From Tokyo by Bullet Train

Many customers living in Japan do prefer to drive up to Nozawa in their private car. We recommend taking the Shinkansen Bullet train. This safes you time and its totally hassle free. A perfect start to your holiday. Take the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Iiyama (100-120 minutes, around 8500 yen one way, 1 train/hour) and transfer to a "Nozawa Onsen Liner" bus (25 minutes, 600 yen one way, departures every 1-2 hours) for Nozawa. The buses usually link up with the arriving Shinkansen, alternatively you can take a Taxi too which comes to around 4500 Yen one way. The Japan Rail Pass and JR East Nagano Niigata Area Pass cover the Shinkansen ride, but not the Nozawa Onsen Liner bus.

Check out this great homepage in English for timetables to Iiyama station:
http://www.hyperdia.com/

From major cities by highway bus

In winter, several companies operate ski tour buses to Nozawa Onsen. Buses depart from Tokyo's Shinjuku and Ikebukuro bus terminals, as well as from Osaka and Nagoya to the Nozawa Onsen Chuo Bus Terminal in the center of town. Alternatively you can take highway buses to Nagano for as low as 1500 Yen one way and change to the local train to Iiyama. The train ride from Nagano to Iiyama on the old Diesel Train is nice and scenic. So if you have time its well worth it, shows you you the Nagano countryside and safes you some coins too.

Please let us know your arrival time and we are happy to come and pick you up from the bus stop in town to make the last bit of your trip to the accommodation as easy as possible. Especially if it snows and thats not unusual in Nozawa Onsen.

By car

Nozawa Onsen can be reached from Tokyo by car in about 4 to 6 hours depending on traffic and route. Especially driving out and in of Tokyo can be time consuming with lots of traffic. Whenever possible we recommend leaving your car at home and jump on the convenient bullet train which gets to Iiyama station in under 2 hours from Tokyo station. Check out our Train/Bus page for more details. You can also send luggage ahead of time to make travel easy. See our luggage forward page for more on this topic.

Depending on road and snow conditions it can be very tricky to drive into town. Nozawa Onsen is one of the snowiest places on earth and on snowy days it can be difficult to reach your destination. Winter tyres are a must. We highly recommend having a 4 wheel drive car or chains as a back up if you are arriving with a 2 wheel drive.

Best route from Tokyo is over Nagano instead of driving through Gunma and Yuzawa. The route over Yuzawa is quiet mountainous and can be closed due to heavy snowfall. Head out of Tokyo Nerima on the E17 and head towards Takasaki. @Takasaki take the E18 and drive to Ueda, Nagano and all the way to the Yoyota Iiyama exit close to Iiyama. From Iiyama it is only another 20 minutes to Nozawa Onsen.