Short tour of Hokkaido

[ausfox]

We will be in Japan in July 24 and thinking of a tour of about 5 days in Hokkaido. We have travelled the south and would like to see what Hokkaido has to offer in June. Appreciate your support in advance.

 

[drron]

Summer is the best time to be in Hokkaido unless you are a Skier. The highlight for us is in July 24 we will be in Hokkaido to see the flower farms.

 

[ausfox]

We skied on Hokkaido a bit over 10 years ago when Mrs fox threw a fetlock. Finished our skiing. We are interested in seeing it without snow.

 

[mel-world]

We also want to visit but late September next year so would welcome any ideas.

 

[drron]

The other thing that we will also do is a Whale watching cruise. Eastern Hokkaido is said to be the spot where you are more likely to see Sperm whales. In June lots of orcas as well.

 

[elanshin]

Are you thinking of an actual tour group or just some self organised trip. The other part is if you're confident in going to rural Japan where English is harder to come by.

Sapporo in of itself is fairly easy to navigate and has plenty to see and do. Otaru is close by and is quite picturesque. There's a whole bunch of hot spring and ryokans if that's what you're into as well.

As you go to North side of Hokkaido it gets rural relatively quickly and is a bit more off the beaten track. Still lots see and do.

Also get soup curry in Sapporo. Really good food and skip genghis Khan as an aussie. I found it to be basically fancy bbq lamb and they often tout Oz Lamb as the premium stuff.

 

[ausfox]

We have decided to take the rail to Hakodate then on to Sapporo before returning to Tokyo. As we have been to Tokyo a number of times we are happy to spend some time in the regional cities.

 

[elanshin]

We have decided to take the rail to Hakodate then on to Sapporo before returning to Tokyo. As we have been to Tokyo a number of times we are happy to spend some time in the regional cities.

If you have the time budget, you could also consider hopping out on the way to hakodate. There's some pretty cool places in Tohoku region along the shinkansen line. It would increase travel time but depending on what you want to see, might be worth exploring.

Also for Hakodate to Sapporo, if you're comfortable driving, it also provides lots of sight seeing opportunities and a direct drive is about the same time as train. This just offers flexibility to go to different places or towns. (I stayed at Noboribetsu onsen earlier this year, very nice hot springs town).

I would also consider flying one direction instead of train going both ways. As fast as the shinkansen is, the hokkaido side isn't built yet so it takes a while to traverse there and will be faster to do one leg as a flight.

 

[Himeno]

I would also consider flying one direction instead of train going both ways. As fast as the shinkansen is, the hokkaido side isn't built yet so it takes a while to traverse there and will be faster to do one leg as a flight.

I'd suggest the same thing. The Shinkansen only reaches Hakodate with the tunnel from Honshu to Hokkaido opening in 2016. Tokyo-Hakodate is 4 hours. It then takes another 3-4 hours to get the train to Sapporo.
The shinkansen extension to Sapporo isn't expected to open for another 7 years.

 

[drron]

If you are there June 14-16 it is the Shrine Festival. We were there a few years ago and it was fantastic.
From the middle of July for a month it is their beer festival which is also good.

 

[rbjhan]

Not winter but some ideas maybe...

北国の秋 - Autumn in Northern Japan

This was a trip taken a while back, 2 years ago to be exact :p But I've never done a TR for it so why not? Another slightly different Japan trip hopefully can give people some ideas to visit this wonderful country. It was before Qantas (re)started the MEL-NRT route (!) so I had to transfer via...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[ausfox]

Thank you for your input rbjhan, we don’t have the fitness and endurance to attempt to copy your exploits but it makes interesting reading.

 

[ausfox]

We look to miss the shrine festival by one day. Cannot delay as we relocate to the US.

 

[rbjhan]

Thank you for your input rbjhan, we don’t have the fitness and endurance to attempt to copy your exploits but it makes interesting reading.

No worries!
Just thought that your plan was kinda similar to what I did in Hokkaido...