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Welcome to our complete Hakuba travel guide 🇯🇵
In this video, we break down everything you need to know before visiting Hakuba — from how to get there, where to stay, costs, ski resorts, food, and what to do year-round.
We originally planned to stay a few days… and ended up staying over a week. That should tell you everything.
Whether you’re planning a ski trip, snowboarding holiday, or just looking for one of the best destinations in Japan, Hakuba is one of the most underrated places we’ve ever been.
We rented our RV from Tokyo-RV Campers - https://tokyo-rv.com
GET IN TOUCH:
🌏 Email: lloydandmandyenbom@gmail.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lloydandmandy/
💻 Our Website: https://www.lloydandmandy.com/
Our Favourite Travel Vlog Camera - Insta360GoUltra: https://www.insta360.com/sal/go-ultra?utm_term=INRSGS0QJR0
TRAVEL INSURANCE THAT WE USE AND RECOMMEND:
🏥 Reliable Travel Insurance: https://www.safetywing.com/a/llo
Welcome to our complete Hakuba travel guide 🇯🇵
In this video, we break down everything you need to know before visiting Hakuba — from how to get there, where to stay, costs, ski resorts, food, and what to do year-round.
We originally planned to stay a few days… and ended up staying over a week. That should tell you everything.
Whether you’re planning a ski trip, snowboarding holiday, or just looking for one of the best destinations in Japan, Hakuba is one of the most underrated places we’ve ever been.
We rented our RV from Tokyo-RV Campers - https://tokyo-rv.com
GET IN TOUCH:
🌏 Email: lloydandmandyenbom@gmail.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lloydandmandy/
💻 Our Website: https://www.lloydandmandy.com/
Our Favourite Travel Vlog Camera - Insta360GoUltra: https://www.insta360.com/sal/go-ultra?utm_term=INRSGS0QJR0
TRAVEL INSURANCE THAT WE USE AND RECOMMEND:
🏥 Reliable Travel Insurance: https://www.safetywing.com/a/llo
Category
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TravelTranscript
00:00okay guys in today's video i want to introduce to you my favorite ski town i've ever visited and
00:05quite possibly my new favorite place i've ever been to and the place i'm talking about is hakuba
00:10so in this video i'm going to break down pretty much everything you need to know before you
00:14travel to hakuba um this was our first time there we planned on staying for three to four nights and
00:19we ended up staying over a week we loved it so much our second day in hakuba and it's dumping
00:25snow and it's such like light awesome powdery snow and hopefully this video will give you a lot of
00:34value and some knowledge before visiting so you're prepared and if you do find some value in this video
00:39please hit the like and subscribe button and share okay so i'm not actually 100 sure the correct way to
00:44pronounce it i think it may be hakuba so i'm gonna try and say hakuba as much as possible i'm
00:50sure some
00:51people in the comments will be correcting me but for my accent hakuba sometimes just comes out
00:55naturally hakuba is located in the japanese alps in nagano prefecture on the main island of honshu
01:01it's about three and a half to four hours from tokyo and around one hour from nagano city so the
01:08first
01:08thing you're going to want to know is how to get there uh the best option obviously is to fly
01:12into
01:12tokyo from tokyo you can get the shinkansen you can get that to nagano which will take about one
01:18to one and a half hours uh and then from nagano you're still an hour away from hakuba but you
01:23can
01:23just jump on a bus so that's technically the quickest way but it's not the cheapest you can
01:28get just a regular train from tokyo central all the way to hakuba and that'll take you about
01:35four hours i believe and then of course the other option is to drive and driving is again about three
01:41and a half to four hours with traffic depending on what time of day you leave you may be looking
01:46at
01:46five to six hours though we keep getting so close and then another hour gets added on we were meant
01:51to be there at four and now the estimate estimated time of arrival is 6 05 pm so the biggest
01:59reason
01:59why hakuba is my favorite ski town is a combination of things really it's value for money the incredible
02:07options you have for skiing there's 10 ski resorts in one valley it's not like your regular ski town
02:13where uh there's one ski resort and everything is based around that resort it's not even really a
02:19town or a city it's actually a valley that has a bunch of small villages in it so when you
02:25drive
02:26through hakuba you don't really feel like you're driving through a ski town except that there's an
02:31amazing view of all of these mountains in the distance so there may be some people who haven't heard
02:36of hakuba yet and that's because naseko is typically the most popular ski resort in japan but i think
02:43that's going to change pretty quick because according to reports the highest growing real
02:48estate in all of japan was hakuba valley so people are starting to take notice developers are starting
02:54to realize that there's extreme value in hakuba and they're building hotels and resorts and stuff like
02:59that so this place isn't going to be a secret for very much longer and although hakuba is amazing
03:04for snowboarding and winter is probably optimal time to visit uh it's all year round there's things you
03:09can do there in spring and in summer as well as winter and i'll get into all of that a
03:14little bit
03:14later so as i mentioned hakuba is best known for its skiing and that's because it has some of the
03:20best
03:20snowfalls in the world think deep deep powder big mountain terrain and no real lift lines like it's not
