Hello Everyone.
My wife and I are planning our combined 10 (delayed by COVID) + 15 year anniversary trip (without the kids!). The trip we took to Japan 8 years ago was my favorite trip I have ever taken. We did Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. This time, we’re wanting to do Hokkaido (as well as a couple days in Tokyo). We will be going in late May (after Golden Week) 2024.
Any opinions/feedback is much appreciated.
* Day 1
* Flight from US (haha, time change)
* Day 2
* Afternoon
* Arrive HND
* Train/Monorail to Tokyo Station
* Evening
* Dinner (in the station?), Hotel nearby
* Day 3
* Morning
* Breakfast nearby or on train
* Shinkansen to Morioka
* Morioka Castle
* Midday, Afternoon
* Find and consume the “Three Great Noodles of Morioka”
* Morioka Hachimangu Shrine
* Shinkansen to Hochinohe
* Evening
* Dinner at Hachinohe Yatai Mura
* Hotel
* Day 4
* Morning
* Mutsu Minato Station Front Morning Market
* Shinkansen to Aomori
* Some combination of Aomori Tourist Center, Hirosaki Castle
* Midday, Afternoon
* Lunch… A-Factory?
* Seryuji Temple? Sannai-Maruyama Historical Site?
* Hakkoda ropeway?
* Evening
* Dinner… Nanbu Magariya?
* Hotel
* Day 5
* Morning
* Furukawa Fish Marke
* Shinkansen+JR to Hakodate
* Kanamori Red Brick Warehouse, Hachimanzaka Scenic Road
* Midday, Afternoon
* Asaichi’s Ekini Market
* Some combination of Goryokaku Tower/Fort, Yukura Shrine, Hakodate Meijikan
* Evening
* Dinner… Daimon Yokocho?
* Hotel
* Day 6
* Morning
* Hakodate Morning Market
* JR Train to Toya Station, bus to lake toya onsen ryokan
* Midday, afternoon
* Site-seeing around Lake Toya (Mount Usu, Boat Tour, Nkajima Island)
* Evening
* Dinner at Ryokan
* Fireworks over Lake Toya
* Day 7
* Morning
* Breakfast at Ryokan
* Bus to Train to Sapporo (or shuttle from Ryokan)
* Midday, afternoon
* Darumaken somewhere
* Sapporo TV Tower
* Shopping (Tanukikoji?)
* Evening
* Dinner… Ganso Ramen Tokocho?
* Hotel
* Day 8
* Morning
* Nijo Market
* JR Train to Otaru
* Midday, Afternoon
* Siteseeing in Otaru
* JR Train to New Chitose Airport
* Flight to HND
* Evening
* Transportation from HND
* Dinner….?
* Hotel
* Days 9, 10
* TOKYO!! Haven’t gotten this far in planning yet.
* Day 11
* Morning, Midday
* More Tokyo!
* Afternoon
* Head to HND
* Evening
* Flight back to US
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It sort of feels like we’re doing a lot of jumping from place to place, but it was hard to cut out places (Sendai and Matsumae already got cut). Originally, we thought we’d need more time in Sapporo, but now I’m not so sure.
One other idea was to skip Lake Toya, and instead fly from Hakodate to Sapporo, and then later go to an onsen ryokan that is closer to Sapporo (eg: Noboribetsu or Jozankei).
Thanks for reading!