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JR Rail Pass for travel to Sapporo 2010/4/25 00:45
good day!

i'm planning to go to japan by next year around feb , planning to travel to sapporo for the snow festival and remaining days will be spent around the kanto area.

can i travel up to sapporo using the jr rail pass only? do i have to pay additional for fare beyond hachinohe? (can i ride on the super hokuto, hakucho using the rail pass)

thanks very much.
by traveller (guest)  

... 2010/4/26 08:46
can i travel up to sapporo using the jr rail pass only?

Yes, by using the daytime trains along the Tohoku Shinkansen and then the limited express trains via Hakodate.

do i have to pay additional for fare beyond hachinohe? (can i ride on the super hokuto, hakucho using the rail pass)

No additional fare is required. The Hokuto and Hakucho trains are JR trains and full covered by the Japan Rail Pass.
by Uji rate this post as useful

response 2010/4/28 20:55
thanks very much uji :)
by sapporo traveller (guest) rate this post as useful

Tips 2010/4/28 23:04
Uji has already answered your question, but I thought I would offer a few tips as we have done the journey from Tokyo to Sapporo for the Snow Festival using JR passes.

Book your hotels early! They book out quickly and be aware that there is a significant premium at a lot of hotels during the Snow Festival period. Try and travel up to Sapporo during the week, will make the train bookings a bit easier I suspect. I'd certainly make your train bookings as soon as you have your JR pass, and try and do it a few days in advance.

If you want to break up the journey north, then an overnight stay at Hakodate is quite nice. There are quite a few hotels near the station, and also some nice restaurants. The morning Hakodate markets are interesting too with lots of King Crabs. So you could do Tokyo - Hakodate (6 hours or so), overnight and then do Hakodate - Sapporo (3.5 hours).

There are plenty of other interesting places in Hokkaido if you feel like using your rail pass while you are there. We really enjoyed a journey to Abashiri to see the pack ice too!

Enjoy your trip, the Snow Festival is good fun! :)
by GC3 (guest) rate this post as useful

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