03:27busy like some resorts in japan okay so there's actually 10 different ski resorts here in hakuba valley
03:34which is actually mind-blowing so all the different ski resorts here are hapo oni ski resort not hapo one
03:40it looks like hapo one but it's hapo oh we've been saying hapo one yeah uh hakuba goryu ski resort
03:46hakuba
03:4747 winter sports park so it's more of a uh park style mountain so not as much off-pace terrain
03:54uh iwataki
03:55mountain resort i'm gonna butcher this sugaiki mountain resort hakuba norikuru onsen snow resort
04:04sounds awesome we haven't been there yet uh cortina kashima kashimayari kashimayari
04:18jigitaki and abel hakuba goryu limoru ski resort that one was a mouthful
04:31ah that was fun and then there's lodging options one of the coolest things about hakuba is it has
04:36so many different options like there's regular hotels there um like big sort of resort style
04:41hotels then you have a ton of ski chalets so these are like lodges where you can stay and you
04:47have your
04:47own room and bathroom but maybe there's more shared facilities it's a bit more of a uh community vibe and
04:54it's a little bit cheaper there's also tons of airbnbs that you can stay at as well and if you
04:59want to go for a real budget option you can stay a little bit out of town in places like
05:04amachi and
05:05that's about a 30 minute to 40 minute drive from hakuba and you're going to save a lot of money
05:10if
05:10you want to get an airbnb there i would recommend staying in hakuba valley because there's just so much
05:15to do in town and i'll get into that as well but before we get into that i want to
05:19share with you
05:19something that we've been using particularly for this trip and that is our brand new level 8 luggage
05:24because getting somewhere like hakuba especially in winter usually means trains buses snow taxis
05:31and moving around with quite a lot of gear and that's exactly why we decided to upgrade our luggage
05:35recently so this here is the voyager 26 inch suitcase from level 8 and one thing we notice
05:41straight away is just how much room there is inside the handle sits on the outside so you don't
05:45lose that internal package space which makes a lot of difference when you're carrying bulkier winter
05:50clothes like jackets and layers it's also made from this really solid polycarbonate shell so it feels
05:56really durable without being too heavy you can still carry it upstairs and stuff like that the wheels are
06:01super smooth and quiet which honestly makes a difference when you're navigating train stations and
06:05the internal layout is just super practical it has compression straps and separate compartments to keep
06:10everything organized we've been using this across a few trips now and it's been really solid
06:15especially for destinations like this when you're moving around a lot so if you're traveling to
06:19japan or really anywhere in the world for that matter and you want something that looks good but that's
06:23also reliable check out level 8 we'll leave a link down below in the description and if you use code
06:27lm10
06:28you'll get 10 off at checkout some of the most popular places to stay in hakuba is uh hapawani village
06:34or hapo village this is where there's a lot of really good restaurants you can literally walk to the
06:40chairlift a lot of the ski and snowboard rental shops are here as well but it's a little bit more
06:44expensive and then echoland echoland is probably the most popular area to stay and to eat uh this
06:52is where we spent probably majority of our time when we were there we really loved echoland you
06:57walk up and down the street and there's tons of restaurant options and they all have amazing food
07:02so apart from uh just skiing and snowboarding in hakuba obviously i mentioned there's stuff to do
07:06in summer and in spring as well some of those things are hiking there's great hikes around hakuba if
07:12you're there in the summer time which they call the green season for obvious reasons because
07:16everything just turns green you can do downhill mountain biking if that's your thing and then
07:20there's a ton of day trips you can do there's a bunch of onsens around there's tons of lakes close
07:26by as well just quick drives you can drive to nagano city and go and see the temples there you
07:32could
07:32drive to matsumoto or even get the train to matsumoto which is only about i think one hour away you
07:38can
07:38go to matsumoto castle you can go to the snow monkey park which was awesome we did that as a
07:43day trip as
07:44well and it takes about an hour and a half to two hours to get there from hakuba so you
07:49could drive
07:49there and back in one day and then there's just a bunch of cafes and cool restaurants that you can
07:54go and visit close by as well and as i mentioned if you have your own vehicle you're going to
07:58have way
07:58more fun but if you don't like i said there is a train station and a train line so you
08:03can get around
08:03pretty easily using public transport as well okay so i'll quickly break down the costs of hakuba
08:08because that's probably one of the biggest things and one of the biggest draws because these days
08:12skiing and snowboarding anywhere any country whether it's north america europe even australia
08:17now the prices are absolutely ridiculous like i'm talking over 200 australian dollars for a day pass
08:23to go and ski a little hill hakuba way more affordable so i'll break down the cost right now
08:28for a budget stay so at a budget lodging you're going to be paying about 8 000 to 15 000
08:34yen per
08:35night if you go to mid-range that'll probably go between 15 000 to 35 000 and then luxury chalets
08:42you're probably looking at about 50 000 plus per night as far as lift passes go they're around five
