Morning
Land at New Chitose (CTS)
Hokkaido's main gateway, about 45 km southeast of Sapporo. Domestic and international arrivals sit under one roof.
Rapid Airport train to Sapporo
The station is in the terminal basement. The Rapid Airport runs to Sapporo Station in about 37 minutes, several times an hour.
Afternoon / Day
Check in: JR Tower Hotel Nikko Sapporo
Kita 5-jo Nishi 2, connected straight into Sapporo Station. The natural hot-spring bath is up at the 100 m mark on the tower.
Odori Park
The green strip that cuts the grid in half, roughly 1.5 km end to end. Corn and potato stalls trade here through the warm months.
Sapporo TV Tower
Odori Nishi 1, at the east end of the park. Deck open to 22:00, tickets from the 3rd-floor counter — a cheap way to read the street grid.
Evening
Sushi at Nemuro Hanamaru
Stella Place 6F, above Sapporo Station. Conveyor sushi landed at Nemuro; take a ticket and expect a wait that moves.
Walk into Susukino
Ten minutes south of the station by subway or on foot. Hokkaido's biggest nightlife grid; the crossing sign is the photo everyone takes.
Morning
Kaisendon at Nijo Market
Minami 3-jo Higashi 1. A block-long fish market with stall kitchens serving bowls of uni, ikura and crab over rice from early morning.
Sapporo Clock Tower
Kita 1-jo Nishi 2. The 1878 timber drill hall of the old Agricultural College, now hemmed in by offices. Ten minutes is enough.
Tozai subway to Maruyama-koen
Odori to Maruyama-koen is four stops west, under ten minutes. Exit 3 puts you at the park gate.
Hokkaido Jingu
Miyagaoka 474, inside Maruyama Park. Hokkaido's head shrine, founded 1869; the walk in through the woods is the point. Allow an hour.
Afternoon / Day
Soup curry at GARAKU
Minami 3-jo Higashi 2-6-1, basement. Sapporo's own dish — dashi-based spiced broth, whole vegetables, rice on the side. Opens early, runs late.
Sapporo Beer Museum
Kita 7-jo Higashi 9, in the red-brick Meiji malt house, a designated Hokkaido Heritage building. Galleries 11:00-18:00, last entry 17:30; the tasting hall pours beers sold nowhere else.
Evening
Genghis Khan at Sapporo Beer Garden
Kita 7-jo Higashi 9, same red-brick block. Grill lamb on a domed iron pan in Kaitakushikan hall; Sapporo Five Star is sold nowhere else. Book ahead.
Night view from Mount Moiwa
Fushimi 5-3-7. Streetcar to Ropeway Iriguchi, free shuttle to the base, then ropeway and mini cable car. Last ascent runs to about 21:30 in summer.
Morning
Train to Otaru
Otaru is about 35 minutes from Sapporo on the Hakodate Main Line. Ride one stop further to Minami-Otaru and walk the old town downhill.
Otaru Music Box Museum
Sumiyoshi-cho 4-1, by Minami-Otaru. Three floors of music boxes in a 1912 brick warehouse, 9:00-18:00; the steam clock outside sounds on the quarter.
Sakaimachi Street
The merchant street of Meiji stone banks and warehouses running from the music box hall down to the canal. Roughly 900 m of shopfronts.
Afternoon / Day
Sushi lunch at Otaru Masazushi
Hanazono 1-1-1, on Sushiya-dori. A 1930s house and still the benchmark in a sushi town; take the counter omakase over the a la carte.
Kitaichi Glass Sangokan
Sakaimachi 7-26. Hand-blown glass sold inside a converted Meiji fishing warehouse; the third hall is the big one. Fragile souvenirs, so buy last.
Double Fromage at LeTAO
Sakaimachi 7-16, the clock-tower corner. The two-layer baked and raw cheesecake is the reason for the queue; eat it in the upstairs cafe.
Evening
Otaru Canal at dusk
Minatomachi 5. The 1923 canal and its stone warehouses; the gas lamps along the promenade come on as the light goes, around 19:30 in July.
Train back to Sapporo
Otaru Station to Sapporo, about 35 minutes. Sit on the right for the Ishikari Bay stretch past Zenibako.
Late bowl at Ganso Ramen Yokocho
Minami 5-jo Nishi 3-8, Susukino. Seventeen counters down one narrow alley, trading since 1951. Miso ramen with butter and corn is the local order.
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Morning
Limited express to Asahikawa
The Kamui or Lilac runs Sapporo to Asahikawa in about 85 minutes. Reserve in lavender season — these fill.
Furano Line south to Furano
A single-car local down the Furano Line through Biei, about 70 minutes. JR also runs a direct seasonal express from Sapporo in summer.
Afternoon / Day
Check in: New Furano Prince Hotel
Nakagoryo, in the forest above town and a short drive from JR Furano Station. The Shisai-no-Yu hot spring and Ningle Terrace are both on the grounds.
Furano Cheese Factory
Nakagoku, ten minutes from the hotel. Free entry, 9:00-17:00 from April to October; the pizza workshop runs 10:30-16:00 and there is an ice milk workshop beside it.
