April Hokkaido Itinerary

Hi all,

Would be grateful for some help on a Hokkaido itinerary for April. We'll be in Japan from the 15th of April and leave on the 1st of May. We're thinking of spending some time in Hokkaido and have come up with some ideas / draft itineraries. Understand that Golden Week this year is from the 29th of April so we're trying to avoid being in Hokkaido during that time - so the idea is to be in Hokkaido on the early part of the trip. We're intending to rent a car for driving around (understand it's not that difficult with the GPS, and the snow should be gone by April?).

Itinerary 1

Day 1 - Arrive in Chitose via Haneda. Likely by noon. Drive to Noboribetsu. Stay in ryokan (thinking of Takinoya - but any other suggestions welcome). Visit Hell Valley if time permits.
Day 2 Noboribetsu to Lake Toya. Lunch at Windsor Toya (Michel Bras). After lunch, drive to Niseko. Stay at Niseko for the night.
Day 3 Niseko to Otaru. Stay in Otaru for the night (Kuramure)
Day 4 Otaru to Sapporo (return car?)
Day 5+6 Sapporo
Day 7 Return to Tokyo

Itinerary 2
Day 1 Arrive in Chitose via Haneda. Stay in Sapporo
Day 2 Sapporo
Day 3 Sapporo to Otaru (start renting car from this day) Stay in Otaru (Kuramure)
Day 4 Otaru to Noboribetsu. Stay in Noboribetsu for the night (Suggestions for ryokan welcome!)
Day 5 Noboribetsu to Toka (Lunch) From Toya to drive to Hakodate (doable?)
Day 6-8 Hakodate, and return on Day 8

Itinerary 2 includes Hakodate - but am not sure whether this is a good idea? Idea for itinerary 2 is that in the event that the Sakura bloom early, we'd get to catch them.

Any ideas / suggestions / thoughts welcome. Many thanks in advance!

I have not stayed in Takinoya before. It looks luxurious especially the hot spring overlooking that postcard window thing. I have stayed in Daiichi Takimotokan and I can say that the food is good and it is fun to explore the 9 or so different onsens.
I have heard that Mahoroba's food is even better though.

Looking at the two, the main difference is that 2 has Hakodate (that you mentioned while 1 has Niseko (that you didnt mention). I do not see the point of heading to Niseko in non-skiiing months...

I will now explain on option two. I do not see why there is a need for a car to Otaru. It is not awfully big and it is easy to reach by public transport from Sapporo. Using the car to reach the subruban areas of Sapporo makes more sense to me E.g. Chocolate factory.

The drive from Toya Lake to Hakodate is possible. But this depends on the person. Are you used to road trips? I once did the San Fran to Yosemite drive. My back ached badly, had to go to the gym to straighten those muscles.

I do not see the need for that many days in Hakodate. It may make more sense to
1. spend a night in Lake Toya or
2. spend two days in Daisetszuzan and just spend one night and morning in Hakodate.

Hakodate's rural north has a number of nature spots which are not popular enough to reckon a page about them on this site, but it is fun to explore by yourself and be basked in nature.

When you say 'return' do you mean flying out of Hakodate or driving to Shin-Chitose Airport? Better to fly out of Hakodate and return the car the day you arrive in Hakodate.

hi jh, many thanks for your response, very helpful!

In itinerary 2, i was thinking of leaving from Hakodate. I factored in an extra day there only because there as a possibility to see the sakura.

On Niseko, the reason why i had included it was because i thought the drive from Toya to Otaru might be a too long - say if we leave Toya at 3pm, it might take a while to get to Otaru - which is why i added in the Niseko stay. But if anyone has done the Toya to Otaru drive - grateful if you could weigh in.

On Daisetszuzan, i did think of including this - but it seemed a little further out from the western side - which means that if i did that i wld have to forgo Hakodate. I did think of doing a day trip perhaps out to Onouma, but wasn't sure of any other intermediate stops from Toya to Hakodate. My revised itineraries below - any thoughts welcome!

