Hokkaido

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Planning 4-6 days in Hokkaido next June (ie not skiing!); thought I'd stick to the area SW of Sapporo and check out some parks, volcanos, hot springs.

Any recommendations for accommodation (ryokan or western-style), onsens, nice places to visit would be appreciated. Out side of the above area too, if you like.

I plan to hire a car, but are there any great places to the north accessible by train and say a taxi from the station there?
 
Strictly sticking to the South-west...
Otaru canals and shopping, plus the brewery. Also glass blowing and art is huge here.
The Shakotan peninsula has some amazing cliffside vistas though fairly remote.
Nikka Whiskey Distillery Yoichi if you're into that.
Niseko in summer can be beautiful (and far cheaper than winter).
Lake Toya is stunning, as is the view from the Windsor Hotel all year round.
Tonnes of fantastic golf courses around Niseko/Rusustsu/Otaru/Yoichi.
Theme park at Rusutsu i've also heard is quite good.
Then head down to Noboribetsu/Jigokudani for volcanic springs and hellish landscape, as well as onsens.
Then either up the coast towards Tomokomai or back inland via Lake Shikotsu to Sapporo/New Chitose.
 
For some reason I have been studying a lot about Hokkaido recently. Plan is to spend the first 25 days of July there next year. 3 or 4 days in Sapporo then probably a week with the Hokkaido rail pass going around the South West and on the 7th day arriving in Asahikawa and spending 5 - 6 days between there and Furano for the flower fields.
Proposed stops Kushiro for the marshlands and the red crowned crane.
Then Shibetsu and Abashiri for the seafood and at least 1 whale watching cruise. Still might see orcas but a few different whale and porpoise.

Then across country to Wakkanai and drive down the east coast. We have already been to Hokkaidp's southernmost point but on this trip will be visiting the Eastern,Northern and Western most points.
Plus pigging out on salmon, salmon roe, scallops and crab.
 
Train stations in Hokkaido aren’t quite as convenient as the rest of the country. I’: def consider a car, monthly rentals are cheap Drron, if you are interested. Same side of road too so it’s dead simple.
I have no problems driving in Japan though I do not drive in Tokyo. It is good to see things off the beaten track. At the moment not gone into the costings as the japanese car rentals are only reservable at about 3 months out. The global majors are a bit expensive so generally we use Toyota car rentals.
 
After this possibly being cancelled, I have taken up planning again. So, some Q's for the Japan experts out there (say, @Seat0B , @rbjhan @drron - sure there are others! ). I've been to Japan a number of times, but only staying in Tokyo, and mainly on business!!

* If a hotel (western chain) specifies rooms as 'non smoking', 'smoking' and (doesn't specify either way), could the non-specified room be smoking?

* Is there a handy web site that deciphers Japanese hotel booking language/options ? :)

* What is the 'Toyota' rental car option?

* I plan to use shinkansen Nagoya-Osaka (nazomi or kodoma) , Osaka-Himeji-Osaka (nazomi) and some local trains around Osaka for 2 days. Is there any 'card' that will be worthwhile? Unlikely to go back to Japan in the near future.

* drron, have you looked into whale-watching around the NE yet? This sems the go-to

*rjbhan, you are a fan of Dormy Inns. What do you think of this one?
Are Dormy beds firm, or much like western chains?
 
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In my experience it seems these days most of the hotels (chain ones anyway) are non-smoking unless specifically mentioned otherwise. Toyota rentacar is one of the more popular rental car chains, you can find them all over the place and they are happy to rent to foreigners, provided you have your licence conversion done which is a relatively straight forward process.

For booking hotels in Japan I've typically just used Booking.com and never had an issue. Friend of mine recently booked with the hotel directly and it turned out to be a giant ball ache with regard to payment etc
 
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After this possibly being cancelled, I have taken up planning again. So, some Q's for the Japan experts out there (say, @Seat0B , @rbjhan @drron - sure there are others! ). I've been to Japan a number of times, but only staying in Tokyo, and mainly on business!!

* If a hotel (western chain) specifies rooms as 'non smoking', 'smoking' and (doesn't specify either way), could the non-specified room be smoking?
If its unspecified it generally refers to non-smoking now, however I find for the most part they will specify one way or the other (more so for the smokers I think). Do note that there may be some hotels that converted their old smoking rooms to non-smoking and no matter how much deep cleaning there may still be some lingering reisidual smell years after.

