#4308

3 Epic Days Hiking in the Mountains of Nikko

I spent 3 days hiking in the beautiful Nikko National Park

I’m Jacob Laukaitis, a 21-year-old digital nomad who’s already been to more than 35 countries in the last almost 3 years. I enjoy making travel videos and sharing them with the world. Here’s my newest one from my hike in Nikko, Japan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfkvYF7Iw2U

Nikko is located a few hundred kilometers north of Tokyo. It’s a town next to a national park that’s also called Nikko National Park. The national park is settled on a range of mountains, some of which reach higher than 2,000 m above sea level. The entrance to the national park is free, but some of the most famous temples and shrines do require you to pay entrance fee. There are many visitor centers where they will assist you on any questions you might have. As everywhere in Japan, they're incredibly hospitable and helpful.

As most really nice places in Japan, the park is quite crowded especially during the season. The logistics of the park are really nice – there are walkways for people to enjoy the wonderful Nikko trekking trails and they're extremely beautiful and clean.

The cultural significance of the historic buildings is major. Apparently Nikko has the most lavishly decorated shrine in all of Japan and the mausoleum of the Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.

When I visit sacred places I try to learn about the rituals and practices involved there. I remember when I started traveling around Asia 3 years ago, I would go to dozens of temples and sacred places and I'd learn everything I could about them. However, now I feel like I've seen so many temples that it doesn't look so interesting to learn more about each one's history or sacred rituals involved.

My trip to Nikko lasted 3 days. I chose to stay at a hostel. It is actually a funny story, since I could only get a bed at my hostel for 2 days and the last day there were literally no hotel rooms available in the town and in the surrounding area (because it was a national holiday in Japan). So I ended up taking the train for 50 kilometers to a bigger city, slept there and woke up 5 am the next morning to continue my daily treks.

I visited Nikko in November. The weather was getting colder day by day as the winter was approaching, but it was still decent during the day time and especially after trekking. At times it was rather hot!

If you’d like to see more of my travels, I post 2 videos a month. I am really thankful for Travel-Ticker.com for their contribution to this trip. You can follow me on my personal website JacobLaukaitis.com or on my Instagram where I post the best moments from my trips.

jacoblaukaitis image

jacoblaukaitis

Lithuania

You might also like

Hakone's Hidden Wonder: My Favourite Temple in Japan images

Hakone's Hidden Wonder: My Favourite Temple in Japan

Daiyuzan Saijo-ji is a breathtaking Buddhist temple that was built more than 615 years ago. Although it is still frequented by devout worshipers from all across Japan, it remains one of the less talk…

Former Deep Japan Writer image

Former Deep Japan Writer

Spring is coming in Oku Nikko images

Spring is coming in Oku Nikko

Dave had been stocking up a stash of Belgian beers for several years. That’s right – years. A connoisseur was Dave; knew what he liked and savoured produce at its optimum. Mind you, the Dave that wa…

scramjetmach9 image

scramjetmach9

Tokyo area resorts images

Tokyo area resorts

There are a very wide variety of resorts around Tokyo. Of course, the accessibility varies greatly, when even getting across Tokyo itself by public transportation can take well over an hour.For …

mikekato image

mikekato

Enjoy the winding road of Nikko, Irohazaka. One of Japan's lovely roads in a perfect getaway outside of Tokyo. images

Enjoy the winding road of Nikko, Irohazaka. One of Japan's lovely roads in a perfect getaway outside of Tokyo.

Iroha-zaka in Nikko is very famous in Japan for beautiful views of changing colours in Autumn. It is the perfect Autumn drive. Iroha-zaka is a hill which takes about 30 minutes (1.5 hours in the autu…

GenS image

GenS

Cable Cars - Nothing like San Francisco, though! images

Cable Cars - Nothing like San Francisco, though!

There are many so-called "cable cars" in Japan, but most are really ropeways. They are pre-attached to the cable and are drawn directly by pulling the cable. A cable car, on the other hand, is cont…

mikekato image

mikekato

Hakone Sightseeing Cruise images

Hakone Sightseeing Cruise

Hakone Sightseeing Cruise links popular sightseeing spots and you can enjoy scenic views of Mt. Fuji if the weather allows. We were not able to see it when we went. You should consider yourself lucky…

EmiOnishi image

EmiOnishi