branderson925

Hello,

Some of you may have seen my topics preparing for a 14 day trip to Japan (my partner and I'd first visit to this amazing country).

We are planning to land in Sapporo just before noon on Tuesday. We will likely be taking the Shinkansen from Hakodate to Tokyo around 10am on Friday, so not a ton of time.

We really want to get a meaningful hike in. We are quite outdoorsy people and want to take in some of the majesty of Hokkaido. We have been looking at Daisetsuzan as our first priority but it may call for more time than we have to give. We do not have plans for a rental car but I am not opposed. I'm from the US and only have driven on the right side of the road. I am an experienced driver and have rented to foreign countries that also drive on the right. I guess if assured it wasn't too troublesome to drive on Hokkaido as a first-timer and it would help see more of the island, I would be down.

Basically I'm curious what hiking suggestions could be given based on our time permitted. We also LOVE food especially seafood so want to see how much we can pack in in the leg of the trip. Other possible parts of the trip are seeing the flowers of Furano and the Yoichi distillery (not too far from Sapporo even by public transport).

Really hoping someone can help us make sense of how to plan this out. I know it is a really small amount of time to be in Hokkaido, so sorry I am giving you a really tough task. If there is easier to get to hiking that will still be rewarding we are down to make the most of our time. 3-4 hours of hiking somewhere truly beautiful could also work for us. Also staying at a ryokan with onsen one night could be cool as earlier in our trip we will be doing the same in Hakone.

Thanks so much Fodorites!

mrwunrfl

Found a list of Hokkaido hikes, link below, and notoced that two of them near the top of the list are around Noboribetsu Onsen. That is an onsen town between Sapporo and Hakotdate and there are a few ryokan hotels (like Daiichi Takimotokan) and you can probably find something smaller and traditional if you prefer.

10 Best trails and hikes in Hokkaido | AllTrails

You could also look around Date and the caldera lake there. Am not sure why you are going to Hakodate or riding the shinkansen south. There is a bus from Noboribetsu Onsen to Chitose airport and you can just fly down to Osaka which is where I thought you were heading next.

Maybe you know that there are several flight destinations in Hokkaido (from HND at least) that you can use, so it doesn't have to be to or from Sapporo. Otaru is somewhat famous for sushi. Great apples in Hokkaido.

branderson925

Hey thanks for your reply! So to clarify we would be going down to Hakodate at the end of our time in Hokkaido to take the Shinkansen to Tokyo where we will be flying home to NYC from.
Hakodate does sound worth visiting but it’s not required, just makes the most sense since a train from Sapporo to Tokyo is very long.
I guess we are trying to avoid a flight from Sapporo to Tokyo the morning of our big flight back to NYC since it is a flight with a layover already. Hope that clears things up.

To update, I am leaning towards renting a car from Sapporo airport area and using it for a at least a day to drive to Daisetsuzan arriving at 2:30. Perhaps we will hike until 7pm and stay somewhere close by like Asahiwaka and get back to Sapporo the next day after stopping at Furano.

mrwunrfl

>> trying to avoid a flight from Sapporo to Tokyo the morning of our big flight back to NYC

ok, the flight (like the shinkansen ride of almost 5 hours) doesn't have to be morning of departure. Really, you are going from Sapporo to Tokyo and that would be 8.5 hours and 30,000 JPY vs 2 hours and 15,000.

That would be a nice shinkansen ride, tho, through the tunnel. The Hyabusa is (I think) the fastest shinkansen in Japan and expect it to be all reserved seating.

branderson925

Well I think the big pull over taking the train vs flying back to Tokyo to head home would be the extra hours we could spend in Hokkaido, since it’s already little less than the amount of days we like.

mrwunrfl

>> big pull over taking the train vs flying

I don't get it. The big pull of flying vs train is that flying gives you more time in Hokkaido.

>> a train from Sapporo to Tokyo is very long
Which is why that route carries the most passengers in Japan and is one of the highest capacity domestic routes in the world.

branderson925

I think we are saying similar things but are confusing each other mrwunrfl. I'd like to fly over taking the train from Hokkaido back to Tokyo as it will be a shorter trip than the train allowing for more time on the island.
I do realize now, the flight is so short I do NOT mind flying back the morning of our return flight to NYC.

Here is a revised look at our schedule since I decided to rent a car! Yay, adventure!

Tues 8/20: Fly into Asahikawa from Osaka, land at 9:10am
Rent a car, drive to Daisetsukan (45 mins)
Stay overnight at a ryokan not far from the park

Weds 8/21: Drive to Furano drop car in Sapporo

Possible Yoichi Distillery tour

Dinner and stay in Sappro

Thurs 8/22: Early Train from Sapporo to Hakodate
Explore Hakodate

Friday 8/23: Fly to Tokyo, land at 10:40am, gives us time to stash our luggage go back to Tokyo for one last quic lunch before our 4:30pm flight to NYC. This isn't too unreasonable right? I know it's 55mins each way. Hmm maybe it is.

Anyone have general or specific recommendations now that I've got this all arranged. We are hoping for dinner at Sushisai Wakichi in Sapporo. We want to eat as much Hokkaido specific food as possible.

Thanks!

mrwunrfl

ok another option:
Thurs 8/22: Explore Sapporo. Fly to Tokyo that evening.

Reading54

Why no one is shouting out loud that it is risky to do that unless your two flights are in the same ticket?
What if there is a heavy fog in the morning and your flight from Hokkaido to Tokyo is delayed or canceled?

branderson925

Reading54

Besides that, your flight from Hokkaido likely land at Haneda airport.
Is your flight to NYC also depart from Haneda airport?

mrwunrfl

Oh, it is an Air Do/ANA flight from HKD and there is one later ANA flight that would get you there in time. Meanwhile there are a dozen flights just on those airlines departing from CTS that would work

It is typhoon season.

>> options for us to take a train
assuming the trains are not sold out, which could happen on that route