Question on Furano and Sapporo

Hi everyone,

Hope to get some advices and suggestions here.

My family is doing a day trip self-drive between Sapporo and Furano in early June 2016. We intend to return the Toyota rental car at 7pm in one of the office outlet in Sapporo on the same day. My questions are:

1. To be able to return in time by 7pm, what is the recommended time we should leave Furano, e.g from Ningle Terrace point or Furano Marche point, with considerations that we need time for rest stops and traffic evening rush hour into Sapporo city? Leave by 3pm?

2. Will it be better if we return the car at 8pm or next day at 8am? Our hotel has paid parking lot for guests.

Thank you in advance!

The drive from Ningle Terrace to Sapporo is about 2.5 hrs, so leaving Furano around 15.00 or even 16.00 should be OK returning the car before 20.00. Traffic in Sapporo was not as bad as we thought after office hours. There is no need to keep the car overnight which means an extra day of rental fee.
https://goo.gl/maps/eTTiMMUedm52

Having said that, doing Furano as a day trip from Sapporo leaves you not too much time for sightseeing especially since neighboring Biei is also worth exploring.

Thank you for the info, William5!
Will consider visiting Biei if doing an overnight trip.