One of my good friends is moving to Osaka in January and I’m going to visit her the following August (if possible). I’d really like to visit Sapporo while I’m in Japan, as Hokkaido is my favorite prefecture, but the long bullet train rides to and from are intimidating me.
Has anyone ever made this trip? If so, what did your schedule and itinerary look like? Did the long ride stress you out or did it all go smoothly? Or is taking the train a dumb idea to begin with and flying into/out of New Chitose more reasonable?
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You can take the train, but it’s 12 hours (yes, that’s Shinkansen time. It’s 2.5hr to Tokyo, 4 hours to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, and another 3.5hours to Sapporo, not including connection time, and that’s with Nozomi)
Just fly.
For the distance and the cost, I highly recommend flying instead of the train. As a foreigner, you should qualify for a cheap domestic plane ticket via Yōkoso Japan or other programs for tourists. Definitely research those once you have your international roundtrip tickets as you’ll need to provide proof that you are a tourist and temporary visitor to Japan.
Also, domestic flights in Japan are luxurious compared to domestic flights in the US. Security is easier, you’ll have more legroom, and depending on the airline you choose, you may have a fun safety briefing video before takeoff.
The travel time involved along with the price it would almost certainly make more sense to fly. Domestic flights can be cheaper than shinkansen a lot of the times, and probably would definitely be in this situation.
I think you should consider flying because it’s cheaper and less time consuming. If you have limited time, then flying might be better.
I’ve done it on regular trains (not Shinkansen) over the course of a month. If you’ve got loads of time and plan to make stops along the way it can be rewarding. If you don’t have time and you’re on a budget, flying makes a lot more sense.
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Well, taking a plane is faster if time actually matters.
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But in every other regard taking the train is far easier and less stressful if you have the whole day to burn, ESPECIALLY NOW. No security theatre bullshit, just line up at the door and walk to your seat. No waiting in queues, inspecting your luggage and loitering in airports paying airport prices for awful food. Station restaurants, or even ekibens will be better than airline food.
You will never have ‘more legroom’ than a train. And you know what I always look forward to flying a plane? The SAFETY VIDEO about how to fasten a seatbelt.
I don’t give a fuck if it saves 6 hours; put your feet up and have a proper meal and a beer and watch a movie or read a book. Anywhere is better on a train than a plane.
For Tokyo > Sapporo, it’s probably cheaper and definitely faster to fly.
I spent ~9 hours on the shinkansen before from Kumamoto > Tokyo, solely because I didn’t want to deal with the airport and I’d wanted a day of downtime to catch up with everyone back home.
I plan my trips around *avoiding* holidays or big events in Japan, it’s really convenient to just walk up to the train station whenever and catch the next one out.
It looks like Sapporo is more like 12+ hours, I’d probably fly, the 9 hours I spent was about the most I was willing to do.
I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer.
As others have mentioned, flying will be cheaper and faster, so if efficiency is your main priority then you should fly.
However, the Shinkansen are very smooth and relaxing, and you could certainly make an enjoyable trip if you stretch it out across a few days and stop at interesting places along the way.
Just fly. Consider taking train to Tokyo after Hokkaido
Going straight to Sapporo on a train does not make sense by itself. And for your friend, probably more expensive.
On the other hand, early August is a period for major summer festivals in northern Japan (eg. Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori, Kanto Matsuri in Akita, or Tanabata Festival in Sendai). And Hakodate, or Lake Toya area and Noboribetsu Onsen can be worth the stay.
Flying is so easy. Chitose is very convenient. You can train right out of the station. (Airport I mean)
I’ve done both train and flights to Sapporo from Tokyo, but it should be very similar. Flights will be the quickest by far. There are a bunch of shops at the airport too which you can use to kill time. Most are before security so be aware of that.
If you’re traveling as part of a vacation the train can be fun, but I would just break it up into a couple days of travel. When I took the train I stopped off at Hakodate for a day. Explored the historical area for the afternoon, then the next day woke up and check out the morning market. Then in the afternoon took a train to Sapporo and arrived in the evening.
You can do both an take a train in one direction and flight in the other so you can experience both.
For itinerary, if you go by train, there is only one option (I mean direct option). Shinkansen to Tokyo, then Shinkansen to Hakodate, then Limited express to Sapporo.
