A famous Japanese saying “日光を見ずして結構と言うな” it means,
“Never say you are satisfied, until you have seen NIKKO “
These words strike right in my heart when I could experience the beauty of Nikko. We were stunned and felt lucky to have been able to make this trip at the most perfect time. Nikko literally had all the colors from a paint box. Nikko in autumn was our bucket list always and from now you will see how Nikko fulfilled our dream.
Japan makes it quite convenient for you to travel around using railway/bus passes and one such amazing deal is Nikko All Area Pass by Tobu Railway. It is valid for 4 consecutive days, covers 1 round trip from Asakusa station to Tobu Nikko and unlimited use of Tobu buses, railway in the Nikko area.
Just Note!
Make sure to check the latest updates of Nikko Pass (Tobu Railway) and Nikko Bus Pass (Tobu Bus) information from its official website. Be well prepared with the bus schedule at each bus points (better to have the bus schecule sheet in hand all the time)
Digital Nikko Pass can be bought online through Klook and paper tickets can be bought from Tobu Asakusa information center or Ikebukuro station.
Quick Tip!
For people travelling by own vehicle, note that along with travel time there will be heavy crowd at the parking area of each spot. Long waiting time at the parking and entry to the spot should be expected.
With the Nikko All Area Pass, we had liberty to take Tobu bus from any bus stop and get down anywhere in the Tobu bus routes. Boarding bus at Tobu Nikko Eki to Shinkyo with just 5mins ride, we reached the landmark spot Shinkyo Bridge . Bridge walk experience is 300yen for adults, 200yen for teenagers and 100yen for children. Though the autumn colors were yet to reach the bridge, the sound of river flowing with a backdrop image of red bridge and mountain was the first treat our eyes had.
From Shinkyo bridge we walked around 20mins in nature trail through the World Heritage Monument to the iconic Toshuga Shrine which is counted in “World Heritage Shrines and Temples of Nikko”.
It was more than heavily raining as we reached the entrance, but the vibe around never made us demotivated. The shrine entrance is 1300yen and there are lot of cultural rich unique carvings, bright paintings, monuments inside which are categorized as the “National Treasures of Japan”.
Nikko already had the cool breeze, and the rain droplets had made the whole place more pleasant. At the entrance you will find a wooden carving of three wise monkeys (Sanzaru) which depicts the “way of life” by saying “hear no evil (Kikizaru)”, “say no evil (Iwazaru)” and “see no evil (Mizaru)”. As you walk further, you will see a huge Torii gate which is the entrance to the shrine. The gold leaf and wooden carvings on the shrine are the ones you may not find anywhere in Japan and they are entitled to be the richest.
On getting inside, there is an entrance on right with carving of a sleeping cat (Nemurinekko) and on the other side of the door is the carving of flying sparrows. This is the most famous carving of Nikko Toshuga and symbolizes co-existence of strong and weak. This forms first entrance to the inside of shrine.
Climbing around 207 steps to cover the shrine, with cool droplets from lush of green, we had a fulfilling tour of Toshogu. As we descended, the rain too had calm down spreading a pleasant nature to us. What would more be fulfilling than having a spicy bowl of ramen in such a cool weather?
Now we were all set to capture the best viewpoint of Nikko, Akechidaira. Reaching Akechidaira was as excited as the top plateau. Known as couple winding roads of Japan “Iroha-zaka” with 30 turns in total is now at its most beautiful season. For this most awaited ride, we boarded bus bound for Chuzenji Onsen from Yasukawacho stop and got down at Akechidaira. This hairpin autumn rides climbing up to Akechidaira will for sure have your hearts too.
Quick Tip!
Nikko during its peak autumn period, will be heavily crowded and hence there will be expected delay in buses than scheduled time or chances of cancelling few buses too.
The round way ticket for ropeway is 1000yen and with the Nikko All Area Pass we had a 10% discount. The view from the top of the ropeway was just jaw dropping. No words can explain, I could hear very face entering the spot stunned. Top view of Lake Chuzenji flowing to Kegon falls, the great Mt. Nantai and on the other side the Kanto plain, Kinugawa river and Mt. Tsukuba everything was just like a painted scenery. Though your camera lens may not capture the real essence, I am sure your eye lens will capture and save it on top.
