The macaques are wild and free to leave; nothing confines them and nothing forces them into the water. Park staff do put out feed, which is what keeps the troop reliably in the valley rather than scattered across the mountains, and that is the part visitors weigh differently. We set out both sides rather than settling it for you.

Snow Monkey Tours From Tokyo | Jigokudani Day Trips

Q: How long does it take to get to the snow monkey park from Tokyo?

By road, three and a half to four hours each way, which is why every private charter on this site runs to a ten-hour day. By rail it is faster: the Hokuriku Shinkansen covers Tokyo to Nagano in 80 to 100 minutes, and a local tour or a train-and-bus connection takes you the rest of the way. Either route is a long day, and there is no version of it that is not. Every route, fare and timetable is here .

Q: How much is entry to Jigokudani Monkey Park?

¥800 for adults and ¥400 for school-age children. From 1 December 2026 the gate price rises to ¥1,000 and ¥500, with e-tickets bought online at ¥880 and ¥440. Every private tour from Tokyo on this site excludes it and leaves you to pay at the gate, which takes cards and e-money but not QR-code payments. Group tours that start in Nagano usually include it. Our tickets and hours guide has the group rates and Webket booking steps, and the park guide covers the walk in.

Q: When are the monkeys actually in the hot spring?

Cold is what puts them in the water, so December to March is the reliable window and January and February are the peak of it. The park is open all year and the macaques live there all year, but in late summer and autumn there is food higher up the mountain and far fewer come down to bathe. Our month-by-month guide goes through it.

Q: Is a tour better than taking the train yourself?

It depends on the size of your group and how much of the day you want to spend navigating. The private charters we compare cost $383 to $457 for the whole vehicle, so for four people it undercuts four shinkansen fares and gives you the temple stops as well. For one or two travellers the train usually wins on cost. We compare the routes properly here , and the coach, Nagano and private tours side by side here .

Q: Are these tours priced per person or per vehicle?

Mostly per vehicle. Of the 90 Tokyo departures in our catalogue, 85 are private charters priced for the whole car — usually up to five or six passengers — and only five are sold per seat. It is the single easiest thing to misread: a $443 charter for a family of four is about $111 each, not $443 each. Our private tour guide works out the per-head cost for one to six people.

Q: How far do you have to walk at the park?

About 2 km each way from the Kanbayashi Onsen trailhead, which the park puts at about 30 minutes; allow 30 to 40. The path is mostly level and runs along the river through cedar forest, but it is unpaved and it ices over through the winter. Boots with grip matter more than anything else you bring.

Q: What time of day is best at the park?

Numbers at the pool tend to build through the late morning and thin out by mid-afternoon, and winter closing is 16:00. A tour that leaves Tokyo at dawn puts you there in the better half of the day; one that leaves at eight does not. Check the stated arrival time before you book. To be at the gate when it opens, spend the night in the valley .

Q: Can you see the snow monkeys in summer?

You can see the monkeys — they are there year round — but you will rarely see them bathing. The hot spring is a response to cold. In summer the valley is green, the troop is dispersed and the pool is mostly empty, which is a perfectly good visit but not the photograph people come for. Our guide to why snow monkeys bathe explains why it is a winter habit.

Q: Do the tours include lunch?

Most do not. Of the tours compared here, only the Nagano-based one includes a meal — a soba lunch at Shibu Onsen — along with the park entry and a hot spring bath. Every Tokyo charter leaves food to you, and several stop somewhere you can buy it.

The Experience

Why Book This Snow Monkey Day Trip

What a full day from Tokyo to Jigokudani actually includes.

