Hello! I'm Daizu Lingo, the foodie (Instagram @daizu.lingo).
Today, instead of foodie adventures, I'm sharing my experience of cherry blossom viewing. I hope you'll join me!
I had a cherry blossom viewing lunch at the Apricot Village Sketch Park in Chikuma City, Nagano.
Despite living in Chikuma City for nearly 10 years, this was actually my first time visiting this place.
The Sketch Park has even been visited by members of the imperial family, so I had high expectations.
Parking fee for regular cars is 500 yen.
This is one of the public parking lots.
Once you pay, you can park at three public parking lots: the Sketch Park, Kuboyama Observation Park, and Mori Sports Park.
Passing through the gates of the Sketch Park, I was greeted by fully bloomed peach blossoms!
Although I confidently declared them peach blossoms, I started to doubt whether they might be red plums…
But where were the apricot blossoms…?
As of March 30th, were they just beginning to bloom?
Usually by March 30th, some years even see the blossoms falling, but it seems like this year, 2024, the blooming is a bit late.
*On April 1st, there was news that the apricot blossoms in Chikuma City had started to bloom!
But even if the flowers hadn't bloomed yet, just look at this view!
Isn't it lovely? And it's not crowded!
When I see videos of crowded cherry blossom viewings in the city, I feel like sharing places like this (laughs).
As the name suggests, there are benches everywhere in the Sketch Park.
There was also an exhibition room at the entrance.
It's really small, just one exhibition room and a bench room? It's one building.
During the Apricot Festival (which runs from March 23rd to April 7th in 2024), they also sell light snacks and drinks!
By the way, the bus only runs on weekends, so please be aware.
They had snacks like oyaki, onigiri, and kusamochi, perfect for cherry blossom viewing.
The onigiri comes with various fillings like mountain vegetables, red rice, and familiar ones like plum and seaweed, so choosing is fun.
I also took a photo with the lady selling souvenirs.
She's a famous lady who's even been in the newspaper, but since I'm not a reporter, I'll hide her face in this blog post (laughs).
She was very friendly and even let me taste some dried apricots!
Sweets, jams, and drinks made with apricots are perfect for souvenirs because they last long.
Now, after getting lunch and exploring the Sketch Park for about 5 minutes, my family decided it was time for lunch. (It probably takes about 20 minutes to walk around the whole park?! It's so big, I wanted to explore more!)
Since there were full-bloom apricots, we sat under them.
We had the red rice and onigiri we bought earlier, along with the apricots.
Spring in Chikuma City is wonderful, isn't it? I'd be happy if that feeling came across (laughs).
Both the oyaki and onigiri were from "IROBE SEIKA" in Chikuma city.
The sweet bean paste wasn't too sweet, and the pickled mustard leaf oyaki had just the right amount of salt, not too sweet or too salty, and was perfectly satisfying!
I have a friend who always says, "Oyaki is always from IROBE SEIKA!" and I totally agree.
Actually, my family used to run an oyaki shop, so we're picky about the taste, but we were impressed and said, "This oyaki is really good!" (laughs).
The rice cake looks good too, and my shy 2-year-old happily ate it.
After lunch, we strolled around the park again.
We wanted to go towards the mountains, but we didn't have time this time, so we ended our visit here.
Although the apricot blossoms weren't in full bloom, the Sketch Park was still enjoyable.
It seems like it would be nice to visit again in early summer when the fruit is ripe. (Just remember to bring your own lunch since there are no food stalls then!)
By the way, about the parking lot, we accidentally parked in the Yokoshima Product parking lot first.
Yoko Island's parking lot isn't public, so if you try to park there and then go to the public parking lot including the Sketch Park, you'll have to pay an extra fee.
We got lucky this time, but please be careful everyone.
This is the parking lot for YOKOSHIMA Products.
If you want to buy products from Yoko Island, like apricot soft serve or apricot drinks, it seems like it's best to park here.
When going to the Sketch Park or observation deck, public parking lots might be better.
Where's the best spot for the Apricot Festival and how far is it?
Yoko Island Products and Kuboyama Observation Deck are right next to each other.
They're practically opposite.
However, from Kuboyama Observation Deck to the Sketch Park, it's about 900 meters, a 10-minute walk.
This is the view from the observation deck looking at the park. It looks far, but if you don't need to carry anyone, you can easily walk there!
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If you go in the opposite direction of the Sketch Park from Kuboyama Observation Deck, there's another spot called Kamidaira Observation Deck.
Here, there are also stalls from Yoko Island Products and Hanasaka Village, so you can get food too?
I didn't have time to visit this time, but I hope to complete it someday!
On the way home, I saw this view near Agri Park.
Even though it's just an ordinary view, I couldn't help but take a photo because it seemed beautiful.
I wonder if I can go during the Apricot Festival again!?
Even if the apricot blossoms have finished, I'd still like to walk around the beautiful forests of Chikuma City.
Thank you for reading!
One week later in sketch park...
We enjoyed Sketch park again!!
Apricot flowers in full bloom!
If you don't derive a car, difficult to get there, but it's really beautiful and calm place.
we reccomend this park.
[Shop/Area Details]Shinshu Chikuma Tourism Bureau
*This Apricot Village MAP was obtained from the tourism bureau's website.
