questions that our guests might have. We really appreciate the recommendation and hope to see you again!
We had a fantastic tour in Matsumoto, probably our favorite stop from our two weeks in Japan. Being able to be shown around with our guide Naomi made it even better. Highly recommend.
Thank you for your kind words! Matsumoto truly is a hidden gem and we’re very happy to know your time here was time well spent. We hope you will come again on your next trip to Japan!
Our guide was Keith. He gave an exceptionally good tour. Showing us Matsumoto castle and its surrounding areas. Keith provided a very well balanced documentary on the tour without bombarding us with too much information to digest. I highly recommend this tour and om sure this company will provide a great guide, whomever that may be. 5 star.
Thank you for spending time with us! We're glad your guide could guide you through Matsumoto Castle and that the tour struck the right tone. We appreciate the recommendation and hope to welcome you again soon. Safe travels!
It was nearing the end of the busy season and I had a semi-private tour with Colin, who is a wealth of knowledge. You can tell he has a great passion for Japanese history and the region. I found the castle's history to be fascinating, and while the walk through castle itself has rather steep ascension and is not 'easy' to navigate, Colin ensured we were well taken care of. The walk around Matsumoto city was wonderful (my tour-mate had only joined for the castle), so I was able to personalize the tour with Colin which I appreciated. Matsumoto is absolutely worth seeing, and I highly recommend this tour to get your bearings and understand its history!
Thank you for your kind review! We are pleased to hear you had an enjoyable experience with your guide, and will be sure to pass your feedback to him. We also appreciate your note about having a bit of a more personalized tour. Of course, we cannot always accommodate this with larger groups, but when we can we are pleased to make the tour as enjoyable as possible for all of our guests. We hope to welcome you back to Matsumoto again in the future!
Tom was a great guide for our morning tour of Matsumoto. The castle was an obvious highlight and is arguably worth a visit to Matsumoto on its own. We enjoyed our visit to Matsumoto Castle more than any of the other more popular castles to visit in Kyoto, Osaka, or Nagoya.
Thank you for taking the time to share your impressions of the tour. It’s great to hear that your visit to Matsumoto Castle left such a strong impression, especially compared to other well-known sites. Exploring the castle with a knowledgeable guide can add a layer of context that’s easy to miss otherwise. We appreciate your visit and hope the rest of your time in Japan was just as enjoyable.
We were very lucky to have Elodie be our guide. She was very friendly, energetic and made the experience so fun and interesting! We would not have learnt a fraction of the amount had we not taken a guide. Visiting the frog village afterward and being shown some great local streets was another highlight!
Thank you for your review. We’re glad Elodie helped make the experience fun and informative. It’s great that you had the chance to see a few places off the main path as well. We appreciate you joining us and hope to welcome you back to Matsumoto.
