Small towns to visit from Nagoya: Inuyama, Seto, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Magome and Ise's Oharai-machi

From Nagoya you can reach small towns with castle districts and old streets: Inuyama and its National Treasure castle, about 25 minutes by Meitetsu; Seto, a pottery town reached by subway and the Meitetsu Seto Line; Takayama, about 2 hours 20 minutes by limited express; Shirakawa-go, about 2 hours 30 minutes by highway bus; and Ise's Oharai-machi, within walking reach of the shrine. This article covers what to see in each, using Michelin Green Guide Japan ratings and official directions. Where we could not confirm an official travel time, we give only the route.

Which small towns are closest to Nagoya?

Inuyama is the closest: according to the Inuyama tourism site and Inuyama Castle's official site, it is about 25 minutes from Nagoya on a direct Meitetsu train, so even half a day works. For Seto, Aichi's official tourism site Aichi Now directs you from Nagoya Station on the Higashiyama subway line to Sakae, then onto the Meitetsu Seto Line from Sakaemachi to Owari-Seto (no travel time is given; check Meitetsu's timetable before you go).

What to see in Inuyama

Inuyama Castle is a National Treasure and one of Japan's castles whose original keep still stands. In the Michelin Green Guide Japan, the castle has two stars and the castle town of Inuyama also has two. In TripAdvisor's 2019 ranking of Japan's most popular castles by reviews, it came 6th.

• Inuyama Castle (National Treasure): two stars, Michelin Green Guide
• Inuyama castle town: two stars
• Urakuen Garden and Joan, a National Treasure tea house: one star each
• Museum Meiji-mura: one star

What kind of town is Seto?

Seto is a pottery town. The Seto-gura Museum is 5 minutes' walk east of Owari-Seto Station (Aichi Now). From Nagoya Station, take the Higashiyama Line to Sakae and change to the Meitetsu Seto Line at Sakaemachi for Owari-Seto. From Nakamura Koen Station, Sakae is about 12 minutes and 240 yen on the Higashiyama Line with no change.

What to see in Takayama

Takayama is about 2 hours 20 minutes from Nagoya on the JR Limited Express Hida (Shirakawa-go Tourist Association). In the Michelin Green Guide the town has three stars, and the old Sanmachi streets, Takayama Jinya, the Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall and Hida Folk Village have two stars each. According to Takayama City, international guests recorded 978,312 overnight stays in 2025; Taiwan was the largest market at 12.2%, followed by the United States at 6.0% and Spain at 5.4%. In a 2024 City of Nagoya survey, 21.2% of international visitors in Nagoya also visited Gifu (Takayama).

• Takayama (town): three stars, Michelin Green Guide
• Sanmachi (old streets): two stars
• Takayama Jinya: two stars
• Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall: two stars
• Hida Folk Village: two stars

How to get to Shirakawa-go

Shirakawa-go's thatched farmhouses became a World Heritage Site in 1995. The Michelin Green Guide gives Shirakawa-go three stars, and the Ogimachi village and the view from the Shiroyama viewpoint two stars each. It ranked 24th in TripAdvisor's 2018 list of Japan's most popular sights among international travellers. According to the Shirakawa-go Tourist Association, the highway bus from the Meitetsu Bus Center takes about 2 hours 30 minutes (about 2 hours 50 minutes including the walk from Nagoya Station), and JR via Takayama about 3 hours 25 minutes. To combine it with Takayama, you can spend one night in Takayama or Shirakawa-go.

The post towns of the Kiso Road (Magome, Tsumago, Narai)

The Kiso Valley, where post towns of an Edo-period highway (the Nakasendo) survive, has two stars in the Michelin Green Guide. Narai, Tsumago and Magome have one star each, as does the mountain path from Tsumago to Magome. Magome is reached by bus from Nakatsugawa Station; we could not confirm an official travel time from Nagoya, so we do not give one here. Check each operator's official site before you go.

Matsumoto Castle (Nagano), a National Treasure

Matsumoto Castle is a National Treasure with three stars in the Michelin Green Guide. It ranked 12th in TripAdvisor's 2014 list of Japan's most popular sights among international travellers and 2nd in its 2019 ranking of Japan's most popular castles. The JR Limited Express Shinano runs directly from Nagoya, but we could not confirm an official travel time, so we do not give one here. Check JR's official site before you go.

Oharai-machi, the town in front of Ise Jingu

Ise-shi Station is about 1 hour 20 minutes from Nagoya by Kintetsu limited express or the JR Rapid Mie. In the Michelin Green Guide, Ise Jingu and its Inner Shrine have three stars each, the Outer Shrine two, and Oharai-machi, the town at the shrine's gate, one. In the Japan Tourism Agency's 2025 survey, only 0.7% of visitors to Japan went to Mie Prefecture — highly rated, yet still visited by few international travellers.

Which travellers go where?

In the Japan Tourism Agency's 2025 survey of prefecture visit rates by nationality, 3.3% of all visitors to Japan went to Gifu Prefecture — but 24.5% of travellers from Spain, 14.4% from Italy, 8.7% from France, 6.0% from Thailand and 5.8% from the UK. For Nagano Prefecture the overall rate was 3.0%, rising to 15.9% for travellers from Australia, 6.9% from Thailand and 6.3% from Singapore. For travellers from Taiwan, the Gifu rate was 4.8%. Different countries clearly favour different towns (some country samples are small, so read these as trends).

Seasonal things to watch for

• Kamikochi in Nagano is closed from 15 November to 16 April (according to Lonely Planet). It is the only place in Tokai and Nagano in Lonely Planet's "15 Best Places to Visit in Japan" (updated 11 September 2026). If you plan a mountain town in winter, check your destination first
• Check bus and train times to Shirakawa-go and Takayama, and whether you need to reserve, on each operator's official site before you go

Where to stay in Nagoya for small-town day trips

Trips to Inuyama, Seto, Takayama and Shirakawa-go start from Nagoya Station or Sakae. From Nakamura Koen Station in Nakamura Ward, Nagoya Station is 4 stops (about 7 minutes) and Sakae 6 stops (about 12 minutes) on the Higashiyama Line with no change. Central Nagoya House (7 minutes' walk from Nakamura Koen Station; an entire traditional house of 144㎡ with 5 bedrooms, one of which opens onto the room next to it; up to 16 guests) and Residence (2 minutes' walk from Nakamura Koen Station; the whole top (8th) floor of an apartment building, 120㎡; up to 9 guests) are near Nakamura Koen Station, and Stays (2 guests, up to 4) is 4 minutes' walk from Taiko-dori Station on the Sakura-dori Line, 1 stop from Nagoya Station. Leave your luggage in the room and go out for the day.

Frequently asked questions