Hello everyone! I’ve been working on an itinerary for February 2022 and I would love to hear some feedback. I will be travelling with two friends and this is our 2nd trip to Japan. Two of us also speak N4 Japanese.
Two events we want to see that shape the general outline of the itinerary:
– Sapporo Snow Festival (because since we want to come in winter, it seems like a waste not to visit it)
– Winter Wonder Festival in Tokyo (Snow Festival is supposed to be on the 4th of February and WF will likely be on the 13th, giving us 9 days to get down there)
EDIT: If anyone reads this later, the dates I had were assumptions. Literally within days after posting this, dates for Winter Wonder Festival were announced and it’s unusually early – 6th and 7th of February (it’s 2 day event this time). So, I will be basically scrubbing this whole thing. Likely Hokkaido will be scrubbed entirely and we will try to see another winter festival, seems like there are plenty up north this time of year.
Transport:
– We will fly from Europe to Sapporo (likely with layover in Tokyo, but we don’t have much of a choice in this regard)
– Travel south to Tokyo via trains/shinkansen,
stopping at interesting cities ~~using 2 JR TOKYO Wide Pass one to get from Hakodate to Sendai, and the other to get From Sendai to Tokyo)~~ *It seems I misunderstood the extend of this pass*
– Fly back from Tokyo
– We will travel with only single piece of carry-on luggage each, all the way to Tokyo.
—-
**Day 1-3** – Sapporo
– 3rd day would ideally fall on start of the Snow Festival
– Mt.Moiwa, Historical Village of Hokkaido, Beer Museum, Clock Tower
– focus on local specialities – curry soup, corn butter ramen, crab
– Hokkaido is supposed to be known for great fish markets, but as I understand it, those are closed during winter?
– This needs most work honestly, but I frankly feel like there isn’t much to in Sapporo. But I also don’t want to spend essentially just a single full day there, right after we arrive. Thoughts?
– We could go to Otaru, but we didn’t find it very interesting
**Day 4** – Move to Hakodate
– stop at Upopoy Ainu Museum
– stop at Noboribetsu’s Hell’s Valley + dip in some onsen?
– arrival in Hakodate late in the afternoon + maybe visit to Mt.Hakodate to see the famous night view
**Day 5** – Hakodate
– Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden
– Goryokaku + Goryokaku Tower
– maybe visit to Cape Tachimachi + Hachiman-gu shrine if time permits it?
**Day 6** – Move to Sendai
– ~~We would activate our first 3-day JR TOKYO Wide Pass, because it would be cheaper than Shinkansen ticket to Sapporo ~~
– stop at Aomori for Train Ferry Ship, Nebuta Museum and maybe Sannai-Maruyama Historical Site
– arrival in Sapporo late in the day
**Day 7-9** – Sendai
– Rinnō-ji Temple or Osaki Hachimangu Shrine (any recommendations?)
– Aobayama Park + Zuihōden Temple
– day trip to Fukushima Daiichi (take train south to Odaka, where the 5-hour tour starts)
– Nikka Whisky Sendai Factory or Akiu Great Falls (despite them being close, they aren’t really connected in any useful way so I think picking only one is the way to go)
– Jozenji-dori Avenue (looks cool)
**Day 10** – Move to Tokyo
– ~~We would activate our second 3-day JR TOKYO Wide Pass, because it would be cheaper than Shinkansen ticket to Tokyo~~
– stop in Utsunomiya
– either, we could visit Heiwa Kannon, Oya History Museum and Four Seasons Bamboo Forest Wakayama Farm
– or Mashiko Pottery Town (I’m leaning towards this one, as I quite like pottery, but it’s also just one thing and farther away)
**Day 11-14** – Tokyo
– base somewhere near Shinagawa station, because it will allow quick access to central Tokyo as well as Kamakura where we want to visit a friend)
– day trip to Yokosuka + stop at the new Gundam Base in Yokohama – cruise around the navy harbour in Yokosuka + Mikasa Warship Memorial
– half a day at Wonder Festival (in Chiba) + probably visit to Senso-ji/Kappabashi st./Akihabara on the way back (basically a shopping trip)
– day trip to Kamakura – Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine (might skip this one; too many shrines), Sasuke Inari Shrine, Kōtoku-in, Enoshima Island (evening when it’s lit up)
We tend to be quite flexible with the itinerary. If we feel like we won’t have time for something at our normal pace, we don’t worry about it and change plans as needed.
I also haven’t yet checked if everything written here is open during winter. I kinda assume so, but I will be checking that when the itinerary gets closer to being finished.
One thing I’m really missing is visit to a onsen. Yes, we might stop at one in Noboribetsu, but that’s kind of “if we have time” thing. I’m not really sure where to squeeze it in without skipping some stop (e.g. Aomori). Maybe if there was one close to Sendai that would be good as sort of half-way-trough-the-trip relaxation stop? Not necessarily as a overnight stop.
I’m aware there is lot of changing hotels involved, but considering we will be travelling somewhat lightly, we don’t feel like it will be too much of an issue. To us it seems like during winter, the number of activities is somewhat limited so sticking to smaller number of areas wouldn’t do us much good anyway.
Any feedback and suggestions are much appreciated! Thank you for your time.
9 comments
Tokyo WIDE Pass doesn’t even cover to Sendai, let alone Hakodate.