Highlights

Two full hours inside Jigokudani Monkey Park — the longest park stop of any Tokyo charter reviewed here
Wild Japanese macaques bathing in the hot spring, watched from the pool's edge rather than through glass
A private vehicle and driver for the whole day, door to door from your Tokyo hotel
Priced per person rather than per vehicle, which keeps the cost down for one or two travellers
Optional add-on stops on the return leg: Zenko-ji temple, Shibu Onsen or Obuse, as the day allows
English, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Japanese spoken by the driver

What's Included

A private vehicle with its own driver for the full ten hours
Round-trip road transport from Tokyo to the Jigokudani valley and back — about 3.5 to 4 hours each way
Two hours at Jigokudani Monkey Park, the itinerary's guaranteed stop
Hotel pickup and drop-off at an address you choose in Tokyo or Nagano
Wi-Fi in the vehicle on request
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure

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How a Snow Monkey Day Trip Works

Tokyo to the monkey park and back, in one day.

Pickup at Your Tokyo Hotel
Your driver collects you in central Tokyo early enough to reach the valley while the macaques are still at the hot spring. The drive is roughly three and a half to four hours each way.
Walk Into the Valley
Vehicles stop at the Jigokudani car park. From there it is a forest trail along the Yokoyu river to the park gate — flat but unpaved, and icy underfoot for much of the winter.
Time at the Hot Spring
The macaques come down to the pool on their own schedule. Most tours allow around two hours inside the park, which is what makes the difference between a glimpse and a proper visit.
Nagano on the Way Back
Many itineraries add Zenko-ji temple, Shibu Onsen or a soba lunch on the return leg, then drop you back at your Tokyo hotel in the evening.

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How It Actually Works

What a Day Trip to the Snow Monkeys Really Looks Like

The thing the listings undersell is the shape of the day. Jigokudani sits in the mountains of northern Nagano, and a road charter spends seven to eight of its ten hours driving — three and a half to four in each direction. The park itself is not reached by vehicle at all: it is a 2 km walk at the end of the road, and for four months of the year that path is packed ice. Here is the day, hour by hour.

Hotel pickup, usually before 7am — Your driver collects you from your own address. Departures this early exist for a reason: the pool is busiest late morning, and the park closes at 16:00 from November through March.
Three and a half hours north — Out through the northern suburbs and onto the Kan-Etsu expressway, then up into Nagano. Tolls and fuel are included on most charters — check, because it is a long stretch of paid road.
The road ends at Kanbayashi Onsen — Vehicles stop at the car park. Everything from here is on foot, and this is where the day catches people out: there is no shuttle and no shortcut.
2 km through the cedar forest — About thirty minutes along the Yokoyu river, longer on ice, mostly level and genuinely beautiful — and, for four months of the year, a compacted ice path. Crampons are sold at the trailhead and are worth the few hundred yen.
The pool, for one to two hours — No glass, no barrier, no enclosure. The macaques come and go on their own schedule, and the keepers' feeding is what keeps the troop in the valley. Pay the ¥800 gate fee here — the private tours from Tokyo leave it out.
Back down, and the optional stops — Most itineraries add Zenko-ji temple, Shibu Onsen or Obuse on the return leg. With seven hours of driving already committed, two extra stops is realistic and five is not — agree the order with your driver at pickup rather than at four in the afternoon.
Tokyo again by evening — Back at your hotel door between six and eight. It is a long day by any measure, which is the honest reason some travellers take the shinkansen to Nagano and stay the night instead.

Photo Gallery

Inside Jigokudani Monkey Park

The wild macaques of the Jigokudani valley, photographed in the hot spring.

A Japanese macaque sitting chest-deep in the hot spring, reaching out towards a ledge of snow — The pool sits at around 40°C. The snow on the rock beside it does not melt.

A young macaque standing in deep snow, feeding, against a pale winter sky — Most of the troop spends the day foraging on the slopes, not in the water.

Two macaques resting side by side on a snow-covered rock above the Jigokudani gorge — The gorge walls hold the snow from December through to March.

A group of macaques in the hot spring pool with deep snow banked above them — Cold is what drives the bathing. The colder the morning, the fuller the pool.

Macaques sitting in the steaming pool as snow falls around them — Snowfall is the frame everyone comes for, and it is a January and February thing.

A macaque perched on the rocks at the edge of the pool, steam rising behind it — There is no barrier and no glass. The path runs within a few feet of the water.

