How should i plan for hokkaido

Hi Hi...

i plan to have 4-5 days in Hokkaido and another 6 days in Tokyo in September.
I have done some research but not sure how to plan the route for Hokkaido:

Day 1: Arrive Narita early in the morning via SQA380; Plan to take domestic flight to Hokkaido

I would like to cover the following:
(a) Sapporo
(b) Furano (is this the place where there are different colours of flowers/greens all in a field?)
(c) Lake Toya
(d) How about Noboribetsu? Is it just about hot springs there?
(e) How about Hakodate? What to focus in hakodate?

which stop should i go first?

thanks!!

There are some direct flights from Narita Airport to Sapporo. Many more flights to Hokkaido depart from Tokyo's other airport, Haneda Airport, two hours away. From Haneda, you also have direct flights to other airports in Hokkaido, such as Asahikawa (near Furano) and Hakodate.

You can find out more about the attractions of Hokkaido here:
http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1101.html

Is this a good itinerary to follow:

9 Sep: Sapporo (walk ard city); overnight at Sapporo
10 Sep: Travel to Furano/Biei to see flowers/lavender; Back to Sapporo in the afternoon; head to Otaru to see canal in late afternoon; overnight at Niseko Prince Hirafutei Hotel (Kutchan) - Should i just go back to Sapporo to stay for the night?
11 Sep: Travel to Lake Toya; What else to do before i move to Hakodate?
12 Sep: Hakodate
13 Sept: morning markets at Hakodate; Depart for Haneda at 1250hrs

Thanks,
bernard

December 10th is way too packed! You can't cover Furano, Otaru and Niseko in one day!

I suggest to fly from Tokyo to Asahikawa Airport, spend a night in Furano, then a night in Sapporo. I don't think it makes any sense to visit Niseko if you are not planning on doing any winter sport.

Then a night in Lake Toya and then Hakodate.

Thanks alot Uji!
Day 1: Haneda to Furano (Kami-Furano and Biei). Overnight at Furano
Day 2: Morning ard Furano/Biei and depart for Sapporo. Head to Otaru in late afternoon. Overnight at Sapporo.
Day 3: Walk ard Sapporo city in morning; depart for Lake Toya or Noboribetsu
Day 4: Depart for Hakodate
Day 5: Hakodate back to Haneda

(a) By the way, can i book JAL domestic flights online? Or any local websites that does that in English?
(b) Which is a better experience? Lake Toya or Noboribetsu?

thanks again!!

It is packed but possible if you travel by car. By public transportation, I think it would be too packed, especially the first two days.

By the way, can i book JAL domestic flights online? Or any local websites that does that in English?

I recommend to use air passes, which you have to purchase before coming to Japan:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html

Which is a better experience? Lake Toya or Noboribetsu?

They are about equally interesting, but I tend to give Noboribetsu a slightly higher rating, especially for the baths.

Hi Uji,

Thanks again for you rquick reply. I thoought abt driving during the first 2 days since we have a group of 4 people.

However, is it easy to get hands on maps in English as i assume the road signs will all be in Japanese.

By the way, have you heard of Yunokawa Nagisatei Prince Hotel in Hakodate? Any good?

I just returned from Hokkaido and we did the whole thing in 8 relaxing days. I think your itirenary will be a bit rush.

As suggested day 1 - fly to Asahikawa and from there take a train to Biei/naka furano (if you are not driving) Its just about 30-40mins ride. At Biei you may get a good idea of the place by taking the Twinkle buses. After that you can go to farm Tomita at Naka furano. Stay at Furano.

Day 2 You may tour around Furano or travel back to Sapporo. By train or bus it takes about 2-2.5hrs. If you have time, you can go to Otaru and stay the nite at Sapporo.

Day 3 Travel to Nooboribetsu/Lake Akan - we did not go to either so can't comment. The train ride is about 1 hr or so and is on the way to Hakodate

Day 4 Travel to Hakodate. We love Hakodate for the wonderful food and people and the clean cozy atmosphere. We stayed at the Yunokawa Prince with an in-room onsen, had the buffet dinner - absolutely divine!! However the place is a few km from the station where the morning market and the night view is, so you may need to travel. We stayed 2 nites in Hakodate, 1st nite at Toyoko Inn and 2nd at Yunokawa Prince, so we finished all our sightseeing etc before going to the hotel to enjoy the facilities.

Have a good trip. I am sure you will enjoy it!!

