Gokayama and Shirakawa-go: World Heritage Bus Tour

Embark on a guided bus tour to explore the enchanting World Heritage sites of Gokayama Ainokura and Shirakawa-go Gassho Villages. Indulge in local Hida cuisine and immerse yourself in the rich culture and history of the Hida region.

Duration: 7 hours, 20 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Ainokura Gassho Community - We will guide you to the Gassho Village of Gokayama Ainokura, a World Heritage site.
    In the Ainokura Gassho-zukuri Village in Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture, there are 20 Gassho-zukuri houses still in existence, and you can see a variety of Gassho-zukuri houses.
    People still live in these gassho-zukuri houses.
  • **The…
What's Included
  • Comfortable air-conditioned transportation
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
Additional Information

This is a standard sightseeing bus tour that explores the World Heritage sites of Gassho Village in Gokayama Aikura and Shirakawago, with a knowledgeable bus guide leading the way.
The tour provides a safe and comfortable journey on a chartered bus to the Gokayama and Shirakawago Gassho settlements, which are typically challenging for individuals to…

Location
6-chōme-125 Hanasatomachi
1 minute walk from JR Takayama Station East Exit (Norikura Exit)
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(127 Ratings)
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Stay767330
Nov 7, 2025
Wonderful Tour Guide - Good weather, unique experiences about the villages we visited, the tour guide (sorry, I can't remember her Japanese name) gave us clear and easy to understand history of the sites and she also gave us clear instructions about the time and place to return for departure. Job well done !!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marc_a
Oct 31, 2025
Beautiful double village getaway - It's great to visit both villages, you get 1hr at first village and 3 at shira The first is nice and quiet, only 5 minutes or so to walk from one side to the other, but full of the prayer houses and feels very attached to the mountain, quite picturesque Shira is crazy busy, very diff environment, but also gorgeous, you can feel away from the crowds sometimes, and i would recommend the museum village (which is free with the tour), very pretty. Shuttle from observatory is less busy You need to exchange your voucher for a train ticket, where your seats are preassigned Our tour hostess was very lovely and helpful and provided very detailed information and tips to maximise the time at each place. As it was perfect sunny conditions, the time was not quite enough for us, esp smaller Ainokura, and we could have spent much longer at both, but we thoroughly enjoyed the tour, thank you 😊
Review provided by Viator
Dagsy
Oct 29, 2025
Nohi Bus do a great job - This was a great way to see the Shirakawa-go and Ainokura UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Our guide gave us information to independently navigate the sites without being led as a group. The Nohi Bus was comfortable, tidy and driven well.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cejolos
Oct 20, 2025
Excellent tour to gokayama and shirakawa go - Excellent tour for gokayama and shirakawa, the women guide operator is a very nice and beautiful person, i will do it again if i can, thank you very much
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kristine_b
Sep 29, 2025
Great trip! - You need to into the office to redeem the voucher. That part was not clear to us. After that it was a great trip! Guide was very good! The scenery was awesome and we’d highly recommend it!!
Review provided by Viator
Jakesteam
Sep 24, 2025
A great way to see Shirakawago and smaller villages - Shirakawago is a common tourist destination from Takayama, but this day trip also lets you visit the Ainokura Gassho village, a far smaller and more "real" version, as well as briefly seeing Suganuma village. After an hour or so journey in the bus whilst information is shared by the host (ours was Chiname Yamashita), you'll drive past Suganama. This is just a brief preview, but it's a nice extra. First is Ainokura Gassho Village. There are around 10 buildings here, and it's a very quiet and peaceful village. The highlight is the observation deck, accessed by a 10 minute uphill walk, and showing the entire village with perfect tree framing. There are also a few other museums, shops, and landmarks / viewpoints worth taking a look at. Next is Shirakawago, where you'll spend most of the day. There's plenty of reviews of here already, but make sure you spend plenty of time in the historical section, and visit the key landmarks if you have time! Overall this was a fairly simple day trip, and ended quite early (around 4pm). However, it was an efficient way to visit all of the traditional villages in the area, whilst also learning additional information.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Giovanni_m
Sep 8, 2025
Very Well! - Excellent organization, the guide Yamashia and the driver were excellent, we have no negatives to report.
Review provided by Viator
Colinwt6668ls
Oct 7, 2025
Great experience and opportunity to visit two interesting villages - Very interesting views of each of the villages. It was great to view a small village Gokayama Ainokura followed by the larger Shirakawago (shame about the bear). Well looked after by the guide. Having a longer time in the larger village gave you an understanding how life was/is now.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marilo_h
Oct 19, 2025
A little disappointing - I thought it was going to be a guided trip that would explain in situ what we were going to see. What he explained to us on the bus, we didn't know very well, as he didn't understand his English. Considering my husband is English. We also thought that the bus would take us to the viewpoint, however we were given the schedules of a transfer that took you and when we arrived, it turns out that it was the time when they stopped to eat and there was no such means of transport.
Review provided by Viator
Lauren_c
Oct 12, 2025
Mainly transport - This is mainly payment for transportation to and from the villages. The guide is not a guide that accompanies you but one that gives information on the bus and a map. The villages themselves, in my opinion, did not live up to the hype.
Review provided by Viator
From $63
up to 6 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).