From Sapporo to Shiretoko in 2 Days?

Hello,

how can i plan a 2 days trip from Sapporo to Shiretoko?

Sapporo to Abashiri by train and then? Are there any Taxis or Busses to Shiretoko?
Where can i stay at Shiretoko and what to see there, which trail to hike?

Thanks
snk-freak

There is a direct bus from Sappoto to Utoro (Shiretoko).

http://www.uu-hokkaido.com/corporate/sharibus.shtml

As you see, Sapporo to Utoro is a overnight bus while Utoro to Sapporo is a daytime bus. Therefore if you take night bus to Utoro, and then stay one night there and come back to Sapporo in the morning, you will arrive Sapporo at 16:25.

If you take JR train, you can go as far as Shiretoko-Shari and then take bus to Utoro. But as far as I searched it will take very long time, so you need to spend almost all daytime to get to Utoro from Sapporo.

That sounds good, so is 1 day enough to cover most of Shiretoko? How can i get around in the NP and what should i see?

Boat trip
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6852.html

Five lake walking
https://shiretoko-t.com/outdoor/summer/shiretokofivelakes.html

You need to specify the season for activities.

You may consider air to shorten the travel time. It costs 5400 yen from Sapporo to Memanbetsu.
https://www.ana.co.jp/en/us/promotions/share/experience_jp/
https://www.ar.jal.co.jp/world/en/japan_explorer_pass/ar/

There is an airport liner bus from Memanbetsu to Utoro in Shiretoko. The timetable of this bus depends on the season.
Summer: http://www.sharibus.co.jp/pdf/ShiretokoAirPortLiner30.06.9.pdf
Winter: http://www.sharibus.co.jp/pdf/ShiretokoAirPortLiner2018.pdf

I will be in Japan in august 2019 ;)

Maybe overnight bus to Utoro and flight from Memanbetsu to Sapporo is the best option?

So, you have much time to monitor what is going on in Shiretoko during this summer.
https://twitter.com/shiretoko4

August is the peak month in Shiretoko. You could do various activities; Trekking and Sea Kayak. Whale Watching is known to be the best in August and September.

Shiretoko Pass is closed during winter. You could use both gate towns in summer; Utoro and Rausu.

If you do not care about overnight buses (losing the sights along the way and tiring if you missed a good night sleep), the earliest arrival to Utoro is by an overnight bus Eagleliner and the latest departure from Utoro is by Shiretoko Airport Liner to Abashiri and then another overnight bus Dreamint Okhotsk from there.

U1) Sapporo Chuo Bus Terminal 2315-(Eagle Liner)-630 Utoro
http://www.chuo-bus.co.jp/highway/index.cgi?ope=det&n=6&o=1&t=73
http://www.uu-hokkaido.com/images/corporate/access/shiretoko/sharibus/...
http://www.uu-hokkaido.com/corporate/sharibus.shtml

U2) Utoro 1845-(Shiretoko Airport Liner)-2017 Abashiri Bus Center 2240-(Dreamint Okhotsk)-600 JR Sapporo
http://sharibus.co.jp/pdf/ShiretokoAirPortLiner30.06.9.pdf
http://www.abashiribus.com/inter-city/summer/
http://www.uu-hokkaido.com/images/corporate/access/abashiri/abashiribu...
http://www.uu-hokkaido.com/corporate/abashiribus.shtml

At Rausu side, the earliest and the latest are by an overnight bus Starlight Kushiro and local bus.

R1) Sapporo Chou Bus Terminal 2330-(Starlight Kushiro)-520 JR Kushiro 725-1100 Rausu

R2) Rausu 1650-2020 JR Kushiro 2350-(Starlight Kushiro)-540 JR Sapporo
http://www.akanbus.co.jp/express/sapporo.html
http://www.akanbus.co.jp/localbu/senra.htm
http://www.uu-hokkaido.com/images/corporate/access/kushiro/akanbus/bus...
http://www.uu-hokkaido.com/corporate/akanbus.shtml

You could use Memanbetsu Airport (MMB) to get to Utoro and Nakashibetsu Airport (SHB) to Rausu.
http://www.mmb-airport.co.jp
http://www.nakashibetsu-airport.jp

Both the earliest and latest are achieved by a combination of Abashiri Bus, JR, and Shari Bus.

