1 Day Tour from Kanazawa: Kurobe Gorge and Unazuki Onsen Join from Kurobe-Unazuki Onsen Station

City and scenery, bridges and buddhas, trolley trains and quaint walks, fully enjoy a lesser traveled part of Japan in Unazuki Onsen and the Kurobe Gorge!
This tour has tour starting points, the first being Kanazawa Station. Your guide will meet you in front of the Information Center near the Shinkansen Ticket Gates. From there we will hop on the shinkansen to the second starting point of the tour.

The tour’s second start point is Kurobe-Unazuki Onsen Station, where your guide will meet you in front of the Shinkansen Ticket Gates at 9:00 am. Once we have left the inside of the station building, we will walk to Shin-Kurobe Station which takes about 3 minutes.

Next we will hop on the local train to Unazuki Onsen Station. It’s a short ride so enjoy the Japanese countryside as we make our way into the mountains.

Finally, we will have arrived at Unazuki Onsen proper. This onsen area was founded just over a hundred years ago and even today it is recognized as having the clearest onsen spring water in all of Japan. The architecture of the town reflects its time period, which was the 1920’s in the Taisho period. This was a time of significant mixing of western and Japanese styles so the buildings give a modern retro feel in a long historical sense. We will walk around the town, get a feel for the onsen water’s quality with one of the town’s covered foot baths. There is also a Buddha statue where you pour onsen water over the part of him that you want to be “healed”.

After seeing a bit of the town we will head on a walk out of the town to get some nice views of the town itself, one of the red bridges and the beautiful valley. When we get back to the town center it’ll be time to prepare for lunch! There isn’t a designated lunch time for this tour so please eat before the train or buy a bento and eat on the train. Feel free to ask your guide for recommendations as they will be eating on the train, too.

We will hop on the trolley train to deep inner parts of Kurobe Gorge next. Enjoy the breathtaking views as you feel the air rush through the train car. This is a long ride so make sure to dress for the weather. There is a roof on the carriage, but it is no 100% effective at keeping all the rain out.

Once we reach the final station, we will start the second part of the tour; exploring the valley in the depths of the mountain. The first area we’ll visit is the Sarutobikyo or Monkey Jumping Gorge, where it was rumored a monkey was seen jumping across the rocks in this very narrow part of the river. The next stop is over to the onsen river area where you can put your feet into a natural foot bath. The final spot is the overhanging rocks. Here you can see the interesting rock formation as you walk next to and sometimes under them.

You will travel back through the spectacular gorge again, getting another chance to find new and even more beautiful spots. There will be a transfer at Unazuki Onsen Station before arriving at Kurobe-Unazuki Onsen Station. This is the official end of the tour so we will say our goodbyes and get ready for our trips back.

To guarantee availability book as soon as possible. Early booking is worth consideration especially if you planning the trip during high season like public holidays or weekends.

This excursion you can cancel with no cost up to 24 hours before the start of the trip. If you cancel it after 24 hours or not show up on the excursion you will still be charged the full price of the activity. Being late on pick-up or departure will be considered as not showing up.