This is a desk-researched itinerary. I have never been to Kurobe Gorge or Unazuki Onsen. These are places I would like to go, researched and planned as seriously as if I were actually going. Prices and operating information were checked in September 2026. Now that the full line has reopened, though, services and the areas open to visitors are likely to change, so please check the latest information on the Kurobe Gorge Railway's official website before you travel.
The plan at a glance
- Budget: ¥100,000 for two (¥50,000 per person), 2 days and 1 night, from Tokyo. The main target is next year's season (2027), but I also cover what it actually costs if you go this autumn
- Where: the Kurobe Gorge Torokko train (Unazuki to Keyakidaira) and Unazuki Onsen (Kurobe, Toyama Prefecture)
- Day 1: Tokyo → Kurobe-Unazukionsen → Unazuki Onsen → the Torokko to Keyakidaira at the end of the line → a night in Unazuki Onsen
- Day 2: photograph the Torokko crossing the Shin-Yamabiko Bridge from the Yamabiko walking path → the hot-spring town → an afternoon Shinkansen back to Tokyo
- Estimated cost: about ¥95,000 for two in the regular season (about ¥47,000 per person), staying at a hotel with breakfast near the station and eating dinner in the hot-spring town
- Bottom line: the Shinkansen and the Toyama Chiho Railway take you all the way to the mouth of the gorge, so 2 days and 1 night fits within ¥100,000. This autumn, though, with the full reopening coinciding with the autumn leaves, lodging prices are another story, so this plan is really aimed at next year
Why Kurobe Gorge, and why now?
In the Noto Peninsula Earthquake on January 1, 2024, falling rocks damaged the Kanetsuri Bridge between Nekomata and Kanetsuri. Since then, the Kurobe Gorge Torokko train (torokko is the Japanese name for this kind of small, open railway carriage) had been running only between Unazuki and Nekomata and turning back there. In July 2026, the Kurobe Gorge Railway announced that it would resume service over the full line from Unazuki to Keyakidaira from the first train on October 1, for the first time in about 2 years and 9 months.
With the date for the full reopening now set, this is a plan to ride to the end of the line in the 2027 season.
Even after the full reopening, though, restrictions remain around Keyakidaira.
- Around Keyakidaira Station, earthquake recovery work continues after October 1, so access will stay restricted for the time being. All you can enjoy is part of the station forecourt, the view from the station roof and the Keyakidaira Visitor Center
- Because of this, the number of passengers accepted for trains to Keyakidaira Station is limited. On top of that, trips to Keyakidaira can be booked only by phone, not online
- Meanwhile, Nekomata Station, which had been the turnaround point, can no longer be used to get on or off from October 1
In short: you can ride to the end of the line again, but at the end you can only walk around the station. Knowing that, this is still a plan to go and ride the Torokko over the full line.
When I checked weekdays in late October in early September 2026, availability of affordable rooms and of plans with breakfast was limited (details under the cost estimate). The Torokko ends its season on November 30 and stops running for the winter, so if you want to plan without rushing, the real target is next year's season, starting April 20, 2027.
Getting there
From Tokyo to Unazuki Onsen takes just two trains: the Hokuriku Shinkansen and the Toyama Chiho Railway.
- Hokuriku Shinkansen Hakutaka, Tokyo → Kurobe-Unazukionsen: ¥12,300 one way with a reserved seat (¥6,270 basic fare + ¥6,030 limited express charge), ¥24,600 round trip. 2 hours 17 minutes to 2 hours 36 minutes
- Toyama Chiho Railway, Shin-Kurobe → Unazuki-Onsen: about 25 minutes. A round-trip discount ticket between Shin-Kurobe and Unazuki-Onsen costs ¥1,400 for adults (limited express charge included, valid for 5 days). The Shinkansen's Kurobe-Unazukionsen Station and the Toyama Chiho Railway's Shin-Kurobe Station are next to each other
- From Unazuki-Onsen Station, the Torokko's Unazuki Station is a 5-minute walk
That makes about 3 hours and about ¥13,000 one way. Unlike Hagi or Iwami Ginzan, there is no need to chase early-booking airfares; the good thing about the Hokuriku Shinkansen is that the fare is the same even if you buy your ticket on the day.
