This information was originally on GET.com at: Visit Hokkaido: GET.com’s Travel Guide To Northern Japan
Japan is a popular travel destinations for Singaporeans, despite the fact that most travellers go to Tokyo. If you’ve already been to Tokyo and found it had too much of a ‘big city’ vibe for your liking, don’t offer up on Japan merely yet – this beautiful country has actually so much more to offer!
One of my most recommended areas to visit in Japan would certainly actually be Hokkaido, thanks to the wonderful natural surroundings and the variety of activities to do in each season.
From Singapore, you can easily locate direct flights to the capital of Hokkaido (Sapporo), or you can easily take a JR train or a domestic flight from Tokyo to Hokkaido.
While this northern region of Japan is known for its powdery white snow which is much loved by seasoned skiers during the winter months, there’s actually a lot to see and do in the summer as well.
In fact, I went to Hokkaido as part of a longer trip to Japan that started in Tokyo. Travelling to Hokkaido in the summer lets you enjoy milder weather compared to the scorching-hot Tokyo, and lets you fully appreciate the nature, which in winter is completely covered in snow.
In GET.com‘s travel guide to northern Japan, we’ll show you the very best places to see, shop and eat in Hokkaido.
In This Hokkaido Travel Guide:
Money Saving Tips For Your Trip To Hokkaido
Top Points To See In Hokkaido
With its abundance of nature, you need to visit at least one of the wonderful parks or mountains in Hokkaido.
There are lots of climbing routes for both alpinists and beginners, and most do not require sophisticated equipment.
With the slightly cooler weather, you can easily look forward to a wonderful day outdoors filled Along with the wonders of Mother Nature!
Daisetsuzan
Daisetsuzan is Hokkaido’s largest national park, and Along with a total area of 226,000 acres, it is likewise the largest national park in Japan.
The chain of mountains is likewise known as the “roof of Hokkaido” and the highly primeval park is estate to lots of alpine plants and various wild animals, including the brown bear.
There are plenty of different routes to go about exploring the national park, depending on your interests.
If you are an suffered hiker, you can easily always challenge yourself to hike from the summit of Asahidake to the summit of Kurodake which will certainly take you around 1 to 2 days, or look for day-trekking routes which are easy to do for a few hours.
One of the easiest ways to experience Daisetsuzan is to base yourself in the small hot spring resort town, Asahidake Onsen, which lies at the foot of Hokkaido’s highest mountain, Mount Asahidake.
It’s a small village Along with merely 2 or 3 large hotels and enough shopping and dining options for a 2 to 3 day stay. From here, you can easily take the Asahidake Ropeway that brings you from the village to within a two-hour hike of Mount Asahidake’s summit.
There is an easy 45-minute loop trail around the ropeway’s upper station, which passes some ponds and the infamous sulfurous vents of the mountain, reminding you of the volcanic origin of the whole Daisetsuzan mountain range.
Lake Toya
Another beautiful sight that you ought to undoubtedly visit in Hokkaido is Lake Toya. To reach Lake Toya, take a JR train from Brand-new Chitose Airport to Minami-Chitose Station and transfer to the train bound for Hakodate.
Get off at Toya Station and take a bus ride towards Lake Toya (Toyako Onsen bus terminal) which is merely 15 minutes away.
Most individuals stay at the hot spring resort of Toyako Onsen at the foot of Mount Usu. Besides the view of the lake, one of the key attractions in this area are the free foot baths set along the promenade of the lake.
If you are there during the summer season (from May to October), there is likewise a 20-minute fireworks show every night.
It’s likewise a popular option to take a sightseeing boat cruise around the lake. When we were there in August, the town was quite quiet as most tourists actually stay within the big hotel resorts.
However, we were rewarded Along with a cultural performance at night along the promenade and even joined in the fun! The Japanese are rather welcoming and open to sharing their culture, which makes Japan such a lovely place to visit.
Here you can easily locate the cheapest hotels close to Lake Toya at Agoda.com.
Lavender Fields
Lavender has actually been grown in Hokkaido for more than half a century and visiting one of Furano’s lavender fields is mandatory during your summer trip to Hokkaido.