U3) CTS 735-820 MMB -850 Abashiri 1024-1106 Shiretoko-Shari 1130-1230 Utoro
http://www.abashiribus.com/memanbetsu/
http://sharibus.co.jp/pdf/2017-04-P1.pdf

U4) Utoro 1430-1520 Shiretoko-Shari 1633-1717 Abashiri 1900-1900 MMB 2015-2105 CTS
http://www.abashiribus.com/jikoku/mmb30.07.01.pdf

Nemuro Kotsu bus runs a connecting line between Nakashibetsu Airport (SHB) and Nakashibetsu Bus Terminal.

R3a) CTS 805-855 SHB 905-914 Nakashibetsu 930-1100 Rausu (weekdays)
R3b) CTS 805-855 SHB 905-914 Nakashibetsu 1020-1150 Rausu (weekends)
http://nemurokotsu.com/pdf/rosen/30-7-1-30-9-30.pdf

R4) Rausu 1300-1430 Nakashibetsu 1651-1700 SHB 1750-1845 CTS
http://www.uu-hokkaido.com/images/corporate/access/nemuro/nemurokotsu/...

The longest time in Shiretoko could be obtained by a combination of U1) Utoro in (6:30) & U2) Utoro out (18:45) by overnight buses or R3) Rausu in (11:00/11:50) & U4) Utoro out (14:30) by flights.

Then, you should find your needed time there by a research.

Shiretoko in general
https://www.shiretoko.asia/world/index.html
https://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/nps/park/shiretoko/guide/view.html
https://www.env.go.jp/park/common/data/02_shiretoko_map_e.pdf

Rausu
http://www.rausu-shiretoko.com/pdf/rausu_e0619_web.pdf

Tour buses and regular buses
http://uu-hokkaido.com/corporate/sharibus.shtml

Walking in Lakes Shiretoko Goko:
https://www.goko.go.jp/multilingual_eng/index.html
Lake Rausko:
http://www.sno.co.jp/trail-rausuko.html

Some of the cruises:
https://www.ms-aurora.com/shiretoko/en/
https://kamuiwakka.jp/cruising/index-en.php
http://www.e-shiretoko.com/howtobooking.html
http://www.rausu-cruise.com
http://www.uu-hokkaido.com/corporate/goziraiwa.shtml

Thanks a lot for this helpful answer. Do i need to book the busses in advance and is there also a day bus from Shiretoko to Sapporo?

Anybody?

Do i need to book the busses in advance

I am not sure but you might better do so.

and is there also a day bus from Shiretoko to Sapporo?

Yes.

http://www.chuo-bus.co.jp/highway/index.cgi?ope=pnt&n=6&o=2&t=73

Eagle liner requires a reservation, 予約制.
http://www.chuo-bus.co.jp/highway/index.cgi?ope=det&n=6&o=1&t=73

Shiretoko Airport Liner: no reservation, 予約不要.
http://www.sharibus.co.jp/pdf/ShiretokoAirPortLiner30.06.9.pdf

Dreamint Okhotsk: reservation, 予約制.
http://www.chuo-bus.co.jp/highway/index.cgi?ope=det&n=3&t=69&o=2

Starlight Kushiro: reservation, 予約制.
http://www.chuo-bus.co.jp/highway/index.cgi?ope=det&n=1&t=107&o=2

Kushiro-Rausu is a local bus, no info about a reservation. Likely no need.
http://www.akanbus.co.jp/localbu/senra.htm

MMB-Abashiri is an airport shuttle, no info about a reservation. Better to book the one to the airport, if they allow.
http://www.abashiribus.com/memanbetsu/

Abashiri-Shari is a local JR train, no info about a reservation. Likely no need.