Then there is the Torokko itself. After the full reopening (October 1 to November 30), the fare from Unazuki to Keyakidaira is ¥2,480 one way, ¥1,780 to Kanetsuri and ¥830 to Kuronagi. If you ride in a Relax carriage, which has windows, there is a separate ¥600 carriage ticket for each ride. Round-trip tickets are valid for 2 days from the day of travel.
Reservations open 3 months before the day of travel and close at 15:00 the day before. Trips to Kuronagi and Kanetsuri can be booked online or by phone, but trips to Keyakidaira can be booked only by phone (Kurobe Gorge Railway Customer Center, 0765-62-1011, 9:00–16:30). It is unusual for a sightseeing train to tell you to book by phone, so this is the first thing to pin down when you plan.
Model itinerary: 2 days, 1 night
The Torokko times below are provisional, based on the official timetable for October 1 to November 30, 2026. As of September 13, 2026, I could not find an official 2027 timetable, so I will revise the itinerary once it is announced.
I went back and forth over whether to ride the Torokko on day 1 or day 2. The first train on the morning of day 2 (leaving Unazuki at 8:17) should have good light and smaller crowds, but if it rains there is no fallback. The Torokko over the reopened full line is the heart of this trip, so I planned to ride on day 1 and keep the morning of day 2 as insurance against the weather.
Day 1: The mouth of the gorge, 3 hours from Tokyo, then straight on to the end of the line
Take the Hakutaka No. 555, leaving Tokyo at 8:41, and arrive at Kurobe-Unazukionsen at 11:07. From Shin-Kurobe Station next door, the Toyama Chiho Railway takes about 25 minutes, so you reach Unazuki Onsen at around noon. Leave your bags where you are staying and head for the Torokko's Unazuki Station.
Have lunch around Unazuki Station. There is a restaurant on the second floor of the station, and the hot-spring town has places serving Toyama fish. Buying masu-zushi (trout sushi) at the station and eating it on the train also sounds good (there are no toilets on the train, so go before you board).
The Torokko leaves Unazuki at 12:50 and arrives at Keyakidaira at 14:12. This train takes 1 hour 22 minutes one way. Right after leaving Unazuki Station it crosses the Shin-Yamabiko Bridge; then come the station on the lake, where the line crosses the water, the Atobiki Bridge at Kuronagi, the switchback at Kanetsuri, and the Kanetsuri Bridge. From mid-October on, the autumn leaves will have started to turn.
To be honest, there is not much you can do at Keyakidaira: part of the station forecourt, the view of the gorge from the station roof, and the exhibits at the visitor center. The classic walks, across the Okukane Bridge to Hitokui-iwa (Man-Eating Rock) and on to Sarutobi Gorge, are closed for the time being because of recovery work. I accept that I am going for the simple fact of having reached Keyakidaira, and for the view from the roof.
For the return, take the 14:37 from Keyakidaira, arriving at Unazuki at 15:54 (25 minutes at Keyakidaira). To stay a little longer, take the 15:19, arriving at 16:35 (1 hour 7 minutes at Keyakidaira). When I researched this in September 2026, there was word that a "Keyakidaira Lounge" was due to open at the station in October, so if it is open, the one-hour option may be worth it.
The first place I had in mind to stay was Yamanoha in Unazuki Onsen. It is a 3-minute walk from Unazuki-Onsen Station and has tanayu (terraced open-air baths) looking down over Kurobe Gorge, plus a live buffet where seafood from Toyama Bay is cooked on the spot. On Rakuten Travel it is the Unazuki Onsen inn with the most reviews, and in my first estimate I expected about ¥30,000 for two with dinner and breakfast.
When I checked a weekday in late October in early September 2026, however, the standard Japanese-style rooms, the twin rooms and the Japanese-Western rooms in the main building were all fully booked. All that was left were larger Japanese-Western rooms and deluxe-type rooms in the annex, at the high ¥50,000s per night for two. In Unazuki, at a time when the full reopening and the autumn leaves coincide, the affordable rooms had already filled up 7 weeks ahead.
So for this plan I am going with Feel Unazuki, a 2-minute walk from the Torokko's Unazuki Station. It is a hotel built around room-and-breakfast stays. Its large bath was renovated in April 2022, and it has a bath with a view and a semi-open-air bath. Its homemade breakfast is well regarded, and there is even a room type called "Japanese-style room with a view of the Torokko train." The plan assumes you eat dinner in the hot-spring town.