Close-up of a macaque with its mouth open and its fur soaked from the hot spring — The red face and the thick coat are the adaptations that let them live this far north.

A macaque lying at the water's edge with one hand stretched onto the warm stone — Jigokudani's troop is the only wild population anywhere that bathes like this.

A macaque half-submerged in the pool with its eyes closed and steam across the surface — Steam on the water is what makes the middle of the day the hardest hour to photograph.

Several macaques swimming across the misty hot spring, one resting on a flat stone — The young ones swim. The older animals tend to sit.

An infant macaque clinging to its mother with snowflakes caught in their fur — Infants born in spring are still with their mothers through their first winter.

Macaques in the steaming pool with one sitting upright on a rock in the foreground — Numbers at the pool tend to build through the late morning and thin out by mid-afternoon.

A macaque at the edge of the pool with a deep bank of snow rising behind it — The valley name, Jigokudani, means hell valley — for the steam, not the cold.

Two macaques crossing the snow-covered path above the hot spring — The walk in from Kanbayashi is about 2 km, and the troop uses the same path you do.

Private Charter vs the Train vs Doing It Yourself

Three ways to reach Jigokudani from Tokyo in a day, and what each actually costs.

Feature	MOST REVIEWED Private Charter From Tokyo	Shinkansen + Local Tour	Shinkansen + Doing It Yourself
How You Get There	A private vehicle and driver, door to door from your Tokyo hotel	Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano, then a local operator picks you up at the station	Shinkansen to Nagano, Nagano Dentetsu line to Yudanaka, then a local bus
Time Each Way	3.5–4 hours by road	80–100 minutes by train, then roughly 45 minutes to the trailhead	80–100 minutes by train, then 45–70 minutes of connections
What It Costs	$383–$457 per vehicle for up to 5 or 6 on the charters we compare, or from $102 per person on the per-seat listings	About ¥8,000 each way for the train, plus $127–$164 per person for the tour	About ¥8,000 each way for the train, plus local transport and ¥800 at the gate
Time at the Monkey Park	1–2 hours, set by the itinerary you book	2 hours on the tours compared here	As long as you like, within opening hours
Park Admission	Not included — ¥800 at the gate, ¥1,000 from 1 December 2026	Included on the Nagano tour compared here	Not included — ¥800 at the gate, ¥1,000 from 1 December 2026
If the Trains Are Delayed	✓ Your driver waits and the plan flexes	The operator knows the timetable and can usually re-slot you	✗ Missed connections are yours to solve, and the last bus back is early
Best For	Families and groups of three or more, and anyone who wants the temple stops	Solo travellers and couples who want the lowest total cost	Confident independent travellers with a full day and no fixed return
	Check Dates	See Nagano Tours	View Options

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Compare Snow Monkey Tours From Tokyo

Private charters, temple combinations and rail-side day trips, side by side.

MOST REVIEWED

Before You Book

What Nobody Tells You About the Day Trip

The drive, the walk, the gate fee and the months that actually work.

Jigokudani Monkey Park is the only place in the world where wild macaques bathe in a hot spring, and it sits about four hours north of Tokyo by road. That distance is the whole story of this trip. Almost everything people get wrong about a snow monkey day trip — the cost, the timing, the month, the shoes — follows from the fact that you are crossing a mountain range and back between breakfast and dinner.

The day is mostly driving, and that is not a criticism

A private charter from Tokyo runs ten hours. Three and a half to four of those are spent driving north, and the same again coming back. What is left is the part you booked for, and it is worth looking at how each operator spends it. The tours on this site allocate anywhere from an unstated stop to two full hours inside the park, and the difference between an hour and two hours at the pool is the difference between photographing macaques and watching them.

