There is a direct bus from Nagano eki, just go to the Tourist Information center and ask for a time sheet/which bus stop to go to.

Although the brochure advises you to observe from afar, the caretaker didn't say anything when I was within touch distance of the monkeys. Monkeys were running around 1-2 feet away from my legs, one of them actually hugged my friend's leg. Then it started to urinate.

They pretty much ignore you. Rather than them get out of the way when you walk toward them, they expect you to.

i got a pretty good picture of monkey's humping at this place. well worth the trip.

Excellent, sounds like a photo of the moment to me. Go on lets see.

I love those monkeys though. Last time I went we were there over 2 hours. I wonder if the monkeys like the less snowy winter.

I went to see them for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Crazy little things they are. Easy to take some excellent photos there.

Went to see the monkeys last week. Great place.

Decisions - go to see them this season, when they are not in the snow or go in winter and miss out on ski time?

You can do the monkeys in half a day from Shiga Kogen - maybe on a day when the snow or weather isn't as good, or on the day you leave...

Fall would be nice with all the colors

you can do it if you leave a bit early and don't park your car in the village and walk from there. We did that and it took quite a while to get to the monkeys.
If you park at the right parking lot it is just a short walk (nice after a day of skiing/boarding)

Yeah, it's something I really want to do soon.
I guess this year would be a good one as I won't be able to spend the whole of any trip on the snow because of babysitting issues.
Sanno, did you mean "park your car in the village"? How long did it take you to walk from there?

I love it SJ!
I might get my wife to come visit me on my last day in Nagano so we can visit them.

Thanks for posting, that's awesome!

Snow Monkets kick arse! Went there with CB and others last new years and it was awesome. As sanjo said, the walk from the nearest carpark isn't so bad.

Is this far from Hakuba?, if so can anyone give me rough directions & time it takes to get there plz!

It is near SHIGA KOGEN, basically at the bottom of the Shiga Kogen region (20 minutes or so drive from there). From Nagano it's probably about an hour, on the other side from Hakuba. So it will be 2 hours or so from Hakuba.

Thanks mate =)

Definitely worth a visit though, and so are the ski hills round there as well.

You'll be welcome.

Don't take it personally if they just totally ignore you

They can actually be a little intimidating when they walk straight towards you.