[Itinerary Check] 8 Days in Hokkaido on January

Hello! Would just like to get some recommendations from you guys, especially for hotel stays that are good locations (closest to the train station or sights) for the following cities we’ll be in.

**Day 1 – Tokyo**

* Arriving at 9pm+ in Haneda (not much to do anyways)
* Hotel Checkin (Any good hotels you can recommend that’s just outside Haneda airport or near Tokyo Station?)
* We will be travelling by train to Hokkaido the next day, can we get our JR Rail Pass on Haneda Airport? Can we ask them to activate it starting the following day?

**Day 2 – Hakodate**

* We’ll probably ride the shinkansen that’s before lunch (or a bit earlier) from Tokyo Station and probably be here early in the afternoon
* Main goal for this place is just the Mt. Hakodate Ropeway and Observation Deck. Probably the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse the following morning if we can squeeze it in.
* Which hotel location would be better if we plan to head to Noboribetsu the following day? Would a hotel near Hakodate Station be better than one in Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station?

**Day 3 – Noboribetsu**

* Any good ryokan here? Probably the only place where it doesn’t matter if it’s near a train station or sights. We just want a good Ryokan experience.
* Our place of interest would probably be just Jigokudani. Maybe Oyunuma Pond and Noboribetsu Date Jidai Village if we can still squeeze both in
* We’ll be leaving this place the following day upon checkout from the ryokan place

**Day 4 to 8 – Sapporo**

* Here’s where I think a good hotel location would really matter. Since we’ll be staying here the longest. Would it be better if we stayed near Sapporo Station (since we’ll be going to other cities for day trips on other days) or stay near the sights for Sapporo? Or are we in good luck, since Sapporo Station might be near most of the sights anyways in Sapporo itself?
* Day 4 would probably be just Sapporo or we can just check in in the hotel and then head straight to Otaru? Would that be advisable? Leaning towards to just staying put in Sapporo and just see sights near the hotel

**Day 5 – Furano and/or Asahikawa**

* Main goal for this day is just to see the Ningle Terrace in Furano near sunset to early evening time.
* Is Asahiyama Zoo feasible to squeeze early in the day and then we’ll start heading to Furano sometime after lunch. Or should we just focus more on Furano the whole day?

**Day 6 – Otaru and/or Winter Activities**

* If we haven’t pushed through with Otaru on Day 4, this’ll be the day we’re targeting of going. Is Otaru a whole day thing? Can we squeeze in some winter activities like skiing? We won’t be long though for winter activities, doing it just for the experience. Currently looking at Takino Suzuran Hillside National Park for that, but I think it’s in the opposite direction of going to Otaru. Any other place you guys can suggest? That would help out a lot

**Day 7 – Sapporo**

* Whatever’s left that we haven’t been to would be for this day.
* I love chocolates, is Shiroi Koibito Park really worth going to?
* Any must see sights from here? Aside from of course, Odori park and it’s nearby sights
* Probably some shopping for souvenirs to take home as well

**Day 8 – Sapporo**

* We still have the morning for this, so probably some shopping if we weren’t able to do it on Day 7.
* Most probably we’ll just go back to the place we enjoyed the most in the previous day that we’ve went to that’s just nearby.
* Head to the airport after lunch

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As for luggage forwarding, anything that’s recommended? Can we do it in Haneda Airport and probably forward it to Noboribetsu (Day 3) or Sapporo (Day 4). That way, we won’t be lugging around our big suitcases on the travel intense first few days.

Is our travel intense? Should we cut Asahikawa/Furano and just focus on Sapporo? We’re trying to do as less hectic itinerary as possible to compensate all the train traveling and that’s why we only have one or two places of interest per day.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!