Flew in to Sapporo (CTS).
Took the shinkansen to Tokyo and flew out of Haneda (HND). All transportation within Hokkaido was on trains using a JR Pass (worth it) or by taxi ($20 per trip at most).
Although it was Golden Week, it was not crowded at all in Hokkaido. We just missed the cherry blossoms by about a week, but that’s b/c of a warm winter this year. Normally, you should be able to catch cherry blossoms in Hokkaido first week of May.
Day 1 – Sapporo
– stayed at JR Inn Sapporo Station Minami-guchi – small, but very clean.
– walked around Odori Park. Many attractions are in the same area.
– ate brunch at the fish market (skip anything with a long line – not worth it)
– ate dinner at ramen alley (same as above)
– took the Moiwa Ropeway for night view (also not worth it. It’s fine, but doesn’t compare to bigger cities with more lights)
Day 2 – Sapporo/travel to Noboribetsu
– visited Olympic Museum (only worth it if you’ve never been to any others, but the view of the city during the day is nice)
– got some ekiben and took the train to Noboribetsu
– stayed at Daiichi Takimotokan (the price is fair, but it is very tourist-y. I only chose it b/c of its proximity to Hell Valley)
– went to the hotel onsens after 10pm when it was very quiet
Day 3 – Noboribetsu/travel to Lake Toya
– spent the morning exploring Jigokudani (went to most places except the natural footbath which was too far away by foot, but easily accessible by car)
– took the train to Lake Toya
– stayed at Hotel Hanabi (amazing views, but outdated)
– dinner at a nearby sushi restaurant. It was okay by Japanese standards, nothing to write home about. The whole place was very quiet and many restaurants were not even open.
– fireworks nightly starting at 8:45pm
Day 4 – Lake Toya/travel to Hakodate
– went up to the top of Mount Usu by ropeway. Short walk to see a view of the largest crater, but very long walk with lots of stairs if you wanna get closer. This one was definitely not worth it. Although it’s an active volcano, there’s not much to see up top, especially without the walk.
– took the train to Hakodate
– spent one night at Wakamatsu Ryokan (Michelin kaiseki dinner)
– 45 min private onsen
– it was an amazing experience at Wakamatsu, but definitely only an once-in-a-lifetime thing. Would not stay again. It’s a luxury traditional Japanese experience, but I’m sure you can find similar in other places that cost less. Also, it was not that comfortable for my family, as they were not used to sleeping on futons, etc.
– great view of the sea from the room, but less nice than the Lake Toya view the night before
Day 5 – Hakodate
– walked to the nearby botanical gardens to see onsen monkeys. The gardens were small and the monkeys were not in the onsen. Skip.
– visited Goryokaku. Definitely worth it if you’re into history, but only if you haven’t visited other forts like this that exist around the world. The view from the observation tower is nice.
– dinner at a restaurant in the morning market – food was good, but way too expensive. I forgot the name, but there’s not much that’s open in the morning market in the evening anyway. I would suggest going elsewhere entirely.
Day 6 – Hakodate/travel to Tokyo
– breakfast at the morning market. There’s this seafood don alley. Can’t go wrong with any of them. Very fresh.
– walked around the rest of the morning market and even did some squid fishing (overpriced, but a fun experience).
– walked to the red brick warehouses (skip if you don’t care for shopping)
– then continued up the hill to Motomachi, a historical neighborhood with lots of Western influence. If you’re from Europe or somewhere else with lots of historical western buildings, it’s probably not that interesting.
– took the shinkansen to Tokyo in gran class. Note the food they serve is just a snack so make sure you eat before/after or pack some more food! It was a very nice ride overall, except I got a headache from all the going in/out of tunnels, I think. It was only me though, the rest of my family wasn’t affected.
9 comments
Sounds like you had a pretty lousy time overall, but I appreciate the detail. It’s been almost 50yrs since I lived in Sapporo, so your post caught my eye.
I’m sorry you missed seeing the monkeys enjoy the onsen at the botanical garden! It was still pretty cold when I was there in April and they looked so relaxed just hanging out in the water.
Golden week this year still had a lot of cherry blossoms in Hokkaido, you just have to know where to go. I also did a roadtrip and the flowers were out of control and very beautiful – I didn’t go as far south as Hakodate, though.
Last year I did the same approximate route as you did and found Toyako and Hakodate to be very nice trips, and I’m definitely going to revisit both cities.
Sapporo is tough because it’s a great city to live near but there admittedly isn’t much in the city for tourists compared to other places with similar attractions.
Very interesting to hear your take on these locations, I have a lot more positive things to say about each city/town but each person has a different experience and expectation going to a place and that’s more than fair.
The most attractive aspect about Hokkaido to me is the seafood. Did you find the seafood to be cheaper and fresher compared to other places like Tokyo? I specifically love sea urchin
The most attractive aspect about Hokkaido to me is the seafood. Did you find the seafood to be cheaper and fresher compared to other places like Tokyo? I specifically love sea urchin
No Hakodate mountain night view??
I also went up for a few days to Sapporo and Otaru during Golden Week to visit my son. We initially wanted to go to Shakutan but we couldn’t rent a car so we took a bus to Otaru instead. Lot’s of tourists there and I also noticed that the seafood prices were very high, at least in relationship to my previous visit last year. One good thing was that there was fresh Nishin sushi. I love it. I won’t be going back up there again during the holidays, though. One other thing…I found an all you can eat bbq lamb/drink place near Susukino that was fabulous.
> If you’re from Europe or somewhere else with lots of historical western buildings, it’s probably not that interesting.
As someone from Europe, I’d say it’s the complete opposite, actually. Hakodate was among the first ports opened end of XIXth, and there are only very few examples nationwide of similar early foreign settlements with Meiji buildings in good shape. You need to go all the way down to Nagasaki, with a couple examples in Kobe also (though Kobe settlement is more recent). Yokohama settlement is all but gone. The tombs of the first foreigners who died after the convention of Kanagawa, two seamen from the Perry expedition of 1854, are in the foreign cemetary of Hakodate.
Of course, if you’re just a casual watcher it’s just “non-traditionnal Japanese looking buildings”, but if you have the slightest interest in history, Hakodate is quite up there.
All things considered, I’m glad I went to Okinawa for golden week.