Hakuba Access Guide - Public Transport - Nagoya and Chubu Airport to Hakuba

Airport to Central Nagoya

The best train to catch are limited express trains that run from Chubu Airport to Meitetsu Nagoya and then on to Gifu. The fastest trains are the
µ sky (myu sky) limited express. Airport to Kanayama takes 24 minutes, while the airport to Nagoya takes 28 minutes. There are generally 2 trains per hour and all seats need to be reserved when you buy a ticket at the airport train station (you will get a seat assignment).

You can change to the JR Line at Kanayama or Nagoya, but the trains to Matsumoto do not stop at Kanayama. It will take between between 15 and 20 minutes to transfer at Nagoya.

Links:
Nagoya Station Map

Nagoya to Hakuba

From Nagoya you use the JR Network all the way to Hakuba (so only buy 1 ticket). In general you use the Limited express "Shinano" train as far as Matsumoto and then change to a local train to Hakuba. Use the timetable below to figure out the best connections.

You will note from the timetable that there is not much transfer time in many case at Matsumoto. IN general the trains from Nagoya arrive at platform #3, while the trains to Hakuba leave from platform 4,5 or 6. If you know the platform number in advance it only takes a couple of minutes to transfer as you do not need to change tickets etc.

Timetable (These are the best connections - subject to change)
*1 Limited Express Azusa
*2 Train Change required at Shinano Omachi station
- train does not stop