Can I get some advice on this itinerary? I arrive in Japan on 15 May, and can spend up to 5 weeks in the country. I’m currently planning \~7 days driving in Hokkaido before activating my 21 day JR pass and working my way down the rest of the country via rail. I like a relaxing pace of travel where I can spend some time enjoying the sights.
**Hokkaido**
Day 1: Arrive at New Chitose Airport at 4pm, pick up rental car, drive to Sapporo, check in and walk around town/enjoy dinner.
Day 2 : Sleep in, Sapporo Beer Garden, Beer Museum and city sights. Maybe a soba making class.
Day 3: Drive to Otaru, explore canals and town, visit Temiya Park. Return to Sapporo and complete any remaining Sapporo sightseeing.
Day 4: Drive to Furano. See Farm Tomita and Shirihage Blue Pond/Waterfall. Visit Ningle Terrace and stay the night in Furano.
Day 5: Visit Shikisai no Oka and Zerubu Hill in Biei. Return to Sapporo for the night
Day 6: Drive to Lake Toya, view Lake Toya and mount Usu. Spend some time at an onsen in Noboribetsu if there is time. Return to Sapporo for the night.
Day 7: Return car to New Chitose Airport. Activate JR Pass and take the train to Hakodate. Explore Goryokaku, Matsumae Castle and Mt Hakudate. Spend the night in Hakodate.
Day 8: Any more sightseeing that couldn’t be done the previous night, then take the train to Tokyo to continue the rest of the trip.
This itinerary seems to have a lot of driving and not enough sightseeing. Am I missing any places that I should include?
Also I prefer to stay in one hotel and travel to other cities as day trips rather than stay in a different hotel/town each night.
4 comments
Sapporo and Otaru really doesn’t need a car to get around. I drove during my recent 10 days trip to Hokkaido, but only for areas outside of that two places.
Sapporo is a very walkable city, I stayed at Susukino area where the nightlife is. Took an airport bus that stop somewhere less than 5 mins walk to my hotel. The other option is to take train from airport to Sapporo Station and stay around that area. For my 4 days 3 nights at Sapporo, I never once felt like I need a car to explore.
Parking is not cheap in Sapporo and Otaru. And you will likely have to park a distance from the sights and have to do a bit of walking which defeats the purpose of the car. And not all hotels has enough parking spots for you as well so you have to rely on public parking. Otaru is a very easy trip from Sapporo via train, all the sights in Otaru is basically accessible via walking.
You can easily rent a car from Sapporo itself when you need it for your day trips, I prebook mine from Toyota Rent A Car online website, only pay when collecting the car. So many branches and the one I went is only 5 mins walking distance from my hotel in Sapporo. I rented a car from Sapporo and drove to Noboribetsu, Lake Toya, Hakodate, Niseko, Cape Kamui before dropping off my rental car at Otaru at the end of the road trip.
I’m not sure what flowers Farm Tomita has right now but the lavender won’t be blooming yet, and that is a large draw of the place. They will still have some flowers maybe, but be prepared for that.
You could return to Sapporo from Otaru via Jozankei. It’s a beautiful drive through the mountains and the onsen town is cute – they might still have the giant carp streamers up mid-May.
If you want more things to do around Sapporo, the Hokkaido historical village is interesting, and the Sapporo Art Park is very beautiful.
I would say it is worth staying overnight in Toyako or Noboribetsu at an onsen hotel, but if you don’t like checking in a lot/have already booked Sapporo dates fair enough.
Day 7, Matsumae is 2h from Hakodate by train and Sapporo to Hakodate is 4h. Goryokaku is not next to the central station either… South Hokkaido and Hakodate surroundings are worth it, but you’re looking at 2 days, not 1. I’d say day 1 for Hakodate and Goryokaku, day 2 for a day trip to Matsumae (tougher to reach but well worth it also : Esashi)
Note that the Hakodate Shinkansen station is pretty far from Hakodate itself, roughly 30 minutes.
I’m heading to Hokkaido in October. One of my walks/hikes is going to be Hell Valley in Noboribetsu. Maybe hit up the onsen there as well.