08:47to eight thousand yen per day and that depends on the resort as well so some resorts are a little
08:52bit
08:52cheaper than others but you can also package it and get a hakuba valley resort so if you want to
08:57hit up
08:58all of the results at once you can do that as well meals were a little bit more expensive than
09:03other
09:03places we went in japan but if you're comparing it to like tokyo and osaka it's probably more similar
09:09to that the cheapest meals we had were probably around a thousand yen for like a nice bowl of ramen
09:15and then on the more expensive side you're looking at about three thousand which again compared to other
09:20ski resort towns isn't too bad one important thing to note though about hakuba is it's not really that
09:26walkable if you don't have a car you can actually get the shuttle which can take you pretty much
09:30anywhere and then there's also uber as well but if you're in either of those two areas like echoland
09:35or hapo village and you're staying there you can walk around there quite easily but getting from like
09:41one end of hakuba valley to the other takes like 20 minutes that's not really an option you do
09:46need to either have a car or rely on the public transport system there which is actually really good
09:51all right so the food and the restaurants here i was blown away at how good the restaurant scene is
09:57in hakuba and it probably shouldn't really be a surprise because all of the food in japan we found
10:03was awesome but there was just so many options like we found a bunch of ramen diners that we absolutely
10:09loved there's like really casual places where you can go and eat quite a cheap meal they're more like
10:14family-friendly restaurants and then also you've got like high-end steakhouses as well and there's a lot of
10:19western restaurants we went to a mexican place which was pretty good but it wasn't my favorite
10:24we really like the authentic japanese style stuff it's one of the more expensive places in japan so
10:30you're not going to be paying the same price as you would in say nagano city for a meal it
10:35is going
10:35to be more expensive so be prepared for that but we still think it's pretty affordable i was on the
10:40ski hill and i saw a vending machine which had uh like one or two dollar beers in the vending
10:45machine
10:46on the ski hill if you're in canada and you want a beer i mean it's 15 bucks or something
10:51for a pint
10:51of beer so you're just not going to get the same value and that's one of the reasons i love
10:54it like
10:55i said such great value for money so the culture and the atmosphere in hakuba is probably what drew us
11:00to it the most it has that real authentic mountain vibe but it doesn't feel like a big ski resort
11:08like
11:08there's still farmland at the base of all of the mountains and there's a lot of locals that are
11:12still living there it hasn't been completely overrun although there is a lot of aussies working
11:17there and doing ski seasons there so maybe the locals have a different opinion maybe they think
11:22it's been overrun by aussies but yeah it felt like an authentic town rather than just a
11:28commercialized ski resort it just feels really rural japan but with a bit of a ski vibe as well
11:34and i really like that and if you're going to be there for an extended stay so if you're going
11:38for
11:38a couple of weeks there's pretty much everything you need like there's a massive supermarket there
11:43actually i think there's two or three big supermarkets and then of course you've got
11:47all the different convenience stores so you've got lawson's 7-eleven uh actually i don't think
11:51there's a family mart there but you've got convenience stores all over hakuba so you can
11:56get pretty much anything you need there it's not like that rural where you're sort of stuck and you
12:01need to go somewhere else to buy uh necessities it's not that rural it has everything you need so
12:06that's really good all of the big snowboarding brands are there like burton patagonia north face
12:12like they all have shops there so everything you would expect in a ski town is there and you don't
12:17really need to travel beyond we found the ski rental shop to be really cool actually so i hired
12:23all of my gear from a place called rhythm snowboards here in hakuba there's actually two of them
12:28and um pretty reasonable it costs me around just under a thousand sorry ten thousand uh yen for
12:37basically a 24-hour rental that was for board and boots and then the jacket and pants were like
12:43probably another six thousand yen not too bad for me hakuba isn't just about skiing it's about the
12:51atmosphere waking up to snow-covered mountains slow mornings good food after a long day outside and
12:57just like that feeling of being completely surrounded by nature it's honestly one of those
13:02places where you can be active but also feel like you're slowing down and enjoying being in a
13:07completely different environment and that balance combined with the value for money and the variety
13:12of resorts is probably why i think hakuba is going to get more and more popular over the next few
13:18years i think hakuba is about to have its moment so yeah i think that's everything that's hakuba
13:23if you're planning a trip and if you want more japan guides like this check out our whole japan
13:27travel guide series we also have a second vlog channel where you see more raw stuff and behind
13:32the scenes sort of vlog style content so hit that up as well and if you found this video helpful
13:37at
13:37all we'd really appreciate it if you hit the like button and subscribe that way it gets shown to more
13:41people and we'll see in the next video thanks guys
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