Hokkaido Japan Winter Travel Guide & Itinerary: Sapporo, Otaru, Asahikawa

Hokkaido Japan Winter Travel Guide & Itinerary: Sapporo, Otaru, Asahikawa

I’m going to share a 4-day winter itinerary exploring Hokkaido Japan with the Jr sapuro Fano area pass this itinerary starts and ends at new chos airport it includes spending three nights in sapuro with a day trip to asahikawa and a day trip to otaru the Jr sapuro Fano area pass is offered by Jr Hokkaido it is valid for four consecutive days and allows for unlimited rides on the covered route conect conting new chos airport sapuro otaro asahikawa ba and Fano the Jr sapuro Fano area pass covers riding in ordinary reserved cars or non-reserved cars on limited Express trains it also covers riding rapid and local trains on the designated route the pass does not cover riding the Jr hokido bus nor the subway and street car in sapuro I recommend getting an IC card to pay for any local Transportation that’s not covered by the the past you can get a kitaka card in sapuro which you can later use in Tokyo or Kyoto I don’t recommend getting a Sapa card since that one only works within the sapo area alternatively if you arrive in Tokyo you can get a sua card and use it both in Tokyo and sapuro or if you have an iPhone just get a digital IC card through Apple wallet you can purchase the sapuro Fano area pass online either from the Jr East website or from cluke we appreciate the commissions we earn when you purchase through our clo affiliate link for online purchases the price is 10,000 Yen per adult and 5,000 yen per child ages 6 to 11 years old if you purchase the pass in Hokkaido it’s slightly more expensive at 11,000 Yen per adult you can either pick up your pass that you purchased online or purchase a pass at new chos airport Sappo station or asahikawa station please keep in mind that Jr Hokkaido offers a few different rail passes including the Hokkaido Rail Pass which covers all Jr Hokkaido train lines I will link to this pamphlet so you can choose the right pass for you fly into new chose Airport arriving in the morning once you’ve gathered your luggage visit the Jr information desk to pick up your train pass the sapuro Fano area pass is only available to foreign visitors who enter Japan as a temporary visitor be sure to have your passport ready for verification Please be aware that there can be a long line and wait time at the Jr office George waited in line for about an hour while the kids and I ate snacks and used the restroom if you have your itinerary written out you can reserve seats for limited Express trains at the same time as picking up your pass which is super convenient I will explain the other ways to make seat reservations at the end of this video from new chos airport station ride the rapid airport train Bound for otaru to sapo station this train ride takes about about 37 minutes and requires a seat reservation if you aren’t using the pass the train ride costs 1,990 Yen per adult when using the Jr sapo Fano area pass insert the train pass into the automatic ticket gate be sure to retrieve your pass at the other end of the gate lost or stolen passes cannot be replaced you do not need to insert your reserved seat ticket into the automatic ticket gate simply hold on to your reserve seat ticket to verify that you are in the correct train car and the correct seat number half day sightseeing in sapo if you haven’t had a chance to eat yet you can find a restaurant at one of the shopping malls connected to sapo station drop your luggage at your hotel unless of course you use luggage forwarding from the airport to ship it directly to your hotel for this itinerary we recommend booking a hotel near sapuro station or odori park when we visit sapo for longer trips we like to stay near Nakajima Park we’ve included our sapo hotel recommendation in our Expedia travel shop where we have collections of hotels for cities across Japan the first site to visit is odori Park which stretches east to west through the heart of sapuro it’s about a 15-minute walk from sapuro station if you visit during the annual sapo snow Festival odori Park will be filled with snow sculptures to admire the sapo snow Festival is scheduled for February 4th through 11th 2025 if you visit instead during December you can catch the Sao white illumination and German Christmas Market the Sappo TV tower is a landmark in odori park with its digital clock for a fee of 1,000 yen per adult you can ride the elevator up to the TV towers observation deck there you can get a 360° view of sapuro it’s especially beautiful once it gets dark we went up the tower around 5:30 p.m. after capturing the view of odori Park head towards the susukino area you can either ride the namoko subway line to susukino station or just walk if you opt to walk you might want to stop off at meadon kote along the way especially if you’re in need of handw Waring heat packs or ice spikes for your shoes during the Sappo snow Festival susukino is filled with intricate ice sculptures you can drop into cocono susukino shopping mall for a drink or dessert there’s even a branch of ring ring which is our favorite gluten-free bakery you’ll find lots of other sweets in the basement as well for those who want to stay out late susukino is The Nightlife area with plenty of bars and restaurants I will link to a website where you can find foreign tourist friendly restaurants in sapo when you’re ready to return to your hotel you can avoid the cold by Going Underground into the pole toown shopping mall and walk from susukino back to odori from odori you can either continue straight through the echam Dory underground walkway to Sappo station or you can turn right into the Aurora Town underground shopping mall and continue to the sapro TV tower anytime you’re freezing above ground you can duck into a subway station or underground mall to warm up day two sapo today is a full day in sapo start the morning with some outdoor time in the snow choose to visit either Nakajima park or maruyama Park Nakajima Park is more conveniently located near downtown there’s even free CrossCountry ski rentals visit the rental office in the car park of Nakajima athletic center rentals are available from early January to early March depending