Unlike the cherry blossoms which bloom within a week, the lavender here usually starts blooming in late June and reaches its peak around mid July.
Be sure to choose the correct timing to visit Hokkaido if you are planning on seeing the beautiful purple fields of lavender!
The finest spot to view the lavender is no doubt Farm Tomita. The farm is free to enter and besides the flower fields, there are cafes and shops that sell a wide range of lavender products.
Top Points To Do In Hokkaido
Odori Park
Odori Park is fairly the centre of Sapporo, separating the city into north and south. The park offers a pleasant green space in the city for visitors to walk and see the major highlights of urban Sapporo.
At one end of Odori Park stands the Sapporo TV Tower, which has actually an observation deck Along with beautiful views of the park and the surrounding city. At night, the tower is illuminated making it a quite sight.
The Odori Park is not really a huge attraction on its own, yet it’s a place where lots of major festivals and events take place.
Every February, the Sapporo Snow Festival sees some two million individuals that come to see the hundreds of snow statues and ice sculptures at the Odori Park.
In summer, the Odori park transforms into a huge beer garden filled Along with tables & chairs where the public can easily enjoy nice meals and beer on a hot summer afternoon.
During the beer festival, large tents are set up by major Japanese beer brands – Suntory, Asahi, Sapporo, Kirin and you can easily even locate a Globe Beer Plaza where you can easily taste beers from all around the world.
One thing I like about the beer garden is that it is open from noon till 10pm, which makes it much less likely for individuals to turn rowdy late at night.
If you want to take your beer journey further, a popular place to visit is the Sapporo Beer Museum. The Sapporo Brewing Company offers free guided tours that cover the history of beer in Japan and the brewing process.
At the end of the tour, there’s even a beer-tasting (it costs 500 yen) that allows you to taste 3 different types of beer.
Shiroi Koibito Park
Many Singaporeans might have actually had a taste of the famous Shiroi Koibito (literally, “white lover”) cookies, which are hugely popular outside Japan.
These iconic European-style cookies which have actually a delicate layer of white chocolate sandwiched between two light and crisp ‘langue de chat’ biscuits.
Fans of the cookie will certainly be delighted to know that there is in fact a Shiroi Koibito Park in Hokkaido, which houses the Shiroi Koibito Factory where this well-known Hokkaido confectionery is produced.
Here you will certainly get to enjoy the quite park Along with a cafe, the Cookiecraft Studio, a toy exhibition room and a rose garden.
There are a number of exhibits here (they’re not free), such as the Aurora fountain which was made by England’s Royal Doulton Company and Chocolate Mug Collection exhibit which showcases intricate chocolate cups that were used by aristocrats during the 18th century.
A visit to the Shiroi Koibito Park shouldn’t leave out a tasting of the wonderful confectionery made here.
There’s a cafe where visitors can easily relax over chocolate drinks and enjoy a Shiroi Koibito parfait. Then there’s Candy Labo which is a candy shop, a soft-serve ice cream estate as well as the Shop Piccadilly where you can easily buy confectionery from the Ishiya chocolate company, including the Shiroi Koibito cookies, Mifuyu millefeuille and Tsumugi Baumkuchen.
Top Points To Eat In Hokkaido
Hakodate Seafood Markets
Hokkaido is famous for its fresh seafood and you can easily locate a seafood market in most of its major towns.
One of the very best places to catch some action and enjoy a fresh seafood breakfast is at the Hakodate morning markets, where there is a cluster of over 300 shops and eateries selling fresh seafood under one roof.
Located close to the Hakodate Station, you will certainly locate the bustling Hakodate Asaichi (morning market), tempting visitors Along with a large variety of fresh Hakodate produce.
The morning market is open for business from as early as 5am and it closes around noon. There is even an opportunity for you to catch live squid and to have actually the chef prepare fresh squid sashimi from your catch!
When it’s time for brunch, head to the restaurant arcade called the “Donburi Yokocho Ichiba” inside the markets which consists of over 20 meals establishments.
You can easily sample fresh crab, sashimi and sea urchin; and remember not to leave without trying the “Donburi” or seafood rice bowl – steaming bowl of hot rice topped Along with raw seafood.
