Echoland is a major village in Hakuba that has the biggest concentration of restaurants and bars in one area, and probably also has the most Hakuba accommodation. Echoland isn’t located slopeside or attached to any of the
Hakuba Valley ski resorts, yet it has a reasonable shuttle bus system, so it can be a good place to stay if you want to sample various Hakuba ski areas.
Pros & Cons of Echoland Hakuba
Pros
- The main street of Echoland has lots of restaurants and bars. Considering that the night buses wind up too early for some party animals, Echoland is the place to stay if you want to stay out late and stumble home.
- Echoland has good bus connections to many parts of the Hakuba Valley.
- There is an abundance of Echoland accommodation and it tends to be a little cheaper than lodging near the slopes.
Cons
- It’s a 1.5km walk from central Echoland to get to the slopes.
- Echoland (and the associated Misorana) is a rather large village, so it’s a decent walk from some accommodation to the main street.
Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- There is lots of choice for inexpensive eating but many of the bars charge a motza for drinks relative to other (unwesternised) Japanese ski resorts.
- If you want to steer clear of drunken bogans, perhaps stay somewhere else.
Where is Echoland Hakuba?
Echoland sits between
Happo One Ski Resort which is 1.5km to the north and
Hakuba 47 Ski Resort, which is 4.4km (by road) to the southwest. The Misorana area is sort of an extension of Echoland, which sits to the south and west of Echoland. The Happo Village is east of Echoland.
Airport Bus to Echoland
The easiest way to get to your
Echoland accommodation is to get a Hakuba airport bus, and you can choose to get dropped off at your hotel. Otherwise the bus stops at Base Camp in Echoland and you can walk from there or your lodging may pick you up. There are 4 schedules per day for the Narita Airport to Hakuba bus, and 2 schedules per day for Haneda Airport.
[AdListings collection="Japan" category="Hakuba" subcategory="Airport Transfers"]
Bus to Ski Resorts From Echoland
There are two broad types of daytime shuttle buses in Hakuba: the free shuttles operated by each of the main ski resorts (Happo, Iwatake, Tsugaike, Hakuba 47, Goryu, Kashimayari); and Hakuba Valley shuttles which go to all the HV ski resorts. The latter are free if you have a Hakuba Valley lift pass, otherwise a small fee applies (except at Kashimayari where it's free).
Base Camp (at the bottom of the main street) is on many of the bus routes.
Here are some of the other Echoland bus stops for the Happo One ski resort bus:
Some of the bus stops for shuttles run by Goryu and Hakuba 47 ski resorts:
Genki Go Night Bus
The inexpensive Genki Go night bus runs between the villages of Echoland, Happo, Wadano, Goryu and Iwatake. Stops in the Echoland area include the Echoland roundabout, Cherry Pub, Echoland bus terminal, and 7-Eleven Misorano.
Echoland Accommodation
There is a huge amount of Hakuba accommodation in the Echoland and adjacent Misorana area. There are plenty of lodging options for economical to moderate budgets, yet negligible deluxe accommodation. You can choose from hotels, lodges, inexpensive pensions, apartments, chalets and a couple of backpackers.
Echoland Accommodation Listings
Echoland Restaurants & Bars
Knock yourself out! There are lots of Echoland restaurants and bars, and unlike Happo and Wadano where they’re all rather spread out, in Echoland most of the dining and drinking establishments are on the main street or very close by.
There are some great little Japanese eateries and izakayas where no or barely any English is spoken, and you really feel like you’re in Japan. Head to B.O.S., a cute little eatery that specialises in okonomiyaki (savoury pancake).
At the other end of the spectrum are restaurants and bars that have no essence of Japan whatsoever and you might as well be in Australia, which is great if you’re hankering for a chicken parmigiana.
A street away from the main drag is the famous Cherry Pub which has been an institution of Echoland for a while and good for classic pub fare.
[AdListings collection="Japan" category="Hakuba" subcategory="Echoland Restaurants Bars"]
Echoland Ski Hire and Snowboard Rental
The
Spicy Rentals shop has a good range of ski and snowboard equipment for hire as well as snow clothing. They are conveniently located right near Hakuba Base Camp (a major bus stop). You can
pre-book your gear here
[AdListings collection="Japan" category="Hakuba" subcategory="Echoland Rentals"]
