2023年11月尾, 日本北海道6天自由行, 主要旅程景點包括
– 富良野/富良野滑雪場
– 美瑛/四季之塔/白鬚瀑布/白金溫泉
– 旭川/旭山動物園
– 札幌/札幌電視塔/狸小路商店街
– 小樽/舊日本銀行/三角市場/小樽運河
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In late November 2023, a 6-day free and easy trip to Hokkaido, Japan, with the main itinerary including:
– Furano/Furano Ski Resort
– Biei/Four Seasons Tower/Shirahige Waterfall/Shirogane Onsen
– Asahikawa/Asahiyama Zoo
– Sapporo/Sapporo TV Tower/Tanukikoji Shopping Street
– Otaru/Old Hokkaido Bank/Sankaku Market/Otaru Canal
Reference:
白鬚瀑布
After leaving Furano, we headed to Biei Station. It takes about 42 minutes from Furano to Biei. Unknowingly, we arrived at the snowy Biei Station. Despite the heavy snow outside, JR arrived on time. Biei Station doesn’t have escalators. It was a bit inconvenient to carry our heavy luggage in the heavy snow.
The snowfall added a fresh feeling, and it felt great. When exiting, we showed our JR Pass to the staff instead of using the gate machine. Biei Station is similar to most JR stations and provides a lot of local travel information inside.
The ground was covered in snow, making it a bit difficult to drag our luggage to the hotel. After putting down our luggage, my son took us to have local curry for lunch. Although it took us a few blocks to get there, walking in the thick snow felt amazing.
The locals were also busy clearing the snow from the streets. Finally, we arrived at the famous lunch restaurant for tourists. You heard it right, they only serve lunch. They are only open for a few hours every day. We happened to arrive during lunchtime.
We missed the chance to visit the ski resort before, but now we had the opportunity to have curry rice. We waited outside in the heavy snow for a while before getting a table. We saw some Korean tourists at the neighboring table ordering fried chicken.
We also tried the curry-fried pork cutlet and fried chicken. After finishing our meal, it was time for a walk. Our next destination was the Four Seasons Tower. It stands out and is easy to spot. From the top of the Four Seasons Tower, you can see the panoramic view of Biei.
Going up the Biei Four Seasons Tower is free. The outside was covered in white snow. The view was even more beautiful. Pay attention to the opening time of the Four Seasons Tower. There’s an elevator to go up to the top floor. Once you go up, you’ll see a 360-degree panoramic view of Biei.
There were no tourists around, and the environment was peaceful. Before leaving, we couldn’t resist taking a couple more photos. Eating ice cream on the snowy ground is as refreshing as drinking hot tea in the summer! Let’s go back to the hotel and rest before going out for dinner.
By around 3:30 PM local time, it was already starting to get dark. My son originally planned to take us to a local French restaurant for dinner. Oh no! The lights are off! Where is everyone? We wonder if it was closed for the day or already closed in COVID?
Since that didn’t work out, we had to go to a nearby restaurant to have soba noodles as Plan B. After having soba noodles for dinner, we couldn’t find a taxi, so we had to walk back to the hotel. It seemed so close, but we walked for half an hour.
In such icy and snowy weather, we should have taken a car instead of walking. On the third day, we woke up early to prepare for today’s attractions. We went to see Shirahige Waterfall and soak in the hot springs. The journey took about half an hour. We had to eat before setting off.
The hotel this time offered a Japanese-style buffet breakfast. Since the bus schedule was sparse, make sure to check the bus timings carefully. The snow accumulation outside wasn’t too thick. We passed by Biei JR Station again. We had to find the bus stop on the second street in front of Biei Station.
Are the bus frequencies that low? There’s approximately one bus every three hours. You couldn’t use an IC card for this bus. There weren’t too many tourists in the outskirts. The outskirts were still covered in a vast expanse of white. The trees were covered in accumulated snow, it’s so beautiful!
We passed by Shirakaba Blue Pond Station on the way. Originally, we planned to visit there on the return trip in the evening. There will be illuminations at that time. We got off at Shirakaba Onsen Station. The bus stop for the return trip is just across the street.
Important reminder: Remember to check the return trip time carefully. Today’s itinerary starts with visiting Shirahige Waterfall. Afterward, we’ll go to the hot springs. At that time, it was snowing heavily, and there were only a few shops open across the street. To the two visitors ahead: Be careful not to slip!
I laughed at that moment. Am I being too bad? Although we were wearing snow boots, we still had to be careful walking on the snowy ground. It has to be even more careful when going up and down the stairs. There weren’t many tourists that day, so it wasn’t overcrowded.
I read online that the source of the Blue Pond is actually Shirahige Waterfall. Can you see the white beard? The view on the other side of the bridge was also nice. After seeing the waterfall, we also climbed the adjacent stairs. There’s actually a refuge shelter up there.
It takes a long staircase to get up there. There’s no loss if we don’t have time to go up, though. Children and elderly people should be even more cautious about their abilities. There’s a large open space outside. The venue on the opposite side was not opened to the public.
Two visitors there were trying their hand at shoveling snow. Appreciate the hard work of the “real workers”! We returned along the same route to soak in the hot springs. This hot spring has indoor pools, outdoor pools, and shower rooms. One single price of the hot spring allows you to enjoy it.
Like other hot spring places, photography is prohibited. The place for soaking in the hot springs is actually located near Shirahige Waterfall. At that time, there were no tourists soaking in the hot springs. It felt like we had the whole place to ourselves, we could soak anywhere we wanted.
The most unforgettable part was when we were soaking in the outdoor pool. Snowflakes were falling slowly from the sky above our heads. They landed on the edge of the pool, forming a thick layer of white snow. When the snow fell on our bodies, it immediately melted. It was truly worth it.
After soaking in the hot springs, we originally planned to have lunch at this restaurant. Little did we know, they had reserved the entire place. We wondered if there were other nearby options for food. Going back to the city area wasn’t immediately accessible.
It would take about half an hour to call a taxi or wait for a bus. After taking the return bus, we gave up on visiting the Shirakaba Blue Pond attraction due to time constraints. Looking at the time, it seemed like we could catch the next JR train to Asahikawa.
We decided to head back to the hotel to retrieve our luggage. We boarded the next JR train to Asahikawa.