Several listings promise five stops — the monkey park, Zenko-ji temple, Shibu Onsen, Obuse and a castle. With seven hours already committed to the road, five stops means forty minutes at each. Three is a realistic day. Decide before you are picked up which three you want, because the alternative is deciding it at four in the afternoon with the light going. If you are still weighing the monkeys against Nikko, Hakone or Mount Fuji, our ranking of the best day trips from Tokyo puts the travel times and fares side by side. If a hot spring matters as much as the monkeys, our guide to the best onsen near Tokyo covers the city spas, Hakone and Shibu, and our guide to where to stay near the snow monkey park picks the ryokan for a night in the valley. Planning the wider trip? Our Tokyo itineraries for 3, 4, 5 and 7 days fit the monkeys in as a day trip, and the 10-day Japan itinerary with the snow monkeys carries on west to Kanazawa and Kyoto.

The park is a walk, and in winter it is an icy one

No vehicle reaches Jigokudani. Cars stop at Kanbayashi Onsen and the last 2 km or so is on foot, along the Yokoyu river through cedar forest — thirty to forty minutes, mostly level, and for four months of the year compacted ice. Plenty of visitors arrive in trainers and turn back. Boots with grip are the single most useful thing you can bring, and crampons are sold at the trailhead for a few hundred yen if you did not.

Admission is paid at the gate, and the private tours from Tokyo leave it out (the group tours that start in Nagano usually include it). Our guide to tickets and booking has the full fee table: ¥800 for adults and ¥400 for children, rising to ¥1,000 and ¥500 on 1 December 2026, with e-tickets online at ¥880 and ¥440. The gate takes cards and e-money but not QR-code payments. On busy winter weekends the park can restrict entry to e-ticket holders, which is worth knowing if you have booked a January Saturday. Our Jigokudani park guide walks through buying the dated web ticket, the trail in snow and what each month at the pool is like, and the trains, buses and fares are in how to get from Tokyo to the Snow Monkey Park.

Cold is what puts the monkeys in the water

The macaques live in the valley all year and the park never closes, but the bathing is a response to cold. December through March is the reliable window and January and February are the peak of it, with snow on the rocks and steam thick enough to see from the trail (our guide to where and when it snows in Japan has the figures). Those are also dry, bright and cheap months in the city, which is why they come out well in our guide to the best time to visit Tokyo. From September to November there is food higher up the mountain, fewer animals come down and fewer still get in the pool. A summer visit is a green, quiet, perfectly pleasant walk to see monkeys sitting on rocks — which is a different trip from the one on the postcard, and worth choosing deliberately rather than discovering. Our month-by-month guide sets out what each season actually looks like. Why a monkey sits in hot water at all, and why only part of this one troop does it, is in our guide to why snow monkeys bathe; the rest of their natural history is in our snow monkey facts.

Read the price basis before you compare anything

This is the one that costs people money. Of the ninety Tokyo departures in our catalogue, eighty-five are private charters priced per vehicle — usually up to five or six passengers — and only five are sold per seat. A $443 charter is $443 for the car, which for a family of four is about $111 each. Ranked against a $102-per-person listing it looks four times more expensive, and for two people it is; for four it is cheaper.

So the sensible way to choose is by group size. One or two travellers are usually better served by a per-person tour, or by taking the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Nagano in eighty minutes (one of our ranked day trips from Tokyo by bullet train) and joining a local operator there — which is also the only route on this site where park admission and lunch come included. Three or more people, and a private charter wins on both cost and comfort, and brings the temple stops with it. Our guide to how private cars, guides and drivers compare covers the Nagano charters too, and all snow monkey tours compared adds the Shinjuku coaches and ski-resort departures. To see Zenko-ji on your own, plan a Nagano day trip from Tokyo.

Which tour, then

If you want the shortest answer: the most reviewed option from Tokyo is a per-person private day trip that gives two hours at the park — the longest stop of any charter here — and carries 220+ reviews at 4.9. Travelling as a group of four or more? The lowest charter fare we compare works out at about $96 a head. If you want Zenko-ji, one of Japan’s oldest temples, in the same day, the temple combinations are built for exactly that and are priced per vehicle. And if you are weighing the whole thing up against simply taking the train and walking in yourself, that comparison is worked through properly here, including what it costs and where the connections get tight.