When I searched the same dates, though, only room-only stays came up here too, at about ¥19,600 per night for two. Plans with breakfast do exist, but no rooms were offered for them on those dates. Rakuten's lowest displayed price is from ¥8,250 per person, so the going rate seems to be about ¥17,000 per night for two with breakfast in the regular season, and ¥20,000 even for room only this autumn, right after the reopening and in leaf season.
In short, the right move is to book your accommodation at the same time as the Torokko, when Torokko reservations open (3 months before the day of travel).
Day 2: Photograph the Torokko on the bridge, soak in the hot spring, then head home
In the morning, go to the Yamabiko walking path (Yamabiko Yuhodo). It runs about 1 km each way from Unazuki Station to Unazuki Dam, on an old railway bed where the Torokko once ran. From the old Yamabiko Bridge along the way, you can watch the Torokko cross the Shin-Yamabiko Bridge up close. Waiting on the bridge for the first train, which leaves at 8:17, should give you the best photo of the trip. The path is open from late April to the end of November and closed in winter.
At Unazuki Dam, at the end of the path, there is Damukonkan (大夢来館), the Unazuki Dam information center, introducing the nature of Kurobe and how dams work, and admission is free. Back in town, walk around the hot-spring town: the hot-spring fountain in front of the station, the Kurobe River Electricity Memorial, and the center-cab locomotive in Torokko Square. If it rains, go to the Selene Museum of Art on the second floor of the Unazuki International Hall. It shows paintings of Kurobe Gorge by seven nihonga (Japanese-style) painters, including Hirayama Ikuo, and admission is ¥620. It seems you can often get a discount coupon from your accommodation.
Have lunch in the hot-spring town, then take the Toyama Chiho Railway to Shin-Kurobe. Catch a Hakutaka leaving Kurobe-Unazukionsen sometime from 13:00 to just before 15:00, and you get to Tokyo at around 16:00 to 17:00.
Estimated cost (total for two, with per-person figures)
Next year's regular season, with one night at the hotel with breakfast near the station
- Hokuriku Shinkansen, Tokyo ⇔ Kurobe-Unazukionsen, reserved-seat round trip: ¥49,200 for two
- Toyama Chiho Railway, Shin-Kurobe ⇔ Unazuki-Onsen, round-trip discount ticket: ¥2,800 for two
- Torokko train, Unazuki ⇔ Keyakidaira round trip: ¥9,920 for two
- Relax carriages (two rides, there and back): ¥2,400 for two
- Lodging: Feel Unazuki with breakfast, about ¥17,000 for two (assuming a regular-season rate)
- Dinner in the hot-spring town: about ¥6,000 for two
- Selene Museum of Art: ¥1,240 for two
- Two lunches and incidentals: about ¥6,000 for two
Total: about ¥95,000 for two (about ¥47,000 per person)
Skip the Relax carriages for the standard (windowless) carriages and the total drops by ¥2,400 to about ¥92,000. In the daytime the standard carriages are plenty, and without windows the scenery actually feels closer. In late autumn it is cold, though, and you will want the Relax carriages.
Stay at a hot-spring inn with dinner and breakfast (such as Yamanoha) instead, and lodging starts in the ¥30,000s for two, bringing the total to about ¥110,000. Within a ¥100,000 budget, go for the hotel with breakfast; if you want a hot-spring inn, allow up to ¥110,000. That is how I would choose between them.
If you go this year (autumn 2026): actual prices
Right after the reopening, in leaf season, it is a different picture. Here is what I found in early September 2026 when I checked a weekday in late October:
- Feel Unazuki: room only, about ¥19,600 per night for two. No rooms offered on plans with breakfast
- Yamanoha: every standard room in the main building fully booked. What you can get is a larger Japanese-Western room in the annex or similar, in the high ¥50,000s per night for two
On these figures, a room-only night at the hotel, with breakfast and dinner eaten out, comes to about ¥100,000 for two, right at the limit, and a hot-spring inn to about ¥130,000. If you go this year, the honest expectation is that ¥100,000 only just works on a room-only basis, and an inn means ¥130,000.
Prices are based on information as of September 2026. Accommodation prices vary greatly by date and plan.