Here is how we spent out time in Hokkaido:
Arrived at Chitose Airport and took train to Otaru, arriving midday. Spent the afternoon walking the shopping district, went to an excellent sushi restaurant for dinner & then went to the small onsen. The onsen in Otaru has the best water I have soaked in so far. It was great. Spent the night in Otaru, got up early, went to the fish market, did a little more shopping, at lunch & then caught a bus to Sapporo. In my opinion, it was well worth spending the night in Otaru.
Once in Sapporo, we spent the afternoon/evening walking around/shopping, then took the ropeway up the the mountaintop in evening (after dark, great view), then had dinner on ramen alley. Next morning, we rented a car, went to the Beer Museum, ice cream museum & sake museum. Then drove to Noboribetsu to stay for two nights. Spent time shopping in the town, at Hell Valley, driving in the mountains, a trip to the Ainu Village on the coast, went over to the big volcano & spent lots of time in the onsens & eating. The final afternoon, we drove back to Sapporo to stay the night before getting up early to go to Chitose Airport to drop off the car & fly back to Osaka.
My advice: Dont rush around, spend more time enjoying fewer spots and relax.

is it advisable to drive?
for someone who does not understand Japanese?

Do cars come with English maps?
any websites where i can rent a car?

Thanks!

If you are used to driving in both the city and on country roads, driving is easy. Some of the mountain roads are very narrow & curvy.
My J-wife programmed the GPS, so finding our way was easy. Not sure if they have english maps, but the GPS was in Kangi/Hiragana only.

For non-Japanese speakers, driving in Japan is really easy and not expensive at all (compared with Europe/America). Nearly all rental cars come with GPS as standard. Here then is the tip, you just need to have researched the tel no. of the place you want to visit or the hotel, and inputting the tel no. takes 4-5 button pushes which even the non-English speaking staff at your rental outlet will show you in 30 secs. One last thing, remember the GPS comes with an interactive screen, so even though you may not understand what it's saying, you can see it on screen. We have now rented a car on 5 trips to Japan and no problems at all and we hardly ever got lost, even to some really remote places in Japan. The great thing is you can forget your maps and I hate map reading when I'm on holiday. Final tip: rent from Toyota your 1st time, it's more expensive but they have one of the best GPS and the most rental outlets. Google it to find Toyota's English website + tel no. of its Tokyo headoffice where the staff speak English. Once you tried driving, you won't want to go back to trains and buses.

We have one free day in sapporo in winter: planning:

-Kaitaku no mura
(How to get there? How long? How much?)

- Otaru Canal (walk and coffee)
Do I get there by JR train station Shinrin Koen
(How long and How much?)

- Back to sapporo
Do I take JR train back to sapporo from Otaru? Is there a subway map I get download?

Sapporo: shopping / Odori park snow festival

- Climb TV tower
Does it close early in winter?
Worth the climb?

pls comment whether the above is feasible for one day trip and any advice is welcomed. Thanks so much!

Chibemaruko

Thanks felicia, cf and mthk for your comments....

Gave me the assurance to decide on renting a car.
Now is to look for a car rental company who allows me to pick up vehicle at Asahikawa airport and return at Hakodate Airport.

Anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

Hi Hi,
after some planning, the plan:
(a) Day 1 - rent a car from Asahikawa Airport and drive to Biei/Tomita/Patchwork before staying at Furano for the night
Day 2 - train from Furano to Sapporo; shop ard Sapporo and stay there for the night
Day 3 - train to Otaru; and back to Sapporo for the night
Day 4 - train from Sapporo to Hakodate; Hakodate for the night
Day 5 - Morning market before flying back to Haneda

Advice requested:
(1) Is there much to do/see at Sapporo to make me stay for another day for Day 3? Or should i move to Lake Toya for the night?
(2) If i am to travel from Otaru to Hakodate or Lake Toya, seems like JR will travel back to Sapporo and down the Muroran path. Does driving follow this route as well(clockwise)? Or can i drive from Otaru to Toya using the anti-clockwise path (that is passing Kutchan)?

thanks,
bernard

Anyone been to Kan Yasuda“Ishinki” and Igor•Mitoraj“Moonlight” around Lake Toya?

I was wondering which hotels near Lake Toya will be closest to these sculptures? I am limited time at Toya so would like to stay at a hotel closest to these.

Also, what time does fireworks usually start in the night? How long do they last?

thanks!