November 29 – December 2, 2025
After Kyoto, we wanted to visit a quieter town that had a little bit less tourism, so we settled on Takayama. Takayama, known for onsens and traditional thatch roof houses, is settled in the mountains, north of Kyoto. We had an extra day due to availability between Kyoto and Takayama, so we booked an Airbnb between the two cities in Nagahama. As we exited the train at the Nagahama station, we were expecting a pretty quiet night as only a handful of others got off the train, all seemingly locals.
However! Our Airbnb host offered to pick us up from the train station – and we were greeted with cheers and a hug. For the rest of our short stay, Saori would be our ‘auntie.’
We stayed in a traditional Japanese style house:
Saori asked if we would like to go to dinner with her – of course! She could not speak much English, and we can’t speak any Japanese, but we still had great conversations over translate and she taught us some Japanese phrases.
She also wanted to show us a local brewery:
And at the end of the night she showed us some of her favorite Japanese snacks (+ ice cream):
The Airbnb was very cozy!
Saori made us a huge breakfast in the morning!
🙂
Saori took us to the train station and we were sad to be leaving but we connected on Instagram! How lucky we were to get such a unique experience and have a wonderful connection.
Off to Takayama for a few nights. Takayama had lots of temples in the woods on the edges of the city:
There were many bear bells around the hiking trails:
We tried an onsen – a Japanese bath house. It was super hot but a relaxing experience.
We took a day trip to Shirakawa where there are many older/traditional style houses with thatch roofs and great mountain views:
There were Koi fish in the ditches:
Wonderful activities in a quieter part of Japan – now off to see Mt. Fuji!
Eli's Travels 
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