October, or the first half of November?
The Torokko ends this season's service on November 30 and does not run in winter until April 20 the following year. So after the full reopening, you get only two months to ride it this year. And as I wrote above, lodging for those two months is already expensive.
That is why this plan is really aimed at next year, the 2027 season. There are two candidates.
One is May to June, the season of fresh greenery. Snowmelt keeps the Kurobe River running high, and the green of the gorge is at its deepest. Lodging and the Torokko should both be easier to book, and prices should have settled down. The other is late October to mid-November, the autumn-leaf season. This is the Torokko's true peak, but demand and room rates are at their highest too, so the assumption is that you book your lodging together with the Torokko on the day reservations open, 3 months before your travel date. From November 24, the timetable is reduced and centered on Relax carriages.
What I would avoid is a rainy day. The Torokko's standard carriages have no windows, so in the rain you simply get wet. The reason this plan puts the Torokko on day 1 is so that, if it rains, you can move the ride to the morning of day 2.
What I still do not know
This is a desk-researched plan, so here is what I could not fully confirm.
- Yamanoha's normal price range. When I checked a weekday in late October, the affordable rooms were full, so I never found out what a room for two with dinner and breakfast costs at a quieter time. Rakuten's lowest displayed price is from ¥11,600 per person, so outside peak times you should be able to stay for about ¥30,000 for two, but I have not confirmed this
- Availability at other places to stay. Unazuki Onsen has 12 places to stay, and Entaijiso, the Granvillio Hotel and others are also listed on Rakuten. I have not checked how booked up places other than Yamanoha are
- What the limited number of passengers accepted for Keyakidaira Station means in practice. Which trains are limited and by how much, and how hard it is to get through by phone, will not be clear until after the reopening
- The riverbank open-air bath and the Mannen-yuki (perennial snow) viewing deck if you get off at Kanetsuri Station. The slope collapse upstream of Kanetsuri Station is also under recovery work, so how much of the area around the station you can walk needs checking. If you can walk it, getting off at Kanetsuri instead of going all the way to Keyakidaira is a strong option
- The opening date of the Keyakidaira Lounge and what it will offer
- Toyama Chiho Railway departure times from Shin-Kurobe and how they connect with the Shinkansen. Trains do not run every 25 minutes, so your arrival time at Unazuki Onsen will shift depending on the wait after the 11:07 arrival
- Lunch options at the restaurant on the second floor of Unazuki Station and in the hot-spring town, and where you can buy masu-zushi
Conclusion
The Kurobe Gorge Torokko after its full reopening, and Unazuki Onsen at the foot of the gorge. Three hours from Tokyo by Shinkansen and the Toyama Chiho Railway, 2 days and 1 night, about ¥95,000 for two in the regular season. If you rush there this autumn, ¥100,000 only just works on a room-only basis; if you can take your time, go next year for the fresh greenery or the autumn leaves. The watchword for booking: "3 months before, book the Torokko and your room together."
Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Yamabiko Bridge and Shin-Yamabiko Bridge 01 (妖精書士 / CC0), Looking down Kurobe River やまびこ遊歩道山彦橋から黒部川下流を見る Oct 11, 2024 (mrpbps / CC BY 2.0), and Street in Unazuki Onsen 20180505b (掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0). All resized only. Illustrations are for reference.
Estimated cost (total for two, two people sharing one room / per person)
- Hokuriku Shinkansen, Tokyo ⇔ Kurobe-Unazukionsen, reserved-seat round trip: ¥49,200 / ¥24,600 per person
- Toyama Chiho Railway round-trip discount ticket: ¥2,800 / ¥1,400 per person
- Torokko train, Unazuki ⇔ Keyakidaira round trip (including Relax carriages): ¥12,320 / ¥6,160 per person
- Lodging, 1 night (with breakfast, assuming a regular-season rate): about ¥17,000 / about ¥8,500 per person
- Dinner, sightseeing, two lunches and incidentals: about ¥13,240 / about ¥6,620 per person
- Total: about ¥95,000 for two (about ¥47,000 per person)
- Staying at a hot-spring inn with dinner and breakfast: about ¥110,000
- Going in autumn 2026: about ¥100,000 on a room-only basis; about ¥130,000 at a hot-spring inn