Hokkaido Dairy Products
Hokkaido is well-known for its delicious and high-quality dairy products. In fact, it produces 50% of Japan’s total milk production and 90% of Japan’s natural cheese.
The premium quality of its dairy products is attributed to the perfect climate of Hokkaido – cool summer temperature, fresh air and the availability of wide and green pastures for cows to live in a relaxed environment.
Some of the products you ought to try include Hokkaido fresh milk, yogurt, cheese, and soft serve ice creams!
If you want to try a variety of sweets and confectionery made from these dairy products, head to the meals court on the very first floor of Odori Bisse along Odori Park where lots of famous Hokkaido confectioneries gather.
Alternatively, you can easily go to the Sapporo Sweets Cafe in the basement of Odori where they sell sweets from various pastry shops from around Sapporo.
Ramen Yochoko
Ramen lovers need to not skip Ramen Yochoko, an alley in Susukino filled Along with old style ramen shops. It’s likewise the birthplace of miso ramen that’s eaten all over the Globe today!
The ramen shops here are usually rather small, they’re only able to sit several individuals at once, yet the quality of the ramen here is worth your time!
Where To Shop In Hokkaido
Hokkaido is much known for its wondrous nature and local products and sweets, yet there are likewise shopping areas to buy apparel and souvenirs.
Sapporo Factory
Sapporo Factory is a large shopping and entertainment complex that was opened in 1993. There are about 160 establishments that include retail stores, souvenir shops, restaurants, cafes and a cinema.
The Sapporo Factory was constructed on the former site of Japan’s very first brewery and the complex can easily be reached by the Loop 88 bus that likewise stops at the Sapporo Beer Museum and Odori Park.
There are a couple of sports apparel stores such as Adidas, Puma and The North Face, as well as a drug store where you can easily pick up Japanese cosmetics and health supplements (Meiji Collagen anyone?).
There are likewise restaurants and gourmet meals outlets that focus on authentic Hokkaido cuisine.
Pole Town
Another nice place for retail therapy in Hokkaido is Pole Town and Aurora Town – two underground shopping arcades in Sapporo’s central Odori area.
Gift shops, souvenir shops, boutiques and convenience stores blend in Along with sweet shops, cafes, bakeries and lunch shops to develop an animated underground shopping experience.
Outlet Shopping
There are two outlet malls in Hokkaido, namely the Mitsui Outlet Park Sapporo Kitahiroshima and the Chitose Outlet Mall Rera.
These covered malls are a wonderful place to go when the weather is bad.
I went to the Mitsui Outlet Park, which has actually a good number of shops including Coach, Michael Kors, Armani Factory and Onisuka Tiger. There is likewise a Hokkaido Local Farm Village store which offers a wide variety of local specialties and products that are wonderful as souvenirs.
Money Saving Tips For Your Trip To Hokkaido
One of the biggest expenses of most trips (apart from the flight cost) is accommodation. To save money on hotels you ought to plan your travel route in advance in order to locate the very best hotel rates online, as opposed to enquiring directly at the hotel when you get there.
This not only ensures that you will certainly get a room, it’s likewise the easiest method to compare the very best rates among several hotels in the area you’d like to travel to.
Since you’re going to use a credit card anyways to make your hotel booking online, it pays off to use a card that rewards you on travel purchases.
Travel credit cards usually offer rewards (points, miles or cashback) when you use them to purchase your plane tickets or make hotel bookings.
Using a rewards credit card like this can easily suggestions you save money on your bookings and offer you rewards which you can easily use towards your next holiday to get a cheaper plane ticket or hotel booking!
You can easily locate the cheapest hotel rates in Hokkaido’s capital, Sapporo here.
Here are some of our favorite travel credit cards:
| The American Express ® Platinum bank credit card – Full Fee Offer |
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| ANZ Travel Visa Signature Credit Card Our Rating: 4.60 |
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| Citi PremierMiles American Express ® Card Our Rating: 4.50 |
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| Citi PremierMiles Visa Card Our Rating: 4.50 |
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| OCBC Titanium Credit Card Our Rating: 4.50 |
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