Okay, attempting this for the third time. The moderators dinged me earlier (twice!) for not enough detail, so hopefully this is sufficient…
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My sister and I (both in our 30s, of moderate fitness) are planning to visit Hokkaido for 5 days in July (4th – 9th). We fly into Tokyo a few days before the 4th, and fly out of Tokyo on the 10th. We’ve been to Tokyo before and, given the summer heat, wanted to see Hokkaido for the first time. We’re excited for the shinkansen experience, but also want to limit how many days we consecutively sit in trains, cars and buses to some degree, so I’ve attempted to break Hokkaido up into small more navigable pieces and have at least a few days in one place (Sapporo). We would really like to see the Japanese seaside in the summertime, and my concern with this intinerary is that we might be missing out on somewhere really special in Hokkaido.
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Kind people, would you be willing to tell me if there’s some absolute gem of a town or special place by the sea we’re missing? This is just a tiny part of Hokkaido, are we focusing on the wrong part? Is there any must-do thing not here? Are we spending too much time anywhere? Any and all thoughts gratefully received.We aren’t big hikers, but if there’s some stunning natural place we’d like to see it. We like culture, museums and super good food. And shopping, to be honest. We go to sleep pretty early and eat pretty lightly, so one big meal a day is usually our style.
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Day 1: 4th July (I’m concerned we might be trying to fit too much into this day)
* Take the 9.36 shinkansen from Tokyo to Hakodate (changes trains to the Hakodate-Liner), arrives at 2.05pm
* Check into our hotel (I’m thinking of one in Yunokawa), then take the bus or taxi to Goryokaku Park, with a lunch/dinner at Lucky Pierrot
* From the park, take a taxi to Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse, and then the tram to Cape Tachimachi lookout-
* Get a snack somewhere? Any recs?
* \- Tram to Mount Hakodate for the night view, then back to the hotel
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Day 2: 5th July
* Breakfast at our hotel, then take the 10am express train from Hakodate to Noboribetsu
* Check into a ryokan, I am hoping to book one by Hell Valley
* I think for this day, it makes sense to simply enjoy the ryokan experience?
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Day 3: 6th July
* Breakfast at the ryokan, then take the 9.30am train from Noboribetsu to Sapporo, getting in around 11am
* Visit the Hokkaido Historical Village (and have lunch there?)
* In the evening, do the Mount Moiwa ropeway to see the view, and dinner in Susukino’s ramen alley. Is there any restaurant in Sapporo that anyone absolutely loves, that you would say not to miss?
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Day 4: 7th July:
* \-For this day I was hoping to book a tour to Furano and Biei, which has good reviews on Viator. This seems like it would take up most of the day!
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Day 5: 8th July
* \-Similarly, on this day I was hoping to book a day tour to Otaru
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Day 6: 9th July
* Fly back to Tokyo
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Thank you for reading and bearing with me — advice gratefully received!
4 comments
If you are going to the far east side of Hokkaido, I recently went to Notsuke peninsula. They have a little lighthouse out there with a little museum and gift shop. If you enjoy nature and wildlife, it’s a beautiful spot. I got some remarkable pictures.
It all sounds pretty reasonable tbh. There is a little hiking trail through the Noboribetsu which is pretty cool. I don’t know if you are a big drinker or not but the Sapporo Beer Measum was interesting and Genghis Khan Hall is really good value. Again, don’t know if you are interested but there is a famous whiskey distillery near Otaru that might be worth visiting. You don’t need to book a tour to Otaru it is easily manageable on the local trains by yourself (amazing view of the coastline on the right-hand side). I know you said one big meal a day but the seafood up there is pretty awesome. Would highly recommend a trip to the seafood morning markets in both Hakodate and Sapporo if you can squeeze it in. Ganso Ramen St is pretty cool as well, there is a ramen shop there covered with famous signatures (pretty sure it’s the one from Anthony Bourdain’s trip to Hokkaido). If you are still looking for things to do there is a chocolate factory in Sapporo that’s pretty famous worth a trip if you are looking for a way to fill a few hours, but honestly wouldn’t make a trip out just for it.
I mean yes, you’re going to be missing out on a lot in Hokkaido because it’s the largest Prefecture and there’s so much to do there. There’s nothing wrong with your itinerary as it’s what most people who visit Hokkaido do. I personally enjoy the more rural eastern part of Hokkaido, but to do that you really need to rent a car. If you really want to get the most out of Furano and Biei I’d also recommend renting a car here. You’ll probably be too early for the lavender season as that happens around mid July, but there will still be plenty of other flowers blooming.
My partner and I live in Japan and did a similar itinerary last year. We got absolutely hooked on Hokkaido and are about to return for the 3rd time this summer.
Biei and Furano are beautiful in summer and the flowers at Kanno Farm or FlowerLand are well worth checking out (a car makes life easier). There are some farms in the area where you can get fresh dairy products.
In Sapporo, I recommend trying soup curry, ramen yokocho and the beer garden. There are some great kissaten-style coffee shops too if you want to chill for an hour between sightseeing. Have a great trip!