Trip to eastern Hokkaido

Dear all

I'm planning a trip to Hokkaido during Sep20-25. Any comment and advice are appreciated.
Day 1: Bangkok - Sapporo (stay Sapporo)
Day 2: Sapporo - Mamenbetsu airport, then take a bus to Utoro, explore Shiretoko peninsula (stay Utoro)
Day 3: Lake Mashu, Lake Akan by JR (stay Lake Akan)
Day 4: Kushiro, fly back to Sapporo (stay Sapporo)
Day 5: Sapporo - Bangkok
I'll arrive Sapporo around 10.00 am so I plan to go to Otaru and enjoy Sapporo.
Which would you recommend (more economical, time saving, more convenient for foreigners)
A) buy airpass and fly to-from Sapporo to eastHokkaido.
B) buy Hokkadi pass 5-day and use it all thru my journey.

Thank you in advance.
Nuj

Admittedly the journey from Sapporo to eastern Hokkaido is a long one on land, but personally I prefer train and bus travel than air travel bypassing the hassle of arriving early and all the waiting in the airports.

Have you considered a self-drive road trip!? Outside winter months Hokkaido is an ideal destination for a road trip. We did it twice fully enjoying the flexibility and maximizing the time of travel rather than restricted by infrequent schedules of public transports. If you want to avoid driving all the way from Sapporo, you can used train first and choose a base such as Kushiro and do a self-drive loop of the eastern part of Hokkaido.

Dear William5

Thank you for your recommendation.
I'm quite worry about driving in foreign country though we use the same left-hand traffic system as in Japan. What about the traffic signage, is it friendly for tourist?

Nuj

Not to worry about driving in Hokkaido. We have driven on all 4 main islands in Japan and Hokkaido is the easiest to move around as traffic is comparatively light. We drive on right-hand side of the road at home and yet it doesn't take much longer to adapt driving on the left. As for the road signage, again there shouldn't be any problem. Though not all are that well organized, the following is a typical universal road sign that has English as well as kanji with the route no. shown. And with the GPS guidance in rental cars, the chance of getting lost is minimal provided you do a bit of route planning beforehand.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hrm01/5093233565/

Also public transport into Mashu-ko and the interior of Shiretoko Peninsula is not that well served and that is another reason for a serious consideration of doing it as a self-drive road trip.

Nuji,

driving on Hokkaido should be no problem at all!! Went there (by motorcycle) twice so far and had a GREAT time!!

Just be aware of the speed limits, police do regular checks, especially entering or leaving a resident area (village, town, city). They even do speed monitoring by helicopter - and this is NO joke!!

Many thanks for both of you. I'll consider it right away.

To "convince" you further for a self-drive road trip, the following are some seasonal destinations during your time of visit in eastern Hokkaido that are best explored if you have your own wheels.

From mid Sept to early Oct, you can see wide salmons swimming upstream near Onnebetsu Bridge en-route to Utoro.
http://ramblingonmyhokkaido.blog112.fc2.com/blog-entry-293.html

Not far north of Abashiri is Notoro-ko which is famous for its glasswort field during the month of Sept.
http://www.bfh.jp/en/theme/theme_searchdetail/99010304001/

If you like flowers, Taiyo-no-Oka Engaru Park near the town of Engaru has beautiful cosmos flower fields in Sept.
http://www.cosmos-love.com/

Near Memambetsu Airport is a large sunflower field/park that blooming time is said to last as late as Oct.
http://www.town.ozora.hokkaido.jp/dd.aspx?menuid=1346

Dear William5

Sound interesting really. I'll consider and make up my mind soon.

Will let you know.

Nuj