Hokkaido - Asahikawa or Hakodate

Hello fellow Japan lovers,

I am planning to go to Japan in early February 2019 for Sapporo snow festivals and some skiing.

I still can't decide on some parts of the itinerary and would like your suggestion.

Day 1 - Sat 02 Feb - Arrive in Sapporo around mid-day and just chill around
Day 2 - Sun 03 Feb - Go to Sapporo Teine for some skiining
Day 3 - Mon 04 Feb - Go to Kiroro
Day 4 - Tue 05 Feb - Kiroro
Day 5 - Wed 06 Feb - Asahikawa or Hakodate
Day 6 - Thu 07 Feb - Asahikawa or Hakodate
Day 7 - Fri 08 Feb - Back to Sapporo for Snow Festival
Day 8 - Sat 09 Feb - Otaru day trip for the Light Festival
Day 9 - Going back home

At this stage I can't decide whether to go to both Asahikawa and Hakodate or just do 2 night of either one. I understand that travelling to Hakodate is a bit far for just one night as well.
Any suggestion or recommendation would be really appreciated.

Thank you all.

Hi , I have a plan to Sapporo on Feb too, I think you should skip Teine because you already have full 2 day at Kiroro for skiing and that area may better than Teine. So day two you can take a day trip to Asahiikawa. I would suggest to Hakodate because it take time too much, should not be a day trip.

Ahh you have two day, so you may add asahikawa in day#2 and take two days trip to Hakodate, it would be fine ^^

Hi LadyMary,

Thank you for the suggestion.

That what I was thinking initially too but my timing was a bit bad. The second day the snow festival in Asahikawa has not started yet. That's why I am deciding between going to snow festival there or just go to Hakodate. Like you said, one day in Hakodate is definitely not enough.

I find one night is enough for Hakodate for the places I visit and things that I do in the city, but that is simply my preference. Two nights would allow some extra exploration.

I think 2 days in either place would be overkill. I wentto Asahikawa on the second day of their festival last year. If you go during the first few days, you can see the ice sculptures in their early stages, being worked on, which can be interesting. Coming from the Sapporo festival, you'll have seen plenty of finished ice sculptures anyway. You would also find the Asahikawa fest pretty small in comparison to Sapporo (except for the main stage and slide, which blows even Sapporo out of the water). There was hardly anyone in Asahikawa on the day I went. It was actually quite a relief after Sapporo, very pleasant. But you can easily see it all in a day.