10D9N itinerary in Japan during winter

Hi there,
My husband and I are planning to go for a holiday in Japan, from 13th to 22nd February 2015 (10D9N). This is our 1st time travelling to Japan. It will winter time then and we want to experience the snow. It would be nice if we can include skiing (maybe hot spring too) as part of our trip along with some sightseeing and new experiences.

I have no idea how to plan for this trip and I hope if anyone here can suggest an itinerary (along with the budget required - lodging, transportation, food, etc) for us, to plan and follow through.

Besides that, would it be difficult to communicate with the locals there, as we do not know how to speak in Japanese?

Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you so much for your help, in advance!

Hokkaidō is a good choice for winter scenery - just be prepared with the appropriate cold-weather gear. Have a look around the Japan-Guide page and see what destinations might interest you:

http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1101.html

If you can adjust your dates a little earlier, you might make it to the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri (easily the biggest winter festival in those parts).

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5311.html

http://withinstrikingdistance.wordpress.com/tag/sapporo/

Moving your trip a few days earlier will also put the Asahikawa Fuyu Matsuri within reach.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6894.html

http://withinstrikingdistance.wordpress.com/tag/asahikawa/

And even if you can't change your dates, you might be able to catch the last couple of days of the Otaru Yuki Akari no Michi.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6706.html

http://withinstrikingdistance.wordpress.com/tag/otaru/

I haven't done any skiing in Japan so I'll leave it to other members of the community to offer detailed suggestions, though it might be worth looking at the Japan-Guide page for Niseko.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6720.html

If you don't want to go to Hokkaido (i.e. if you prefer to stay on the main island), then the Nagano (Nozawa onsen, for instance) or Echigo Yuzawa regions are both good for skiing and onsens - and can be combined with spending time in Tokyo quite easily.

For skiing, you will find some specialist ski japan websites which are in English and give ski-specific information. I remember finding some a few years ago when visiting Hokkaido (and I think I also used a similar site on another trip when visiting Nagano). I don't ski, but I seem to recall that there are some places which have English speaking ski instructors (as they get a proportion of Australian visitors, for instance).

Good luck with planning your trip.

Thanks Diego and Winter! You guys provided me with so much information. I need time to digest :) Thank you!

By the way, how do I travel to Hokkaido, Nagano / Echigo? Is it far? I have an option to land in Tokyo / Osaka airport.

Besides ski-ing and onsen, any other interesting places for sightseeing during winter (for 1st timer)?

Cheers!

Use the main Japan-guide travel pages to show you all about travel, and how to get to places.

There's a link in the top right hand corner of this page.

As Winter Vistor suggested, it would be best to explore the Japan-Guide site - travel/other practicalities will differ depending on the area you're planning to travel around.

To start, you can click on various parts of the map on the home page to get more detailed information on specific parts of the country, and in some cases drill down even further to individual regions, cities, districts, and attractions.

http://www.japan-guide.com/

Many pages will have an "Access and Orientation" section towards the bottom, with links that will take you to a separate page explaining transportation in greater detail. Just as an example, this is the one for Sapporo:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5306.html

Of course, if you need any other information that's not available elsewhere on the site, post it here in the forum and the community will be glad to respond with tips, suggestions, etc.

Cheers and happy travelling.

Thanks everyone! You guys helped so much! I will do my research and plan for my trip now :) Arigato!