Whichever you pick, check the cancellation line on the listing. Most tours on this site offer free cancellation up to twenty-four hours before departure, which on a trip this weather-dependent is worth more than it sounds, but one private charter asks for seven days’ notice. Our guide to how GetYourGuide’s cancellation rules work covers the rest. Use the comparison guide if you would rather see them ranked than read about them.

Guest Reviews

What Guests Say

4.9/5 from 220+ verified GetYourGuide guests

Ratings and review counts are the tour operators' live figures on GetYourGuide and may shift slightly day to day.

"We really enjoyed our today's experience with the guide named Ali. Very good driving skills, flexible with stops and the schedule, very polite, and knowledgeable with the area and it's history. The huge plus is the car- very clean spacious, and very comfortable. We are highly recommending this trip. we saw lots of monkeys in the park (mid Aug 2026 time), and the template is worth every penny to see."

"Ali was very nice and we made everything on time. We recommend this service and this trip. It was a great experience."

"Ali Hamsah was extremely helpful and treated us with the upmost respect like family! The snow monkeys were adorable to see and he took us all over cool sights in Japan. 10:10 recommend tour and to book with Ali!"

"It was enjoyable. Booking should be cleared that the driver is just a driver and not a guide"

"Very pleasant trip Good and understanding driver. Ali is real professional :)"

"This was an excellent trip! it is a bit of a drive from Tokyo but the vehicle was comfortable and Ali is a great driver. Snow Monkey Park was beautiful (and the monkeys are adorable, especially the babies), and I really enjoyed lunch and shopping in Osube."

"Our guide, Ali, was very accommodating to our requests and flexible in itinerary. Easy to communicate with. We saw many Japanese macaques on the day we visited and it was a great experience overall. One of the benefits of a small/private tour is that you can tailor it to your specific interests or preferences, without having to waste time sitting around, waiting for other tour participants."

"We had a great time at Monkey Park and Zenko-ji Temple. The monkeys were playful and fun to watch and the temple was beautiful and had much more relaxed atmosphere than the ones we saw earlier in the week in Tokyo. Ali, our driver, was kind and courteous and helped make this a wonderful day."

Read all 220+ verified reviews

See All Reviews

Snow Monkey Day Trips From Tokyo — Common Questions

The practical answers, including the ones the tour listings leave out.

How long does it take to get to the snow monkey park from Tokyo?

How much is entry to Jigokudani Monkey Park?

When are the monkeys actually in the hot spring?

Is a tour better than taking the train yourself?

Are these tours priced per person or per vehicle?

How far do you have to walk at the park?

What time of day is best at the park?

Can you see the snow monkeys in summer?

Is the park ethical?

Do the tours include lunch?

Can I book at short notice?

Is it suitable for children?

Still have questions? Email us at info@snowmonkeysfromtokyo.com

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Every tour and planning guide on this site, in one place.

Snow Monkey Tours From Tokyo

Why Book This Snow Monkey Day Trip

Highlights

What's Included

Check Availability & Prices

How a Snow Monkey Day Trip Works

Pickup at Your Tokyo Hotel

Walk Into the Valley

Time at the Hot Spring

Nagano on the Way Back

Browse More Available Options

What a Day Trip to the Snow Monkeys Really Looks Like

Inside Jigokudani Monkey Park

Private Charter vs the Train vs Doing It Yourself

Compare Snow Monkey Tours From Tokyo

Tokyo: Private Snow Monkey Park & Nagano Scenic Day Trip

Nagano/Tokyo: Snow Monkey Private Day Tour At Lowest Rate

Nagano: Snow Monkey Park, Soba Lunch, and Shibu Onsen Tour

Tokyo: Nagano Snow Monkey and Zenkoji Temple Private Tour

Tokyo: Nagano Day Trip with Snow Monkey Park & Temple.

What Nobody Tells You About the Day Trip

The day is mostly driving, and that is not a criticism

The park is a walk, and in winter it is an icy one

Cold is what puts the monkeys in the water

Read the price basis before you compare anything

Which tour, then

What Guests Say

See the Snow Monkeys — and Be Back in Tokyo by Evening

Snow Monkey Day Trips From Tokyo — Common Questions

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