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My busy Hokkaido itinerary - am I crazy? 2017/6/17 11:15
Feedback welcomed for my Hokkaido itinerary (below)...
We have 8 full days, not including our arrival or departure days. We will be there July 1 - 9.

This will be our first trip to Hokkaido (we have visited other parts of Japan a few times previously). We know our short trip will limit what we can see, but we consider this our first "taste" of Hokkaido, and we plan to come back again, so we are going to try and sample a little of the many interesting places there. I know we will have some days with a lot of driving, that is OK.

(Day 0: arrive in Sapporo early evening.)
Day 1: Pick up rental car, drive to Wakkanai (estimated driving time, 5-6 hours), Ferry to Rebun Island. Overnight on Rebun Island.
Day 2: Hiking and relaxing on Rebun Island. Overnight on Rebun Island.
Day 3: Up early, early ferry back to mainland, long drive to Utoro (all day - estimated drive time, 8 hours). Overnight at Utoro.
Day 4: Shiretoko National Park (hiking, boat tour). Overnight at Utoro.
Day 5: Drive Utoro to Sounkyo Onsen (estimated driving time, 4-5 hours). 1/2 day visit to Daisetsuzan National Park, take Mt. Kurodake Ropeway up and short hiking. Overnight at Sounkyo Onsen.
Day 6: Drive to Asahikawa and Biei (estimated driving time, 3-4 hours). Visit farms, gardens and sightseeing. Overnight at Furano.
Day 7: Tour lavender fields around Furano. Late afternoon drive back to Sapporo and return car (estimated driving time, 2.5 hours). Evening in Sapporo. Overnight at Sapporo.
Day 8: Early morning train to Otaru. 1/2 day in Otaru, return to Sapporo by train mid-afternoon. Baseball game at Sapporo Dome late afternoon (we already have tickets - hoping to see Shohei Otani if he is back by then). Overnight at Sapporo.
(Day 9: Fly to Tokyo.)

Feedback and opinions on our plan? And does anyone know when Shohei Otani will be playing again? I know he has been sick, then had injuries...I have not been able to find any recent news about his status...

Thank you for any input!
by lowflyer (guest)  

Re: My busy Hokkaido itinerary - am I crazy? 2017/6/17 17:06
Those driving times are not in accordance with the speed limits, which are incredibly low (motorways 70-80km/hr, other roads 40-50km/hr, sometimes 30km/hr). They're formulated by google based on the time it's taken other drivers. Hardly anyone seems to abide by the low limits. If you aren't willing to indulge the speed a little (or a lot) you'll need to change your itinerary. Bear in mind that if you do drive at or close to those limits you'll annoy people around you....
by Sal1980 rate this post as useful

Re: My busy Hokkaido itinerary - am I crazy? 2017/6/18 02:33
Thanks for your reply.

I did not use google for the drive-time estimates. I used the Northern Road Navi website (http://northern-road.jp/navi/eng/) which appears credible.

I generally do not violate speeding laws abroad (at least not much). That said, if everyone else is driving at roughly the same speed, I would tend to go at roughly the same speed as everyone else (to avoid annoying others, and I also figure "there's safety in numbers" in other words if a;ll the cars are going the same speed, the odds of me getting singled out are small) - as long as that speed feels safe, of course - just because someone else is driving crazy doesn't mean I will simply copy them.

All input on this welcome. Thanks.
by lowflyer (guest) rate this post as useful

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