I’ve not done this specific route, but have done many trips with transfers and it it not especially stressful if you are good to navigate train station in Japan. You might want to give you some extra time for your changes if you want to make sure you do not miss the train and maybe grab something to eat in the station.
Thing is, it is a good 11 to 12 hours by train and unless you are using a JR Pass, using the train is most likely more expensive than going by air. So I find it really hard to justify using the train.
Not exactly, but I’ve done Aomori to Kyoto/Kobe. It’s free with a JR pass and you get to sleep. You have to stop in Tokyo so you can definitely get lunch or something while waiting. You can take the fastest Shinkansen Hayabusa up north, but once you’re back in Kanto, you can’t take the Nozomi unless you pay.
I took a plane. Way easier and only about 2.5 hours or something. Domestic flying is so easy in Japan.
Finally a post I can share my experience on!
I did exactly what you are describing, just going from Sapporo to Osaka. We had already paid for the JR Pass and didn’t want to spend more on domestic flights. It’s a long haul for sure, but definitely doable. I think we boarded the 5am train in Sapporo and made it for about 5pm in Osaka. Shinkansens are definitely much more comfortable than regular commuter trains so it wasn’t that bad. You get to see a lot of rural scenery which is nice also. However, we had a month long trip in Japan so half a day on trains didn’t bother us. If your time is short, I would recommend flying domestic.
If you do plan on taking the train, make sure you book your tickets in advance (with the JR pass you can pre-book tickets) and also hit a conbini before boarding.
I’ve taken the train from Tokyo to Sapporo. If you like pleasing vistas, there’s some gorgeous views of the Uchiura Bay. There’s also some interesting mountains too. But the view only really applies on Hokkaido.
Not sure if I’d do it from Osaka. It seems like it’d be a waste of your time travelling that far by train imo.
Me and my girlfriend did it last November but we made the decision to split the journey at Sendai. The journey is super smooth and easy, you have to change shinkansen at Tokyo but even that was easy, had about a half hour wait.
The journey from Sendai to Sapporo was easy but the local train from Hakodate to Sapporo feels incredibly slow compared to the shinkansen but the views are pretty spectacular and you have longer to appreciate them. We were about half way through our 3 week JR pass so made the decision to take the train rather than fly, but honestly flying would seem easier if you want to do it in one go.
Side note, if you get a chance to explore Hakodate you definitely should.
We were going to do this, but decided to fly…
Sure, its nice to see the countryside, but it isn’t a straight 12 hour ride, its a 9ish hour ride all the way to Hakodate, and then another 3 hour ALL STOPS train ride to Sapporo.
Its like me driving from Sydney to Melbourne, not worth it.
Made the trip by train but went from Sapporo to Osaka after exploring Hokkaido for a while. Took the train around 7-8 in the morning, and just made it to my hostel to check-in by 11PM.
Pretty much went as smooth as I could ask for. Was grateful I had all of Dragon Ball on my external hard drive, so blasted through dozens of episodes on the ride down. Just make sure to bring something to keep you entertained and you should be good!
My friend took the train when she went and said the time wasn’t too bad and it was actually pretty nice to experience something new like that!
yes i ever take the train from fukuoka to hakodate, wait i’ll search for the itienary
Just fly. We did tokyo to Niseko via shinkansen/express/local and it was over 10 hours with tight connections (almost missed one) and will definitely fly next time. It was cool to see the country side change along the way but will definitely limit a single day of travel to around 6-7 hrs max in the future.
I did it via train from Hiroshima shortly after the line was extended to shin-Hakodate (maybe 2017?) and I loved it. We did Hiroshima to Tokyo, Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate on one day. Spent the night and explored Hakodate and then took the local up to Sapporo the next day. I don’t mind train rides though and it was a nice way to see the countryside.
I drove it and it was super beautiful. Every rest stop had amazing ramen. The end.
I flew from Chitose to Kobe, it was super cheap and easy on Peach airlines. Somewhere around $60-70 one way.
yup its a long trip, i have made that journey from kyoto to hokkaido back in 2019
all by trains, since i have JR Pass, i did enjoy the shinkansen
i did not stressed by the long trip, since i love japan and the trains is astonishingly quiet.
i made stop for 1 night at Aomori, since i am not sure i can make it in 1 day to Hakodate, and i am not using Nozomi (it takes more time)
i think for most people flying is a better option, considering flight is relatively cheaper and faster. but if you are a tourist especially first time, with a lot of spare time.if you have JR Pass then you can considering using trains, otherwise this is not a good option
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i went to toyama-arashiyama-shirakawago-aomori-hakodate-otaru-sapporo-abashiri-tokyo. all within 14 days. Japan is endless
Yeah I flew because fuck the train up
My wife and I did this exact same trip….but we flew. It was easy as hell and super cheap (under $100 USD each).
