Full-Day Tour of Snow Monkeys, Zenko-ji Temple and Sake in Nagano

An excellent day with great company! The snow monkeys were a treat. The temple tour was very comprehensive and the sake tasting plus lunch were very good. Highly recommended.

that was a really fun day for me. lunch was yummy. the temple visit is really interesting. The tour guides were extremely helpful and excited to take us around

I had an amazing time on this tour. The temple was especially beautiful, the monkeys were as full of monkey-ness as anyone could hope, and the guides added so much depth to the experience, while still giving plenty of space to explore on our own (a trickier balance to achieve than it might seem). Really thoughtfully arranged.

We had an incredible time on this full day tour. Our guide was nice, informative, and really enjoyable to spend the day with. The temple visit was interesting and beautiful, and the time we were able to spend with the monkeys was a once in a lifetime experience. It was December which meant the monkeys were out in huge numbers, but not many were bathing. Would love to come back in deep winter to see them truly in snow. We even got to stop in to taste local fruit and buy some snacks for the road. Absolutely would recommend this tour.

Even though it was off season, this was a great tour. There was only 2 of us and we had the guide to ourselves for the day. He was a very nice Australian fella who has lived there for years and has a great knowledge and enthusiasm for the area. The temple tour, sake tasting and lunch we had at the start were very enjoyable but the highlight was definitely the monkeys who we were lucky enough to see for a great length of time even though it was off season. Our guide had a great knowledge of the monkeys and was able to identify individuals, their different personalities and how they affect the group's behaviour. The guide also had many suggestions for what we could do for the rest of our time in the area. All in as all this was a great tour with a great guide and we would highly recommend it!

Our tour guide was fantastic! She able to gave us a deeper understanding of what we were experiencing! Although we were told No monkeys many times, 7 male monkeys came down to eat. We were a couple feet from them. Wow. Monkeys made the experience!

Great tour guide, one of the best from our trip. She was helpful, informative, and willing to take photos. The monkeys were all over, so don't worry about not seeing any (even during the summer or off season). It was a great experience that definitely made our Japan trip more enjoyable. Highly recommended. Even the walk/train ride there was fun. We did go when it was warm outside. We might want to try again when it's colder to get some more iconic pictures of the snow. The monkeys did go for a swim despite the heat, plus we got to see a lot of baby monkeys around this time of year.

Zenko-Ji is a superb example of a Buddhist temple and the sake tasting was informative and fun. The highlight of the trip was the Snow Monkey Park. I was slightly concerned that there were warnings that the monkeys may not make an appearance in Autumn. Fear not! There was one sitting on the entrance building and the whole troup of around 150-160 monkeys were around the river and the hot spring. Lots of babies as well - brilliant! And our guide Mai was great - lots of good information and superb English!

Our tour guide Peter made sure this would be a tour to remember for the best of reasons. From beginning to end it was obvious that customer experience was the goal. Clear concise arrival/meeting/departure information. Made for a stress less arrival from Tokyo. Good decision to do temple in the cool of morning. We were a small group and it was obvious Peter had great local and cultural knowledge as we asked a lot of questions. Good amount of free time. Temple was beautiful, bonus got a good fortune. Sake tasting with local no pressure to buy, devine lunch at local restaurant. Then in to see the monkeys a leisurely stroll with a few steps through the forest was pleasant even in the light rain. Peter has made it clear that they are wild animals and they may not be there but they were much to our delight. We have no hesitation in recommending this tour Peta and Phil

I can't really say enough good about this day. Asuka was a wonderfully pleasant guide for the day. The monkeys were incredibly cool. The Nihonshu was tasty! Even though the forecast was for mostly cloudy, the morning was blue sky and HOT, so we worked up a good sweat walking to and around Zenko-ji. Next was Nihonshu tasting and lunch. Then you go on a decent length of a train ride + mini-bus up to the Snow Monkeys. You do have to walk for another 20ish minutes along both paved and non-paved incline, but it was very easy and I had some great conversation with the guide on the way. Then the monkeys! When you get into the main area, they are everywhere! They walk amongst you, though you cannot touch them. There were baby monkeys with their mommas. There were kid monkeys playing with each other. There were all kinds of other monkeys doing monkey things. We stayed for about an hour or so and I enjoyed every minute of it. The afternoon we went was rainy, so there were very few people there...maybe 6-8 other humans. The guide said it is usually much more crowded. Couldn't recommend this activity enough. Even with the Shinkansen day trip from Tokyo, it was well worth it. At the end of the day, grab some sushi from the local market at the train station and settle in for the ride back to Tokyo without much of a care except remembering your experience with the monkeys!