Hida-Takayama Miyagawa morning market is one of the most famous morning markets in Japan renowned for the white tents of the stalls lined up along the Miyagawa River. Here you can find fresh seasonable fruits and vegetables as well as traditional handicrafts as souvenirs, such as sarubobo (a red human-shaped doll amulet) and ichii itto-bori (yed wood carving). Then, you will continue the tour with a stop at the Historic Shirakawa-go Village recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1995. It is famous for its historical villages surrounded by nature, rice fields and for its traditional Gassho-zukuri (lit.: “hands in prayer”), old farmhouses the roof of which is triangular and covered with straw which look beautiful above all in winter. After admiring the row of these thatched-roof houses and the scenery of the mountains from the Shiroyama Tenshukaku observatory, go down to the bottom of the mountains to see the Wada, Kanda, and Nagase family houses. 
Sightseeing in the old town district featuring Takayama Jinya (the former territorial office of the government during the Tokugawa Domain) and then enter the Karakuri Museum displaying the mechanical dolls which get mounted onto the festival floats, and yew wood carvings.
Afterwards, you will explore Takayama’s old area, also called “Sanmachi”, which is the most well-preserved district dating back to the Feudal Age (Japan’s traditional wooden merchant houses) located in the central part of Takayama. When visiting this area, it is like that the time had stopped bringing you back to a kind of calmness that can feel surreal. It features machiya (Japan’s traditional wooden merchant houses), local craft shops, and century-old sake breweries offering their unique sake.

*Takayama Spring Festival (April) and Takayama Autumn Festival (October)