Japan
Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
A corridor carved through twenty-metre snow walls that tower above the bus roof.
The snow walls tower twenty metres. In April and May, when the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route opens for the season, the road has been carved through snowpack so deep that vehicles pass through corridors of white with only a strip of sky overhead. The route crosses Japan's Northern Alps without a single private car β six modes of transport link one side of the mountains to the other.
The Alpine Route spans 90 kilometres between Toyama and Shinano-Εmachi, ascending to 2,450 metres at Murodo, the highest point accessible by public transport in Japan. Cable cars, trolleybuses, a ropeway, and a funicular connect the segments, each handoff revealing a new landscape β from cedar forest to alpine meadow to volcanic ridge. Kurobe Dam, Japan's tallest at 186 metres, releases a controlled torrent of water visible from the observation deck. The route's 'snow corridor' draws visitors from across Asia each spring, though the alpine scenery β including the volcanic vents of Jigokudani β rewards visits through the October closure.
Family
The transport variety alone delights children β cable cars, trolleybuses, ropeways, and a funicular, each with a window onto different mountain scenery.
Friends
The route is a full-day group adventure that requires no fitness β the transport does the climbing, and the views do the work.
Couple
Standing between twenty-metre snow walls in spring, or watching the dam release at Kurobe in summer β the route serves drama at every stop.
- A 90-kilometre route across the Northern Alps by cable car, trolleybus, ropeway, and funicular β no private cars.
- Snow walls tower 20 metres high along the road in April and May, carved like corridors through the ice.
- Kurobe Dam, Japan's tallest at 186 metres, releases water in a thundering arc visible from the observation deck.
- The route links six modes of transport β each handoff brings a new landscape of peaks, lakes, and forest.
Shiro-ebi white shrimp sashimi β translucent and sweet β a Toyama Bay delicacy.
Masu trout sushi pressed in bamboo at Toyama Station, the journey's bookend.
Watkins Glen
United States
Nineteen waterfalls inside a gorge so narrow you can touch both walls at once.
Columbia River Gorge
United States
Seventy-seven waterfalls cascading down the Oregon side of a canyon carved by ice age floods.
Crested Butte
United States
So many wildflowers in July that the entire valley floor turns electric purple.
Hawai'i Volcanoes
United States
Molten lava meeting the ocean in a hiss of steam on an island still being born.
Tottori Sand Dunes
Japan
Saharan dunes piled against the Sea of Japan coast where camels walk the beach.
Shimanami Kaido
Japan
Six bridges island-hopping across the Inland Sea on a bicycle lane suspended over blue.
Naruto
Japan
Whirlpools the size of boats spinning between two islands where the tides collide.
Kerama Islands
Japan
Water so transparent that sea turtles cast shadows on white sand ten metres below.