Rated Stays in Karuizawa & Nagano: The Highlands Tokyo Escapes To
Nagano is where Tokyo goes to breathe. An hour by Shinkansen, Karuizawa's cool forests fill with weekend houses and design hotels, and deeper into the prefecture the register shifts to old post towns and mountain onsen. Its rated stays run from an architect-designed retreat in the woods to a five-room ryokan by a free-flowing spring.
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Karuizawa: forest and design
Karuizawa wears its design lightly. Shishi-Iwa House, a low timber retreat by Pritzker laureate Shigeru Ban, sits among the trees; the two FUFU houses and the Hiramatsu at nearby Miyota bring a spa-and-kaiseki polish; and each keeps the woods close. This is the part of Nagano you reach in a couple of hours from Tokyo and never quite want to leave.
Deeper into the prefecture
Beyond Karuizawa, Nagano turns older and quieter. BYAKU Narai is built into a preserved Nakasendo post town, a former merchant house and sake brewery reworked into a stay; Shoraiso keeps just five rooms by a free-flowing spring; and Tobira Onsen Myojinkan runs a mountain onsen above Matsumoto. This is the Nagano of walking, water and long dinners.
Karuizawa & Nagano rated stays
Miyota, Nagano
THE HIRAMATSU KARUIZAWA MIYOTA
THE HIRAMATSU軽井沢御代田
≈¥48,944〜Per person · 2 meals
Karuizawa, Nagano
FUFU Kyu-Karuizawa, Restful Forest
ふふ旧軽井沢静養の森
≈¥54,450〜Per person · 2 meals
Check rates at THE HIRAMATSU Karuizawa
Listed alphabetically. Prices and cancellation terms differ between them, and this page does not see either — it is worth opening more than one.
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Is Karuizawa worth it in winter?
It is quieter and cold, with the forest bare — good for a fireside-and-spa stay rather than walking. For snow, the deeper Nagano mountains and neighbouring Niigata do more with the season. Karuizawa is at its fullest in early summer and autumn.
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