Japan
When
Oct to Nov | Jan to Feb
Price
From 2 900€ excl. flights
(based on 2 people sharing)
How long
6 nights
Ideal length
The Japanese Alps, a mountain range crossing the centre of the archipelago, are home to a rural Japan largely spared mass tourism. Takayama, a former merchant town with preserved wooden houses, and Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO-listed hamlet whose gassho-zukuri farmhouses feature forty-five-degree thatched roofs designed to withstand heavy snowfall, offer a striking counterpoint to Japan's megacities.
Takayama, nicknamed the "little Kyoto" for its historic district of dark-wood merchant houses from the Edo period, owes its past prosperity to the timber trade and a woodworking expertise still visible in its temples and shrines. The morning market held for centuries along the Miyagawa River remains a daily gathering point for local producers selling vegetables, fermented pickles, and handicrafts.
The hamlet of Shirakawa-go, tucked away in a remote valley of the Japanese Alps, preserves over a hundred traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses, literally "hands joined in prayer," a reference to the shape of their forty-five-degree thatched roofs. This architecture, built without nails to withstand snowfall exceeding three metres, once housed several generations under one roof while reserving the upper floors for silkworm farming.
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A Traditional Takayama Inn
A traditional ryokan at the heart of Takayama's historic district, futon on tatami, a private hot spring bath, and a kaiseki dinner prepared from regional mountain produce.
A Shirakawa-go Gassho-Zukuri Farmhouse
A night in a UNESCO-listed gassho-zukuri farmhouse, simple rooms beneath the wooden frame of the thatched roof, a family meal prepared by the village hosts.
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