Our first Winter Trip.. EVER
An account of our first-ever winter travel, to Japan exploring Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyushu and ending in the Japanese Alps. And search for warmth and coziness in the coldest places.
Winter for me, while growing up
I was brought up in a tier 2 city in the absolute middle of India - Bhopal where there were seasons, but they were usually mild. Except for a month of harsh summer (40 deg C), rest of the year seasons moved at a slow pace. Winters meant an added layer of blazer and tights, spring meant flower shows in the park and monsoon meant a few days of continuous rains. Monsoon was special because there would be very few students and teachers in school so the rest of us got several free periods to play. Later, I moved to Mumbai for almost a decade. The charm of the city and its people and the calm coastal winds, almost always overshadowed the constant humidity and heat.
So, I have never really experienced winters in the real sense of it - I am talking snow covered houses, multiple layers of clothing, icy roads and winds.
Japan in December
So when we got down to planning our first ever winter trip, my husband Shashank and I were both very nervous. Are we even going to enjoy that much cold? What if one of us falls sick?
With a bit of anxiety we decided to go ahead with it, half-expecting to spend the trip huddled indoors.
The Prep for Gear
And, it was so much fun! A photographer’s delight and a traveler’s revelation. Now the interesting part about Japan is that, thanks to the Siberian winds, the country hosts some of the snowiest cities on Earth, yet the air can remain crisp and the skies often clear blue in some regions with decent daylight. At various hours, we found ourselves standing on snow-covered roads, under a blazing sun, where the temperature hovered at -2°C but felt comfortable under layers. So you get the snow but with more sunlight and comparatively higher temperature than some other parts of the world with similar snowcover.
Still, we were fairly under prepared for what we had signed up for. While Shashank had waterproof hiking shoes, mine were water resistant and not completely warm from inside. But one good thing that we did was, we planned the trip in a way that temperatures would drop gradually so we acclimate and are not hit by the intense cold immediately. We had to load up on winter gear as we moved along on our itinerary.
We started in Osaka for a couple of days, followed by Hiroshima and Miyajima for the next 2. Then we headed southward to the island of Kyushu where we spent a few days exploring Beppu and Fukuoka. We then took the trains up to the area of the Japanese Alps - Matsumoto and ended with our last and favourite leg in Nagano.
We had planned the itinerary in such a way that it got colder with every city. Although our planning pretty much failed in Fukuoka where the winds were crazy. So we did end up spending 1 extremely cold afternoon inside the TeamLabs forest, which was wonderful.
The Winter Effect
It might be a recency, but this winter trip was one of my favorite holidays ever, and for good reasons.
The food just somehow tastes better
Rice Curry, Sweet Potato Crips and sizzling hot Oko You’re out on the streets on a cold night. You stumble upon an Izakaya style cozy restaurant serving freshly grilled vegetables or hot ramen, Or freshly grilled okonomiyaki. Here’s also a picture of a shop serving fresh steamed Oyaki, a speciality of Nagano from Nozawa onsen
The landscapes - there is something about the soft beautiful sunlight touching snow covered landscapes and cityscapes.
Sunlights hits the town of Nozawa Onsens post a snowy night It’s almost like finding gold like treasure.
A lot of popular place have less tourists and the queues at popular restaurants are relatively small
Cozy romantic christmas-y feel everywhere
Feels more adventurous- sometime you gotta do things that are right outside your comfort zone but still familiar enough that you can do it try it with a bit of confidence.
The best for the last - fully enjoy the onsens in Japan. I think this would be my favorite thing about Japan in Winter. Here is a picture of the famous Snow Monkeys of Nagano chilling in an onsen bath.
If you’d like to read or know more about our itinerary and places we visited, I am planning to do a detailed post on the route we took. So, if you’re like me, from tropical warm areas and have been dabbling with the idea of experiencing a colder winter, 2026 might be the year to do it! A winter trip does come with its own challenges like moving around with added kilos of layers, short daylight, discomfort due to winds, but can be navigated and in fact rewarding with proper planning and a bit of luck on the weather.
Waiting for more!
Yes! Write more of these! ^_^