Itinerary 1

Day 1 - Arrive in Chitose via Haneda. Likely by noon. Drive to Noboribetsu. Stay in ryokan. Visit Hell Valley if time permits.
Day 2 Noboribetsu to Lake Toya. Lunch at Windsor Toya (Michel Bras). After lunch (say 3pm), drive to Otaru (possible?) Stay in Otaru for the night (Kuramure)
Day 3 Otaru to Sapporo
Day 4+5 Sapporo
Day 6+7 Drive to Asahikawa and visit Daisetszuzan
Day 8 Return to Tokyo

Itinerary 2
Day 1 Arrive in Chitose via Haneda. Stay in Sapporo
Day 2 Sapporo
Day 3 Sapporo to Otaru (start renting car from this day) Stay in Otaru (Kuramure)
Day 4 Otaru to Noboribetsu. Stay in Noboribetsu for the night
Day 5 Noboribetsu to Toya (Lunch) Stay in Toya for the night
Day 6-8 Drive to Hakodate - stop in Onouma on Day 6
Day 7 Visit Hakodate (sakura?) and return on Day 8

I've not been yet but I'm in the process of planning a trip and according to Google maps it's only a 2hr drive from Lake Toya to Otaru. Or do you not normally drive distances? I could just be assuming that it's not a big deal to drive 2 hours because here in Australia that's hardly anything. In fact, we're only recommended to stop for a short rest after 2 hours of driving and road trips are usually much longer. If you're not comfortable driving that amount of time it's probably best not to, or to take a break along the way.

I would still choose number 2. 'Cause i find that 2 days in Hakodate to be more interesting than Sapporo. Sapporo has its charms and a number of attractions. But in my mind it is just a more peaceful Tokyo. Hakodate on the other hand has some historical value and cultural infusions. Also Hakodate has much greenery in the surrounding area. Shikaba Royal Hotel is one such example.

Visiting Daisetsuzan is a good idea, but i don't see the point of going to Asahikawa. Sure, it is nice charming/quiet town that is on its way to become a city.... But attractions wise is not something i can recommend.

So i would still choose option 2.

Thanks sal1980 and jh!

sal1980 - i did the same google map search, but it seemed that the speed limits at places were slow and i just wanted to overcompensate the time so that we'd have some wiggle room.

jh - thanks - i am also leaning towards itinerary 2, it seems more mangeable and i suppose to a certain extent, we're crossing our fingers and hoping we run into the sakura season (one can only hope).

thanks again for all your input - i'll let you guys know how it goes and share the itinerary once we go!

Hi. I'll be in Hokkaido from April 16 - April 25 and highly possible that I won't be able to see the full bloom of the sakura hanami. Had to avoid golden week at all cost and it's month end which means that I had to be back in office for closing.

Anyway, back to topic, the trip I had planned was originally an advance birthday gift for my mom which falls before the start of golden week. We're traveling by train only since none of us wanted to drive and I don't really like driving long hours after my 2 years stay in Australia for my university studies.

Day 1 - Narita to Haneda to New Chitose, check in Sapporo at night
Day 2 - Yoichi & Otaru then back to Sapporo at night
Day 3 - Sapporo
Day 4 - Noboribetsu day and Sapporo late afternoon
Day 5 - Sapporo half day then to Asahikawa
Day 6 - Furano & night back to Asahikawa
Day 7 - Biei & afternoon back to Asahikawa to Hakodate
Day 8 & 9 - Hakodate
Day 10 - Hakodate Airport to Haneda and back to Narita

Asahikawa zoo is closed during that period. Flower viewing may not be in full bloom, however, there should be some things to do, I hope. I chose some cheese making workshop.

Since you're driving, you can cover more places than me. You can drive to Matsumae castle or the blue pond somewhere south of Asahikawa. If you wish to view the sakura blossom earlier due to time constraint, you can always head over to Tohoku region before you fly off.

Thanks lynnkaylen for your input! Likewise, i'm trying to avoid golden week so my timing is somewhat similar to yours, although the time i am spending in Hokkaido is probably shorter.

We'll likely go to Matsumae Castle - not least because thre is a chance we might catch some flowers. The alternative I guess is to catch a train out of Hakodate to Aomori for a day trip if Hirosaki is in full bloom.