* Is there a handy web site that deciphers Japanese hotel booking language/options ? :)
Are you trying to book through JP sites? Personally I find the western aggregates to be just as good unless you're booking very specific hot springs, ryokans which do not list (or greatly limit) their rooms. Often it's actually a fair bit cheaper than the rates advertised on JP sites or the hotel themselves. Your usual suspects of booking, agoda, expedia are the goto.

If you need to find specific Japanese places that are unlisted ,they're likely just off their own page and often has an "english" page or googleTL the page.
* What is the 'Toyota' rental car option?
Car rental run by Toyota company. More or less similar to any other car rental. You also get a gaijin sticker slapped on your car to warn other Japanese drivers to beware of you :D
There are other rental companies but this is one of the biggest ones I believe.

* I plan to use shinkansen Nagoya-Osaka (nazomi or kodoma) , Osaka-Himeji-Osaka (nazomi) and some local trains around Osaka for 2 days. Is there any 'card' that will be worthwhile? Unlikely to go back to Japan in the near future.
Personally, right now the JR passes are harder to make work. Buying individual tickets may work out cheaper - you can also now reserve these online and exchange it at a machine or counter.
I'd use a calculator to check if you're cost is going to be within range of a pass or not.
My gut says it's not cheaper to get a JR pass over just buying the tickets.
JR Fare Calculator - See how much you save with the Japan Rail Pass

As for IC cards, Suica at Tokyo is a bit tight, but they're still available at Haneda / Narita and some of the major Train stations. I'd say these are still well worth their value. You just tap on and tap off without thinking about how to calculate the train fares. Given all manners of shops accept suica as well as payment, any excess money on the card can just be used as cash (even at the airport). I'd try to get Suica or Passmo instead of the cards in other cities (Manaca in Nagoya, Icoca in Osaka), Suica and Passmo as I understand it is the only transport card that is universally accepted in Japan, some of the others still aren't properly integrated in outer cities.
 
Many thanks!

Toyota rentacar is one of the more popular rental car chains, you can find them all over the place and they are happy to rent to foreigners, provided you have your licence conversion done which is a relatively straight forward process.

By 'licence conversion' - do you mean an 'International Drivers Licence'? Yes, I've heard that Japan is one of the countries you really do need one.

For booking hotels in Japan I've typically just used Booking.com and never had an issue. Friend of mine recently booked with the hotel directly and it turned out to be a giant ball ache with regard to payment etc

Oh. I dislike booking though aggregators or third parties, but maybe with my 'difficulties' :) it might be the best way.

Are you trying to book through JP sites?

No, usually the hotel direct; most have an English translation version, but in my (limited, so far) experience, its hard to get around the phrasing and presentation. Maybe with more investigation I'll get used to it :) . or go through an aggregator.

Personally, right now the JR passes are harder to make work.

That's what I've heard. Plus I understand they aren't valid for travel on nazomi shinkansen.
 
I typically find the hotel itself can be anywhere from 10% to 40% more expensive than aggregates in Japan. Unless it's a western chain and using their own loyalty program discounts.

Just set the aggregate sites to show in yen and don't get caught out with per night price vs per stay prices
 
Well I have now booked all our hotels and the rental car. The Hokkaido rail pass didn’t work for us. We will be catching the train from CTS to Sapporo and then on the Lavender express to Asahikawa on the Lavender express.

The car was worrying me as if I left it until 3 months out I might miss out as July is peak travel month in Hokkaido and particularly for road trips.
So I looked at the car rental aggregators and found Hertz was usually the cheapest. By coincidence I got an email from Hertz and they offered a discount so I went to the Hertz Japan site. Surprise they have a partnership with Toyota rental car and if you book through Hertz you pick the car up from a Toyota site. So car booked.
The price through Hertz is the same as through Toyota but you can book further ahead.

As for hotels even in small towns with only local hotels I found it cheaper to book direct. I used google translate and if I found it difficult I was able to get their email address and send an email in English. Two hotels said no one could speak English but the email came back in English and the booking completed

In Rasau which was one of those 2 they suggested a whale watching cruise which is now booked.
We arrive in Sapporo on 1/7 and fly back to HND on 26/7.
 
This is the whale watching cruise.


And this is the hotel.

But Rausau. The whole district has only about 1000 population. basically you have to stay a night if you take a cruise from there. Abashiri would possibly be a better place to take the cruise unless you have a hire car.
 

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