Shari-Utoro is a local bus, no info about a reservation. Likely no need.
http://sharibus.co.jp/pdf/2017-04-P1.pdf

SHB-Nakashibetsu is an airport shuttle, no info about a reservation. Better to book the one to the airport, if they allow.
http://nemurokotsu.com/pdf/rosen/30-7-1-30-9-30.pdf

Or, you may use this search tool in English, not an official one, though.
http://en.visit-eastern-hokkaido.jp/eastbus/

If you set the departure town to be Rausu, you could see all the arrival towns in the pull-down list. No long distance buses leave from Rausu.

If you set the departure to be Shiretoko, you could find Sapporo as an arrival.
http://en.visit-eastern-hokkaido.jp/eastbus/area-search/?departure=知床&arrival=札幌
Clicking on the bus name, Eagle Liner, you will find that you need to reserve this day bus one day in advance.
http://en.visit-eastern-hokkaido.jp/eastbus/busroute/eagle-liner-from-...
Clicking on the bus stop, Utoro Onsen Hotels, you could find all the possible buses there.
http://en.visit-eastern-hokkaido.jp/eastbus/busstop/utoro-onsen-each-h...
Open each bus panels to find out whether the bus is seasonal and check reservation details.

It seems only long-distance buses with a special name require a reservation.
http://en.visit-eastern-hokkaido.jp/eastbus/busstop/札幌駅前ターミナル/

I think best would be from Sapporo to Utoro with overnight bus and then back from Utoro to Sapporo via bus in the morning, so i have one full day in Shiretoko. Do you guys think that is enough to see most of the famous spots?

1.5 day would be the minimum. See the estimates below.

I assume a day from Aug 9 to 17 here. http://www.sharibus.co.jp/pdf/2017-04-P1.pdf
8:30 A bus from Utoro to Shiretoko Nature Center (SNC) (10 min, 40 min interval)
8:40 SNC (average duration of the stay 30min) https://www.jalan.net/kankou/spt_01545cc3290031450/
9:10 A walk to Furepe no Taki (20 min to get to, 1h stay) https://www.jalan.net/kankou/spt_01545ab2040005364/
10:30 A walk back to SNC
10:50 A bus from SNC to Shiretoko Five Lakes (SFL) (15 min, 20 min interval)
11:05 SFL (2h stay and 1h lunch) https://www.jalan.net/kankou/spt_01545ab2030004800/
13:10 A bus to Kamuiwakka Yu no Taki (KYT) (28min, 20 min interval)
13:38 Kamuiwakka Yu no Taki (Onsen hot water river, assume 1h40min similar to Furepe no Taki)
15:30 A bus back to Utoro (15:58 SFL 16:10-16:25 SNC 16:30-16:40 Utoro)
They do not provide details on Shiretoko Shuttle Bus (SSB). But, you would need a full day to do the above. SSB runs also from Aug 1 to 25, with lesser frequencies, 40 min intervals in all the segments. You would need more careful planning for the bus uses. After Aug 25, only Shiretoko Line runs. Only six buses a day. No bus to KYT, just up to SFL.

Rausu line goes to Shiretoko Pass, Rausu Lake, and Rausu. Only four buses a day. If you want to attend a cruise on the Rausu side and/or go trekking to Rausu Lake, you should need another day.

The tour bus Fureai-Go B Course includes Shiretoko Pass. The series of Fureai-Go A, B, and C courses cover Oshinkoshin no Taki, Shiretoko Pass, Shiretoko Five Lakes, Shiretoko Nature Center, and Ten ni Tsuduku Michi (The path to the Heaven). These could be done in a day from 8:40 at Shari to 15:00 at Shari, not from/to Utoro.

You may add Oshinkoshin Falls after the Five Lakes sequence above: 17:00 Utoro 17:10 Oshinkoshin Falls (30 min) 17:58-18:10.
https://www.jalan.net/kankou/spt_01545ab2050006459/

And you would be likely to board on some cruise at the Utoro side. A cruise to Cape Shiretoko would take 3h45min. There are other shorter cruises targeting to see animals. There are still other activities, sea kayak, cycling, helicopter cruising, and so forth.
https://www.ms-aurora.com/shiretoko/images/leaflet.pdf

So, I could account for one day for Five Lakes, half a day for a cruise, and one day for Rausu. Three days would be ideal. Two days of dropping some. One day just some pickups.