Hokkaido 9 Days - can’t decide where to visit

Hi
I'm very excited as this is my first time travelling to Hokkaido. I'll be arriving Shin Chitose Airport on 13 Nov & staying for 9 days. I've read up a few & can't really decide where to visit & where I should start.

Am I being greedy, trying to visit all these places in as little budget as possible?
- I want to see Marimo & Ainu culture
- I'm hoping to see snow, maybe I'm too early & I missed the koyo season too
-I'm want to visit Otaru, Hakodate, Niseko, Toya

Also how is the weather like? Do I need to bring really thick winter clothing? I'm from a tropical country, so never experience winter before.

Hope to get advises from all the experience people here.

Hi
Hi there.

I'm very excited as this is my first time travelling to Hokkaido. I'll be arriving Shin Chitose Airport on 13 Nov & staying for 9 days. I've read up a few & can't really decide where to visit & where I should start.
Nice.

You should start or end from Sapporo as it is the near and the largest city in Hokkaido.


Am I being greedy, trying to visit all these places in as little budget as possible?
- I want to see Marimo & Ainu culture
- I'm hoping to see snow, maybe I'm too early & I missed the koyo season too
-I'm want to visit Otaru, Hakodate, Niseko, Toya

With 9 days, you can do all of these.
there are ainu heritage open air museums (villages) that takes about 2 hours to view. Mainly because of the songs, dance, and explanations.

You can snow in the mountainous regions of Central hokkaido, though skiing is probably impossible.

Otaru is easily accessible from Sapporo and half a day is a good amount of time to spend here.
Hakodate takes a full 24 hours or somewhat more. traveling to and fro from Sapporo would take the better half of a day. So you should stay a night here.
On the way back from Hakodate, you can stop by lake toya. Although it is pleasant there is a lack of things to do. A full day of just strolling about the lake and viewing the small town activities is sufficient.
From Toya head to niseko before returning back to sapporo.

All in all, the cities/attractions/areas requires about 6 days and the transportation requires about 2 days. So you have a spare day to go to Biei, Noboribetsu onsen, or just spend more time in Sapporo.

Also how is the weather like? Do I need to bring really thick winter clothing? I'm from a tropical country, so never experience winter before.
In that case, do so. japan has good heating system but when outdoors, especially niseko, a thermal inner wear, normal clothes, windbreaker or overcoat with two socks and gloves. Head wear and scarf is optional.

The human body adapts, so after the third day you would have cut a piece of clothing. going to a hot spring before you leave the hotel in the morning helps greatly. so pack as necessary.

Hope to get advises from all the experience people here.

Thanks for the advice Joshua.

I'll consider you suggestions. I'll start my study with those.

Will rent a car be more expensive than traveling by train & buses? i know the frequency & connectivity may not be as great like in Tokyo. There are only 2 of us.

Many thanks in advanced.

Marimo come from Lake Akan on the other side of Hokkaido.

If you still wanted to do that, you could break it up like this

Day 1: Sapporo to Kushiro
Day 2: Kushiro: day trip to Lake Akan
Day 3: Kushiro to Sapporo
Day 4: Otaru
Day 5: Niseko
Day 6: Niseko to Hakodate
Day 7: Hakodate
Day 8: Lake Toya in the morning, spend the afternoon/night in Noboribetsu
Day 9: Sapporo

Also, skiing season in Niseko starts on Nov 22, so you'll just miss it sadly!

If you haven't experienced winter before, I would suggest taking trains over driving, as you may not be used to driving in such conditions. Hyperdia can help you work out the times and frequency of trains: http://www.hyperdia.com/

Thanks @Mon for the sugestted itinerary.

I look at the options you've sugestted & check out the train schedule.
I don't need to skii. Just hope it will snow.

Thanks again. It wil help a lot in my planning

I've decided to set my itinerary as below. Can I travel to all these places with 7 days Hokkaido JR pass?

Day 1 - travel to New Chitose Airport to Hakodate
arrive by late afternoon & visit around town
Day 2 - Hakodate
visit Fort Goryokaku & Mt Hakodate
Day 3 - Hakodate to Toya to Sapporo
will make Sapporo as my base
Day 4 - Sapporo to Shiraoi
visit Protokotan
Day 5 - Sapporo to Noboribetsu
Day 6 - Sapporo to Asahikawa
visit Asahiyama Zoo
Day 7 - Sapporo to Otaru
Day 8 - Sapporo to Sapporo Kokusai SkiIng Resort
Day 9 - Sapporo