Cost: The total cost is 21,860 円 including transportation, 1 night lodging, Sunday's breakfast, snowshoe rental, entrance to the World Heritage site, and entrance fee to a public onsen.
Meeting Time and Place and Transportation: 7:45 AM at Tobu Asakusa Station. We will take the 8:00 a.m. express Spacia train to Nikko, and will arrive at Tobu Nikko Station at 9:49. Return transportation is provided, but an express ticket is not provided because we can not guarantee our return time, so if you wish to take an express train, you will have to purchase that ticket upgrade separately, around 1,000 yen.
Things you should bring: Warm clothes, dress in layers. The temperature will be around 0 to -5 during the day time, and the night time will be colder. You should also bring lunch for Saturday, and money for dinner on Saturday night, and lunch on Sunday.
Detailed Description of Trip: Saturday 7:45 Meet at Tobu Asakusa Station 8:00 Take the express train bound for Nikko from Tobu Asakusa Station. 9:49 Arrive at Tobu Nikko Station 10:05 Take the bus bound for Yumoto Onsen. 11:10 Arrive at Senjogahara and pick up our snow shoes and rental equipment. Boots are available for rent for 500 yen.
Afternoon - Evening. We will walk along the trails in the sen-jo-ga-hara (戦場ヶ原) area between Nantai San and Shirane San. We plan to hike through the Senjogahara plain to Ryuzunotaki Waterfall.
After we finish snowshoeing we will return the equipment and we can visit Yumoto Onsen to relax in the hot springs. The lights for the snow festival start at 5:30p.m. We will take a return bus to Nikko at 7:30 p.m. Our lodge is about 10 minutes walking from Nikko Station, and will arrive by 9 p.m.
Sunday We won't wake up too early on Sunday. We will have a nice breakfast at the lodge, then head back to Nikko station to take a bus to the World Heritage site. We will meet our guide, and visit the various temples and shrines in the area. This will take between 2 and 3 hours. After this it will be time to return home, or you can stay for a while longer to explore the area.