How to get from Magome-juku to Gujo-hachiman

Hi,

I was wondering the quickest and preferably the cheapest way to get to Gujo Hachiman from Magome-juku. I have researched many routes and I am unable to decide as it is difficult to assess due to the fact that I have never actually been to Japan before.

Route 1) Magome - Nakatsugawa (bus), Nakatsugawa - Tajimi (train), Tajimi - Minoota (train), Minoota - Gujo Hachiman (train) :
some of these transit options are either Shinkansen, JR trains, local trains etc. so I'm curious which of these would be recommended. More importantly, I noticed the stop at Minoota requires a 6 min rush to the next train that goes to Gujo Hachiman, otherwise the next train is scheduled for about 2 hours later. Would I be able to purchase the tickets from an earlier station/suica card or only payable at Mino-ota station?

Route 2) Magome - Nakatsugawa (bus), Nakatsugawa - Nagoya (train), Nagoya - Gujo Hachiman (highway bus):
This route is a simple but is longer and more expensive.

(I used 'Navitime' for the route calculations and I highly recommend it for travelling Japan!)

I obviously don't expect anyone to disect each route as much as I did and I just want to know any information about purchasing tickets and recommendations/reliability of the transits in Japan, but particularly this area. I'd be appreciative if someone could help me out with this one, and hopefully anyone else who might find themselves in a similar situation someday, thanks!

Take bus from Chuoudou Magome bus stop to Meitetsu bus center and then bus from Meitetsu bus center to Gujo Hachiman IC.

Google map says

Magome juku 7:26 (walk, 1.2 km 17 min) 7:43 Chuoudou Magome bus stop 7:43 (bus) 9:08 Meitetsu bus center (Nagoya) 9:20 (bus) 10:27 Gujo Hachiman IC.

Total bus fare is 4800 yen.

Gujo Hachiman IC is somewhat far from the city center. There is “on demand” bus connecting the bus stop and the city center. The fare is 350 yen one way.

https://gujo8manbus.net/

You can reserve bus from:

https://www.highwaybus.com/gp/inbound/index

First select “Departing from” pull down Nagano and “Arriving at” Aichi and “Search”.

Select “Nagoya - Iida Line”.

Departing from Magome(Magomejuku), Arriving at Meitetsu bus center (Nagoya).

Specify date.

Check Seat Availability and reserve you seat.

Your next leg is from Meitetsu bus center (Nagoya) to Gujo Hachiman IC. Reservation process is identical to that from Magome to Nagoya.

Thankyou so much for this clear and detailed information. This saves me a lot of stress and time!

I have followed your instructions and have visited the links to both sites. Everything makes sense, so thanks again for the instructions. :)

Just an additional note I wanted to add...

The first link only allows you to book a taxi from Gujo Hachiman local areas. The two following links allow you to book the bus from Meitetsu Bus Center to Gujo-Hachiman:

https://willer-travel.com/en/bus_search/aichi/nagoya/gifu/gujo/ym_2024...

(This link has a wider range of bookings and times available ~ For example, allows a 9:20 bus departure booking and a different 9:30 bus departure booking)

https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/highwaybus/nagoya/#timetable

(This link only allows you to look at the schedules and includes a reservation link for various bookings, however it has less options and, for example, doesn't inlcude the 9:20 bus departure booking)

1 day pass=2700 yen by nagaragawa railway