This will be the third time going to Japan but the first time up north so would be nice to hear thoughts on those who have travelled this route and any recommendations for a group of 3.
Plan is to fly in to Sapporo on 2nd Feb and spend 3 days here for the Snow Festival and check out other spots in Sapporo (Odori Park/Sapporo Beer Factory/Historical Village of Hokkaido/Clock Tower/ Susikino).
6th Feb: Noboribetsu
Plan here is to hire a car and drive down to Noboribetsu and spend one day here checking out Jigokudani and surrounding area. Will be staying at a traditional Ryokan on this night.
7th Feb: Hakodate
Drive down from Noboribetsu in the morning and stop off at Hakodate – we are purely stopping here as a stopover as we plan to take the bullet train from Shin-Hakodate to Sendai as this is our next step. If anyone has any recommendations on things to do here for a day that would be great.
8th-10th Feb: Sendai
Bullet train down to Sendai from Hakodate and spend 2 days here. Only have Yamadera and Daikannon set in stone for now so any more recommendations here would be great.
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10th-18th: Tokyo
On the 10th plan is take bullet train from Sendai to Tokyo and spend remainder of the trip in Tokyo. Not too concerned with Tokyo as been here few times already so it’s really just the days before.
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General Questions:
Has the MariKa go karting in Tokyo shut down? Can’t seem to find anything about them online anymore. Are there any alternatives?
Can anyone recommend a good company to hire a car with up north that will cover Sapporo pickup and Hakodate drop off?
I’m not sure if a 7 day JR pass is going to be worth it or just buy two Shinkansen tickets, can’t seem to find anywhere that will give me a rough idea of ticket prices so if anyone knows that would be great.
Thanks in advance
6 comments
I don’t even understand why you want to rent a car to go to Noboribetsu and Hakodate as there is train going there and as you are considering a JR Pass, then… you could do all that on the pass, from Sapporo all the way to Tokyo.
And as you can fit everything in 6 days, then JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass instead of the full JR Pass. [https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/easthokkaido.html](https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/easthokkaido.html)
To have shinkansen ticket price, just use Google Maps.
Short answer Hakodate-Sendai 18 000, Sendai-Tokyo 12 000. This is already more expensive than the JR East pass I linked, so instead of renting a car, just do it by train for free.
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The “Mario themed” kart is kind of dead because of the fact there is no foreign tourist, so they have literally no customer and they lost a lawsuit against Nintendo. I think that there is alternative, but the consensus is that it is dangerous and nobody likes it… I guess appart the foreigners who decide to do it.
Just here to say I used to live in Sapporo right above Odori Koen & you’ll love the snow festival! Eat lots of Sapporo ramen & you’ll realize why people make such a big deal of it down in Honshuu. Also there’s a great niku-man place on the main drag (perpendicular to Odori Koen), it will be billowing steam out into the street & they’re delicious. They’re are also I’ve sculptures all up & down that street during the snow festival. Also when in Hokkaido, order imo-mochi at any izakaiya (pub) bc they don’t have it in Honshuu. It’s little cakes of potato mixed with mochi, served with sweet soy sauce & butter. Also lots of fresh crab to be had. I later lived about an hour from Sendai & never found it all that interesting, but I probably didn’t try hard enough.
As mentioned, it probably makes more sense to take the train Sapporo – Noboribetsu – Hakodate unless you are planning on stopping at Lake Toya on the way to Hakodate.
Tolls alone will cost around 8,000 yen between Sapporo and Hakodate but not taking the toll highways will almost double the journey time. Check out [Noboribetsu Travel Information](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6753.html?aFROM=2163_6750) for further details.
During your time in Sapporo I recommend taking a half day trip to Otaru by train. They usually have their snow lantern festival on to lineup with the Sapporo Snow Festival.
We went to Hokkaido back in Feb 2020 just before the pandemic and loved it! Highly recommend day trips to Asahikawa and Otaru/Yoichi from Sapporo. We also rented a car from Budget near Sapporo station for 3 days for $263 CAD (went skiing in Niseko) and dropped it off near Hakodate airport after. Don’t miss the night view from Mt. Hakodate!
If you’re into premium spirits, I’d check out the Yoichi Distillery and Otaru Sake Brewery. The Yoichi one has free tours and very affordable tastings for excellent quality (~500 yen for a generous distillery-exclusive pour).
I’d also consider Niseko if you’d like to spend some interactive in the snow. Even if you’re not a skier, you can snowmobile and do other items in the area and it’s a ton of fun.
JR pass will cover you on basically all of the trains (w exception of 2 shinkansen). So if you’ll ever need train in Sendai (for going to Yamadera)or Sapporo is a good deal.
The historical village is out of the city in a place that is nearly in the middle of nowhere and needs the bus to reach. So take that in consideration that it’ll take you half a day (or a full day). But it’s worth, place is gorgeous, especially w the snow.