Note!
Iroha-zaka is one-way switchback roads (2 separate road, one to climb and another to descend). So if you are planning to take the Akechidaira ropeway, it can be accessed only while climbing up from central nikko to Okunikko area.
The treat to eyes was the most wonderful sceneries of Nikko we could have, and with this in heart we headed to our next spot Kegon falls. We boarded bus bound for Chuzenji Onsen from Akechidaira and got down at Chuzenji Onsen stop.
Ranked in Japan’s three most beautiful waterfalls and most famous among Nikko’s waterfall, Kegon (Kegon no Taki) is large group of dozen waterfalls in mountains of Nikko National Park. This 100m long waterfall is the only way out for the water from Lake Chuzenji and most amazing fact is that it draws almost 1.3tons of water very sec. There is a free view point from the top and also a paid elevator service for 570yen which takes you 100m downside. From here, you can see Kegon from an observation deck and other small waterfalls to the sides of Kegon.
By this time it was almost sunset and we headed to our pre-booked stay at the onsen town of Nikko, Yumoto.
Our stay at Oku-Nikko Yumoto Onsen Yumori Kamaya was a budget friendly ryokan type single room and had offered us with a peaceful, well-equipped relaxing stay for the night with onsen facility too.
Dipping in the natural hot spring of Okunikko Yumoto, we could feel the body and mind to be at much peace. Withstanding the cold strong winds of Nikko, the day would not have more better end than stretching at ease in the hot fumes of Yumoto.
Quick Tip!
In case of stay, it is better to plan well in advance as it cost might shoot up while booking around the travel dates or peak season.
Starting our second day with energy refilled, we headed to Senjogahara Marshland Observation deck. Boarded bus from Kohanmae bus stop and got down at Sanbonmatsu stop. With shortage of time we had to skip trekking the Senjogahara Marshland and view of Marshland from observation deck was quite satisfying.
Nature did not want to disappoint us, right at the opposite side of observation deck it was Sanbonmatsu Park which was more than beautifully draped with yellow. Another wonderful scenic spot we could add in our Nikko diaries. It felt like postcard background. Tall standing trees with beautiful yellow leaves was a bonus treat.
Note!
There is a nature trail at Sanbonmatsu park, restaurants and souvenir shops. It is a great spot for parking and rest with a great view too.
Coming down from Senjogahara, our next spot was the milky white collection of streams flowing in Yu river and dropping off as the Ryuzu Falls. There are 2 ways you can cover the Ryuzu, one is walking upstream starting from Ryuzuno Taki to Ryuzuno Taki Jo or can choose to climb down in reverse way too. Since we were going towards Nikko station, we walked downwards to Ryuzu No Taki. Having lunch with a scenic view of waterfall fulfilled our hunger of stomach and heart of course.
Further we planned for Lake Chuzenji Ferry ride. Taking bus from Ryuzuno Taki and got down at Funenoeki Chuzenji bus stop. Round trip from Lake Chuzenji Ferry Terminal would cost 1650yen and this is covered by the Nikko All Area Pass. That was a great deal indeed!
Note!
We can get off at stops in between Lake Chuzenji Ferry Terminal i.e., Shobugahama, Embassy Villa Memorial Park, Tachiki Kannon if you would like to explore other places around. Getting down at each stop has separate charges please check the official website Lake Chuzenji Ferry.
From Chuzenji Ferry terminal first ride is at 09:30, has ferry for every 1hr and last ferry is at 15:30.
We boarded ferry at Lake Chuzenji Ferry terminal and got down at Embassy Villa Memorial Park. Taking brief walk around the shrine and the view of Mt.Fuji of Tochigi the NANTAI SAN, we told ourself YES! we bagged Nikko.
And just like that we added the most vibrant autumn destination to our travel diaries. Every spot we entered had a calm pleasant vibe, be it the Toshogu Shrine or the Akechidaira or the Kegon-no-taki. A thought “Can something be more beautiful than this?” is still resonating in my minds. Nikko owns the title and it proved it right.
Nikko justified its saying “日光を見ずして結構と言うな“and now we synonym elegance, beauty to her!