Audio tour · Japan
Nagano
A self guided audio tour of Nagano.
Downloadon the App Store
The app is on the App Store
A self guided audio tour of Nagano.
Nagano sits in a wide mountain basin with peaks visible from every street and a quiet that deepens as you move away from the station. Zenkoji temple draws pilgrims and wanderers alike, its long approach lined with small shops and lantern light. Beyond the city the valleys open up into some of the most beautiful mountain country in Japan, and Nagano feels like the right place to arrive before you go further in.
In the app, 46 stops in Nagano are narrated aloud, about 1h 18m of listening across 6 walking routes, in 13 languages, offline once downloaded. Choose a route or build your own, then walk while a calm voice tells you the story of each stop. The app also maps 27 Instagram photo spots, social media photo locations with directions to where you stand for the shot.
The opening lines of a few narrations, straight from the tour.
"You're standing before a truly magnificent structure."
"You are standing in one of Japan's oldest mountain resorts, set at around 1,000 meters at the foot of the active volcano Mount Asama."
"When you walk through this valley, you are traversing a landscape that feels almost untouched."
"That broad peak in front of you rises to 2,568 meters and sits right on the border between Nagano and Gunma."
"You're walking past a place with over 1,200 years of continuous history."
"Look up at the wall of peaks to the west."
Curated orders through the city. Or build your own and press Play All.
A loop through Matsumoto's medieval heart taking in the famous black keep, a beautifully restored Meiji schoolhouse, and the country's finest woodblock print collection.
A sweeping walk across the resort plateau from Karuizawa's leafy lanes to a world-class modern art museum, all in the shadow of the still-steaming Mount Asama.
Follow the ancient approach to Zenko-ji, one of Japan's most beloved temples, then wind through the tree-lined museum quarter and quiet college campuses of central Nagano.
Circle the southern shore of Lake Suwa past a floating castle reconstructed on the water's edge and on to the ancient grand shrine that has drawn worshippers for over a thousand years.
A high-altitude traverse among three of the Hida Mountains' great peaks, where ridgeline trails connect alpine meadows and dramatic glacial scenery above the clouds.
Ride the celebrated Komagatake Ropeway from the valley temple of Kozen-ji up to the dramatic bowl of Senjojiki Cirque, a glacial amphitheatre ringed by jagged Central Alps peaks.
Every stop is narrated. Walk them in any order, or follow a route. Open a category to see what is inside.