You surely mean the JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass… the wide pass is for around Tokyo.
Eta: doesn’t work with your itinerary, it’s 6 consecutive days. Either you rearrange your itinerary to fit the passes or combine various passes
And day 6 is supposed to be Sendai right?
Couple tips for you to consider:
I spent two weeks in Hokkaido over festival season last year, and the Sapporo snow fest really is much better at the end of the festival period because all ice construction begins at the start of the fest and finishes before the end. Ideally you’d be there over the last weekend not the first weekend. If that’s not possible, you’ll still have a good time, so don’t fret.
Check out [this](https://www.kyuhoshi.com/japan-winter-festivals-calendar/) website. If you can make it to Noboribetsu during the hot spring festival, DO NOT miss it. This was the most surprisingly awesome part of my trip. Additionally, the main onsen in Dai-ichi Takimotokan is amazing. If I could live there I would. I stayed at Takimoto Inn, which is across the street and much cheaper, and I had full access to the Takimotokan onsen.
I lived up in Tohoku (will move back as soon as I can).
Sendai, despite being the biggest city, is kind of not super touristy itself. They’ve got some great festivals, but otherwise not a lot of major sites worth seeing in the city IMHO. I’d suggest looking at day trips. Matsushima is a short jump away and is lovely to walk around and eat oysters. Akiu falls is nice, but it’s like an hour hike around and that’s it–and there’s like NOTHING around it. However, going the same way towards Yamagata/Tendo is Yamadera which is spectacular and has some great hiking trails around it–easy to get to by train from Sendai.
I went to Sapporo during Snow Festival season in 2020. The fish markets in Sapporo are open during winter, if there was any reduced capacity I sure didn’t notice it as such! There was a fairly long wait for the restaurant in the market but it was worth it for the uni and scallops.
I found there was plenty to do in Sapporo for 3 days, particularly if it’s your first stop and you’re fighting jet lag, and in the winter where there _will be snow_ and you’ll be trudging through it. I wouldn’t plan to do Moiwayama and Beer Museum in the same day unless you’re splurging on cabs.
If you want to scratch the onsen itch, we went to [Hoheikyo onsen](https://jozankei.jp/en/hoheikyo-hot-springs/651) which is a public onsen a day trip from Sapporo station by bus. Plenty of foreigners were doing the same.
Get your soup curry after doing Moiwa at [Kohihausu/Coffeehouse](https://coffeehousesapporo.wixsite.com/mysite) (don’t let the name mislead you), go hungry to the ramen alley downtown, and we had some surprisingly good kaiten sushi at the spot on the top floor of the Parco building. Save the shopping for Tokyo and later in the trip.
For Sapporo, I would definitely recommend at least having more time to focus on the festival itself, maybe your 2nd full day. I find myself constantly eating festival food and you can always navigate your way back to the festival when you have down time. I always recommend making sure you visit all three sites for the festival. Not many visitors go to the Tsudome site but I usually find that to be the most wholesome/authentic part of the festival as it caters to locals and has plenty of local food vendors. There is also some unofficial stuff down at Nakajima Park that I would allow time for. I also recommend going to Otaru for the Snow Light Festival. I always enjoy the path on the old Temiya Line more than the canal area (which is always super crowded now) but still worth to check both out.
I was in Hakodate in February in 2019…It was so cold, much colder than sapporo because of wind chill since it’s a port town. It was snowing a lot and this couldn’t go to the mountain to see the city view as all you would see is clouds. Hopefully the weather is better but just be aware it snows A LOT.
Hi, I hope that next year the restrictions caused by the coronavirus will be eased and you can travel well around Japan.The whole thing depends on the coronavirus, but let’s say it is all overcome successfully.
Hokkaido in winter may not be very attractive for people who do not enjoy winter sports. The scenery is very beautiful, though. The hot springs are good. Noboribetsu is a good one, but there are many other places you might want to look for. However, there are many hot springs in Tohoku, not just in Hokkaido. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Tohoku region is the home of hot springs in Japan.
From the Nikka Whisky factory to Akiu Onsen, you have to cross a mountain, and there is no direct public transportation available. You will have to go back to Sendai. As for the Nikka Whisky factory tour, the Yoichi factory in Hokkaido is probably better. The atmosphere is quite different, so it is recommended to visit both if you like whisky.
Mashiko is a good place. There is a lot of relatively inexpensive pottery and you can enjoy shopping there. Transportation is a bit of a problem, but there is also a famous pottery town (Kasama) nearby, so why not visit there?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasama_ware
You may feel a little uneasy, but it seems that you can speak Japanese, so I think you should just try your luck with the hot springs. As I mentioned earlier, the Tohoku region is a mecca for hot springs, so if you get off at every Shinkansen stations, there are bound to be several hot springs nearby. It would be a good idea to enjoy the coincidences.
Have a nice trip!
Been in Hokkaido a year and a half now. Big skiier, so that’s my main perspective.
I would skip Moiwa and take a day skiing in Niseko or Rusutsu.
I reccomend Hakodate for a day. Hakodate is pretty cool if you’re into historical sites but walking the big hill most of them are on might not take that long if it’s really cold outside. The view from the mountain is awesome but again might be a short visit if it’s cold. There is the awesome morning fish market there but I havent been in winter to say if its open.
~disclaimer again, big skiier, based around Niseko
Cheers mate and goodluck!