Dude just fly.
I love the Shinkansen (with JR pass, normal or green car) but I would/will fly when my turn comes.
Expecting to get back to Japan autumn 2021. They have to be open for the Olympics.
If that’s the only destination you want, fly. If you want to make a longer trip out of it, take the shinkansen, and get off in Tokyo and other stops along the way to explore the cities.
There is another other option nobody else has mentioned… You could take the sleeper train to Tokyo, then get the Shinkansen from there:
Ltd. Exp. Sunrise Seto
Dep. Osaka 0:34
Arr. Tokyo 7:08
Hayabusa 7
Dep. Tokyo 8:20
Arr. Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto 12:18
Ltd. Exp. Hokuto 11
Dep. Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto 12:34
Arr. Sapporo 16:04
It doesn’t make as much sense on the way back (if you could even say it makes sense going), because the first drop-off is Himeji, and it arrives quite early in the morning:
Ltd. Exp. Hokuto 14
Dep. Sapporo 13:27
Arr. Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto 16:55
Hayabusa 44
Dep. Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto 17:25
Arr. Tokyo 21:23
Ltd. Exp. Sunrise Seto
Dep. Tokyo 22:00
Arr. Himeji 5:25
JR Kobe Line Rapid Service
Dep. Himeji 5:36
Arr. Osaka 7:08
If you’re using a JR Pass, only the cheapest “nobi nobi seki” (basically an open carpeted platform; there’s not even a curtain) is fully covered. If you want a private berth, the pass only covers the base fare. You have to pay the express surcharge (2,960 yen) and the compartment fee (between 6,600 and 15,400 yen, depending on the type of berth) on top.
Depending on day of week and time of year, it can be difficult to get reservations for the Sunrise Seto. If you buy your pass online directly from JR, you can make a reservation for a nobi nobi seki at the same time, but the compartments can only be reserved in person at the ticket office. And no, your friend can’t make the reservation for you ahead of time, unless you’re not using a pass.
If you’ve never ridden in a berth on a sleeper train before, I think it’s a fun experience. I’ve done it twice: Toronto to Vancouver in a private room, and Edinburgh to London in a shared room. I’ve also taken 3 overnight trains just in a seat (Cairns to Brisbane, New York to Tampa and Orlando to New York). That’s still more comfortable than trying to sleep on a flight in economy or an overnight bus, but nowhere near as good as a berth.
That’s a really nice train ride with scenery . But quite long…and more expensive than flying..
Two long travel experiences I’ve had in Japan. One was taking a nightbus from Fukuoka to Kyoto which took around 12 hours. If you can sleep in a reclined seat, you are golden because they provide you with pillows, blankets and a privacy curtain. I however, cannot sleep in a chair of any kind so it was pretty rough for me.
Another time I took a…. 12 hour train ride I think? Not shinkansen, but the regular trains which meant I had to change 11 times and I was shoulder to shoulder for 12 straight hours. I thought I could handle it, but I was near insanity by the end. No joke.
I took the train from Sapporo to Kyoto on my trip last year. It’s definitely a long ride, but I LOVE being on the Shinkansen, so I enjoyed the trip.
I took the bullet train from Osaka to Sapporo it was a really nice train ride and I would definitely recommend it
My thoughts on this really depend on what you’re looking to achieve in this trip. If time is tight and you want to get in a fast Sapporo visit, I would suggest flying.
However, if you’re looking to explore a little and can spare an extra couple of days, I would suggest taking the train and breaking up the trip into multiple days.
I previously flew to Sapporo and took the train down to Osaka. My first leg was the Sapporo to Hakodate train. I spent two nights in Hakodate and really enjoyed it. I then took the train to from Hakodate to Osaka with a stop at the rail museum in Omiya to break up that trip.
Since you said you enjoy visiting Hokkaido, I figured I’d mention my experience. But, it really depends on the various time/money trade offs.