Furano Marche
Saiwaicho 13-1, in town. Farm stalls, Furano wine and melon bread; open to 19:00 from 20 June through August, 18:00 the rest of the year.
Evening
Ningle Terrace
A boardwalk of log-cabin craft workshops through the woods behind the hotel, built to So Kuramoto's idea. Go after dark, when the lamps are lit.
Dinner at the hotel
The Prince runs a buffet plus an Italian and a grill; Soh's Bar sits out in the woods by Ningle Terrace for a nightcap.
Morning
Furano Line to the lavender fields
A short hop north to Nakafurano, about 15 minutes. In bloom season JR opens the temporary Lavender Farm halt right beside Farm Tomita.
Farm Tomita
Kisen Kita 15-go, Nakafurano. Free to enter, 8:30-17:30, a dozen named fields. The sloped Traditional Lavender Field fills by 10 — go straight there.
Afternoon / Day
Lunch at the Farm Tomita cafes
Several cafes sit among the fields: lavender soft serve, a half melon, curry bread. Eat it on the grass rather than queueing for a table.
Lavender East
Farm Tomita's satellite field, reached by its own shuttle bus. Open only from around 20 June to 20 July, and 9:30-16:30 — mid-July is the window.
Local train back to Furano
Back down the Furano Line, 15 minutes. Trains are hourly at best, so check the board before you settle into a field.
Evening
Furano Onsen Shisai-no-Yu
The hotel's own hot spring, at Nakagoryo. Worth an hour after a day of walking rows; the outdoor bath faces the forest.
Furano beef and local wine
Furano grows its own wine grapes and cheese. Order the local red with dinner at the hotel and finish with the cheese plate.
Morning
Furano Line north to Biei
About 40 minutes up the valley. Biei Station is the base for every bus and taxi in the hills.
Patchwork Road
The rolling farmland northwest of the station — wheat, potato and bean fields in strips. The Biei View Bus covers it without a car.
Afternoon / Day
Lunch at Bi.Ble
A restaurant and bakery in a closed primary school on Hokuei Komugi-no-Oka. Open April to early November only; take a taxi from Biei Station.
Shikisai-no-oka
Shinsei Dai-3, southeast of town. Fifteen hectares of banded flower beds, 8:40-17:30 in July, 800 yen for adults; the tractor bus saves your legs.
Shirogane Blue Pond
Shirogane, up the Biei river. The Dohoku bus toward Shirogane Onsen stops at the pond; parking charges changed in 2026, so check if you drive.
Shirahige Falls
Shirogane Onsen, one stop on from the pond. Groundwater pours out of the cliff face into the Biei river from the Blue River Bridge.
Evening
Bus and train back to Furano
Bus down to Biei Station, then the Furano Line south. Last connections are early, so leave Shirogane by late afternoon.
Dinner in Furano
Back at the hotel, or walk Ningle Terrace once more with an ice cream from the cheese factory shop before it shuts.
Morning
Train to Noboribetsu
Furano to Takikawa, the Kamui down to Sapporo, then the Suzuran along Uchiura Bay. About four hours with two changes; reserve the last leg.
Afternoon / Day
Donan bus up to the onsen
The spa village sits roughly 8 km above Noboribetsu Station, at 200 m. The bus climbs it in about 15 minutes.
Check in: Dai-ichi Takimotokan
Noboribetsu Onsen-cho 55. A vast bath hall that draws five of Japan's ten recognised spring types into one roofline of tubs.
Jigokudani (Hell Valley)
The steaming crater directly above the village, feeding every bath in it. Boardwalks loop from the car park in about 20 minutes.
Oyunuma and the river footbath
Twenty minutes on from Jigokudani: a grey-green sulphur pond, then a stretch of the Oyunuma river where you sit on the bank and dangle your feet.
Evening
Half-board dinner at the ryokan
Half-board is the norm in Noboribetsu. Eat early, then have the bath hall to yourself once the tour groups turn in.
Gokuraku-dori and Enma-do
The covered street through the village, lined with demon statues, with the King Enma shrine at the top. Its face-changing show has been suspended, so check locally before timing a visit around it.
Hell Valley, Then Home
Morning
Morning bath at Takimotokan
Noboribetsu Onsen-cho 55. The bath hall opens early and is nearly empty before breakfast — the best hour of the stay.
Noboribetsu Bear Park
Noboribetsu Onsen-cho 224. A ropeway climbs seven minutes from the village to a mountaintop park of Ezo brown bears; 9:00-17:00, last entry 16:20.
Afternoon / Day
Bus and train to New Chitose
Bus down to Noboribetsu Station, limited express to Minami-Chitose, then one stop to the airport. Allow about 90 minutes door to door.
New Chitose Airport food halls
The domestic terminal's upper floors are a Hokkaido food hall — Rokkatei, Royce', Kitakaro. Buy the fragile things here, not in town.
Last bowl at Hokkaido Ramen Dojo
A ramen alley on the domestic terminal's third floor, gathering shops from Asahikawa, Hakodate and Sapporo. Line up before security, not after.
Evening
Fly out of New Chitose (CTS)
Domestic connections through Tokyo run late into the evening; long-haul out of CTS mostly goes earlier, so check before you book the bear park.
