Nagaoka

By plane

The nearest airport is at Niigata, which is a little over an hour away by car. By public transport, take a bus to Niigata station (25 min, ¥410), then take the train or bus (details below).
Tokyo's two airports, Narita and Haneda, are both at least three hours away by train.

By train

The main way into Nagaoka is on the Jōetsu Shinkansen. There is at least one Toki train per hour to Tokyo (about 1hr 40min, ¥8950) and Niigata (25 minutes, ¥3500).
From Niigata, one can instead take a local train, which takes about 1hr 15mins and costs ¥1140, or one of the five Shirayuki Limited Express trains a day, which is more expensive (¥2640) but brings the travel time down to about 55 minutes.
JR East offer some deals for travel within Niigata prefecture:

• If you buy an Echigo One-Day Pass at ¥1540, you can save ¥740 on the price of a day trip to Niigata. The ticket is even better value if you use it to go as far as Shibata or Murakami. However, it does not cover the supplementary fare for Shinkansen or Limited Express trains; for this, consider buying the Echigo Ryōkin Kaisūken, which gives you four tickets for travel to or from Niigata on the Shinkansen or Limited Expresses, valid for a month, for ¥3920. (There is no child version of this ticket, but two children aged 6-11 can use one of these tickets).
• The Shinkansen Double Kippu gives you two tickets for the Shinkansen to and from Niigata, again valid for a month, for ¥4200 (¥2100 for children).

From Kanazawa and Toyama there used to be a one-seat service to Nagaoka, but this has changed with the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen. The fastest way to travel between these areas is to take the Hokuriku Shinkansen's Hakutaka service to Jōetsu-myōkō, and change to the Shirayuki Limited Express which operates five times per day. The journey from Kanazawa using this route takes around 2 hr 20 min and costs ¥8840 each way; from Toyama, 2 hr and ¥7760. If you use a Japan Rail Pass, a small surcharge of ¥450 will have to be paid for the 10-km journey between Jōetsu-myōkō and Naoetsu which operates over non-JR tracks.
Both the Japan Rail Pass and the JR East Pass (Nagano/Niigata area) fully cover the Shinkansen journey from Tokyo, travel to Narita and Haneda Airports via the Narita Express and Tokyo Monorail, and travel on most trains in Niigata prefecture, amongst other things.

By bus

(Where fares are quoted as being 'up to' a price, they are cheaper outside peak periods.)
The following highway buses serve Nagaoka station each day:

• Two buses (one day, one night) to Kawagoe station, Ōmiya station, Ikebukuro station, and Shinjuku, taking 5 hr 30 min and costing up to ¥5700. Operated by Seibu Bus, Echigo Kōtsu , and Niigata Kōtsu . If travelling from Tokyo to Niigata, Nagaoka station is the first stop. Note that the night bus to Tokyo arrives very early (before 6am in both directions).
• An overnight bus running to Kyoto station, Kōsoku-Kyōtanabe, Osaka (Osaka station and Namba) and Sakai (Sakai station, Sakai-higashi station and JR Sakaishi station), taking between 7 hr 40 min (to Kyoto) and 10 hr 10 min (to Sakai) and costing up to ¥9550. Operated by Nankai Bus and Echigo Kōtsu . If taking the bus from Kansai, look for the bus to Kashiwazaki, Nagaoka, and Sanjō.
• At least 22 buses to Niigata, taking about 1 hr 20 min and costing ¥980. Operated by Echigo Kōtsu and Niigata Kōtsu.

Willer Express also run buses between Nagaoka and various places in Kantō and Kansai.
The following serve Nagaoka-Kita Bus Stop on the Hokuriku Expressway, on the way to and from Niigata:

• 16 buses (14 day, 1 night, 1 ladies-only night) to Kawagoe-Matoba Bus Stop, Nerima, Shimo-Ochiai station, and Ikebukuro, taking 4 hr 20 min and costing up to ¥5700. The night buses also serve Shinjuku. Operated by Seibu Bus, Echigo Kōtsu , and Niigata Kōtsu .
• 2 buses (1 day, 1 night) to Meitetsu Bus Center in Nagoya, taking a little over 6 hours and costing up to ¥8200. Operated by Meitetsu Bus and Niigata Kōtsu .
• 4 buses to Nagano station and Gondō, also serving several stops on the Jōshin-etsu Expressway, taking about 2 hr 30 min and costing ¥2470. Operated by Nagaden Bus and Niigata Kōtsu .
• 2 buses to Toyama station, also serving several stops in Toyama and on the Hokuriku Expressway, taking about 2 hr 40 min and costing ¥3290. Operated by Toyama Chitetsu and Niigata Kōtsu .
• 2 buses to Kanazawa station, taking about 3 hr 40 min and costing ¥3810. Operated by Hokuriku Railroad and Niigata Kōtsu .
• There are also highway buses to destinations within Niigata Prefecture (Tōkamachi, Kashiwazaki, and Jōetsu).

To get to Nagaoka Station from Nagaoka-Kita Bus Stop, take either one of the highway buses between Niigata and Nagaoka via Chōseibashi (about 20 min, ¥280) or a local bus from Fukumichi-Iriguchi Bus Stop heading into Nagaoka from Fukuto and Wakino-machi (about 25 min, ¥310).

• Echigo Hillside National Government Park

  address: 1921 Miyamoto Higashikata-machi, Nagaoka City
  Echigo Hillside Park was opened in July 1998 on the Japan Sea coast.The park was built so people could pursue outdoor recreation or cultural activities. It is on the west side of Nagaoka city on hills ranging from 80-260 m above sea level.

• Niigata Prefectural Museum of History

  address: 2247-2 Gongendo, 1 Sekiharamachi, Nagaoka City
  The museum introduces Niigata's history and culture through the themes of rice, snow, and the Jomon period.

• Nagaoka is famous for fireworks. Nagaoka festival is held from 1–3 August yearly. On 1 August, an evening event is held, on 2 and 3, fireworks are launched. About 20,000 fireworks are launched around Shinano river side for two days.

Budget

Mid-range

• Hotel Route Inn Nagaoka Ekimae

  address: 1-1-5, Jonai-cho, Nagaoka-city
  2 minutes walk from Nagaoka Station on JR Shin-Etsu Main Line.

Splurge

• Hotel New Otani Nagaoka

  address: 2-8-35 Dai-machi, Nagaoka-city
  From JR Nagaoka Station East Exit: 1 min on foot. From Kan-Etsu Expressway Nagaoka IC: (10 km).

• Niigata
• Tokamachi
• Uonuma
• Kashiwazaki
• Izumozaki
• Sanjo
• Ojiya
• Kawaguchi
• Joetsu