How Do You Get Around Matsumoto and Reach Kamikochi?

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors who are in Matsumoto and want to move around the city, then reach Kamikochi and the hot spring towns in the mountains. It uses the transport guide on Matsumoto City's official tourism site, last updated on 2026-07-08 and read by us on 2026-10-04.

Two bus stops, two kinds of bus

After you pass the ticket gates at Matsumoto Station, the Castle Exit on the east side is on your right. The Town Sneaker city loop bus, which goes toward Matsumoto Castle and the Matsumoto City Museum of Art, leaves from the rotary in front of the station.

Express buses for Kamikochi, Norikura and Takayama, and highway buses for Tokyo and Nagoya, leave from Matsumoto Bus Terminal. It is a two-minute walk from the station. The city stresses that the two places are different, so work out which one you need first.

How to ride and pay

On regular city buses you board by the back door and get off by the front door. If you pay cash, take a boarding ticket from the machine at the entrance. It is used to work out your fare. On the long-distance buses to Kamikochi and Norikura you use the front door for both. Many of those buses need a reservation.

The city says that as of 2026 you can pay by touch on all Gurutto Matsumoto bus routes inside the city. A credit card works, and so does a transport IC card such as Suica or PASMO. Hold the card to the reader when you board and again when you get off. If you pay cash, the bus cannot change a 5,000 or 10,000 yen note, so carry a 1,000 yen note or coins.

The city also recommends a One Day Travelcard for the castle and the Japan Ukiyo-e Museum. It has English explanations and you show it to the driver. You can buy it at the Matsumoto Bus Terminal reception desk.

Share bicycles

HELLO CYCLING share bicycles are available at stations around the city. You book and pay in one smartphone app, using a credit card. All the bicycles are power-assisted, which helps on gentle slopes.

Reaching Kamikochi

Private cars are restricted in Kamikochi, so you cannot drive into the valley in your own or a rental car. It is open only from mid-April to mid-November and closed by snow in winter. The city gives three patterns.

• Train and local bus. Take the Matsumoto Dentetsu Kamikochi Line from track 7 at Matsumoto Station to Shin-Shimashima, the last stop. Change there to a Kamikochi bus. The total is about 1 hour 40 minutes. The bus needs a reservation. A combined train and bus ticket is sold at the machines in Matsumoto Station, or you can reserve the bus online.
• Direct bus. The National Park Liner leaves from Matsumoto Bus Terminal and takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. Every seat needs a reservation, made through ALPICO Kotsu. The city suggests this for large luggage.
• Car. About an hour from the city to Sawando Car Park, where private cars must stop. Shuttle buses run every 30 minutes, and taxis are also available. The car parks can fill early in the morning during August, the September leaf season and long holidays, so check the live camera first.

Highway buses also run from Shinjuku, Shibuya, Osaka, Nagoya and Nagano Station in the open season. All of them need an advance reservation. The city lists the overnight Tokyo trip as about 7 hours.

Other mountain and hot spring trips

• Norikura Highlands: train to Shin-Shimashima (30 minutes), then about 50 minutes by bus.
• Shirahone Onsen: train to Shin-Shimashima, then about 70 minutes by bus.
• Asama Hot Springs: about 20 minutes by local bus from the Castle Exit stop. Hot Plaza Asama is a day-use bath.
• Utsukushigahara Onsen: about 20 minutes by local bus from the bus terminal.
• Utsukushigahara Highlands: a direct bus from the Alps Exit (west exit) runs on specific days only, mainly weekends and holidays, from mid-June to late September. There is no access in winter.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• Bus fares and the price of the One Day Travelcard.
• Timetables for the Kamikochi buses and the Town Sneaker.
• Whether the 2026 season dates for Kamikochi have changed.

Related guides

• How do you get to Matsumoto from Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka?
• What is Matsumoto? The castle, the old streets and the Northern Alps

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. Transport in Matsumoto City and Kamikochi (Matsumoto City official tourism website) — (bus stops, payment, Kamikochi routes)
2. First-time Matsumoto travel guide (Matsumoto City official tourism website) — (Kamikochi parking and altitude)
3. Access (Matsumoto City official tourism website) — (bus and bicycle links)