Hi I’m trying to plan a 13 day trip to Hokkaido. Landing in Sapporo on 12 Nov (landing at night) and leaving Tokyo on 26 Nov (at midnight)
I tired browsing various sites and came up with the following itinerary, but am afraid it will be too crammed.
Anyone been to Hokkaido knows if this is too ambitious?
Thanks a lot for you help!
Day 1: la’gent stay Sapporo, see autumn leaves at Hokkaido University gingko lane, beer museum, Sapporo tower,Nakajima park
Day 2: Jozankei onsen trip, grape picking, otaru canal
Day 3: Biei blue pond via two hour train ride, mount asahidake
Day 4: noboribetsu hot springs town, hell valley, oyunumagawa foot bath, Miharashi park
Day 5: lake toya, stay in ryokan, lake toya cruise boat, mount usu
Day 6: Hakodate morning market, mt Hakodate
Day 7: Hirosaki, pick apples, paint you own wooden doll, go to Towada
Day 8: lake Towada in hachimantai national park
Day 9: go to Tokyo
Day 10: Yoyogi park, Meiji jingu shrine, Shinjuku gyoen, Icho namiki avenue of trees, rikugien
Day 11: koishikawa korakuen garden, satobori-koen park, Yasukuni shrine, imperial palace, Hamirikyu gardens
Day 12: Meguro river, roppongi sauna, shinjuku lane, Tokyo tower, nezu shrine, Ueno park
Day 13: Mount Fuji – cable car up observation deck for pictures
3 comments
You forgot Furano! The filming location of the legendary Japanese TV series ”From the northern country”, which was filmed from 1981 to 2002.
Day 1 is too packed, it takes awhile to go to nakajima and that’s a half-day trip by itself when I last went
My thoughts:
– In general, yes, there’s a lot of activities – it may be doable, but you’ll just be checking things off a list rather than enjoying each thing.
– Mid-November is generally too late for autumn leaves in Hokkaido. You may luck out if it stays warm(ish) into November, but be prepared to see mostly bare trees. Sapporo’s avg. first snow is Nov 2, and the average date when there’s snow cover is Nov. 12. Bring warm clothes!
– Grape picking season ends early November so you may not get to do this (assuming this is in Niki/Yoichi town).
– Are you driving to all these places (minus the Biei train ride)? if so, are you prepared to drive in snow? How will you get from Biei to Asahidake? I don’t think Biei’s blue pond and Asahidake can be done in a day easily unless you maybe do a tour bus that does both.
– Day 4: are you still staying in Sapporo? That would be a long day trip from Sapporo. I would either stay in Noboribetsu or stay in Toya day 4. Or even just pick Toya or Noboribetsu and enjoy another day in Sapporo.
– Day 6: you’ll have to start pretty early to see the morning market in Hakodate.
– Day 7: apple picking generally ends mid-November so you may not get to do this.
– Day 8: Towada – assuming you want to see the fall colors at Oirase Keiryu, that peaks at the end of October to early November. You might still see some colors, but it won’t be peak season. Also, how are you getting here?
Sorry it’s probably not stuff you want to hear, but it’s better than finding out once you arrive.