upon the snow lessons are not included with the free rentals but there is a beautiful 600 me long beginner friendly Trail Nakajima Park is quite large you can take a pleasant stroll through the park and visit hoyon in the northwest corner which is a historic 19th Century Hotel h building admission is 300 Yen if you’d like to wander through the restored rooms inside our family likes to stay in sapo for a couple weeks in the winter and we choose a hotel near Nakajima Park so we can easily walk there on multiple days we purchase a snow tube or sled at donot and find a hill in the park to play on alternatively you can spend the morning at maruyama Park it takes about 15 minutes to reach maruyama Cohen station on the toai line from from odori station start by visiting the Hokkaido Shrine then play in the snow at the Snow Mountain play area there are snow tubes provided to use free of charge we brought our own snow tube along with us since it’s faster we had so much fun the day we played at maruyama Park there were huge snowflakes falling from the sky and they covered the snow tubes so quickly it was like donuts getting sprinkled with powdered sugar the sapro city maruyo is also located in the park when once you’ve worked up an appetite head to the sapuro Beer Museum and beer garden start with a self-guided tour of the beer Museum then enjoy lunch at the sapo Beer Garden restaurant get your fill of jenes con which is a Hokkaido specialty usually made with lamb and mutton that you grill on a dome-shaped metal Skillet please call ahead to make restaurant reservations you can get to the sapro Beer Garden by too subway line bus or taxi for the evening portion of your sapo experience choose between Mount MOA ropeway or chiroy Coro Park Chocolate Factory for Mount MOA ropeway from Central sapuro you can ride the sapo street car to ropeway iriguchi station the street car accepts payment by IC card from rway Uchi station a free shuttle bus runs every 15 minutes to mount mua rway soku station if you don’t want to wait for the shuttle bus you can walk we paid $2,000 00 Yen per adult for a round trip on the mount Moira ropeway plus mini cable car it’s cold in the winter so come prepared with warm layers you can see the sparkling ski runs and city of sapuro below it’s a beautiful site to see then ring the bell of Happiness on the observation deck around 5:30 p.m. is a good time to reach the top during the winter please check the seasonal schedule for hours of operation instead you could visit chiroy corito Park and Chocolate Factory the famous site Shir Roy kobito is manufactured here i’ describe it as a cookie sandwich with chocolate filling it’s free to walk around the park and enjoy the atmosphere and entertainment the outdoor area is open until 6 p.m. if you’d like to tour the indoor Chocolate Factory there is an admission fee for that and the last admission is at 4:30 p.m. if you’d like to take advantage of the workshops Cafe and shops also be mindful of the closing times we did the tour on our first visit and I think it’s worth doing at least once it’s really hard for me to narrow down what to do in Sao for just a day and a half if you have more time to spend in Sappo you could add in a day ski please also watch our separate video on fun winter things to do in sapro including visiting takino snow world at suzon Cohen and mor Numa Park those were both a blast day three Asahi Kawa today we will take a day trip from sapuro to Asahi Kawa to visit asahiyama zoo and if you’re visiting at the right time of year the asahikawa winter festival from sapuro station take the Lilac kamui limited Express train to asahikawa station which takes approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes please reserve seats for this train using your sapo Fano area pass if you don’t have the pass a roundtrip ticket on this train costs 10,4 40 Yen per adult which is more than the cost of the pass transportation from Asahi Kawa station to Asahi yam zoo is not covered by the sapo Fano area pass you can pay separately for a local bus that takes about 40 minutes and costs 500 yen per adult or you can take a taxi which is a few minutes faster and costs around 4,500 Yen per direction we opted for the taxi because I was determined to make it to the zoo in time for the scheduled penguin walk which happens when it’s snowy enough for them to walk along the snow path our whole family enjoyed the zoo the Wolves were George’s favorite the sahama zoo is scheduled to open for winter on November 11th please check the website for the current schedule and hours from the zoo either return to asahikawa station or if you will attend the asahikawa winter festival ask your taxi driver to take you to the Asahi Bashi Riverside venue the Asahi Kawa winter festival is scheduled for February 6th through 11th 2025 we visited the 2024 festival and were’re quite impressed there was a super long ice slide as well as live entertainment on the snow stage which is backed by an enormous snow sculpture there are also some food vending stands if you stay later into the evening the entertainment picks up on the main stage from the sahib Bashi Riverside venue you can walk along the Hiwa Street shopping Park venue which is lined with ice sculptures and leads back to the Jr asahikawa station the last lilac kamui limited Express train back to sapo currently departs around 1: p.m. but always check the schedule to be sure return to sapo and get a good night’s sleep today we’ll take a day trip to otaru followed by returning to new chose airport before heading out to explore otu consider what you will do with your luggage you may want to use Yamato Transport l forwarding to ship your luggage to the next part of Japan that you’ll explore after Hokkaido that way once you’re done in otaru you can take the train straight to newos airport keep in mind that your luggage won’t arrive until the next day at the soonest so you want to keep some overnight items with you another option is to leave your bags in luggage lockers at sapuro train station this will require stopping at saparo station on your way to new chos airport in the morning take the rapid airport train from sapo station to Minami otato station which takes about 37 minutes please reserve your seat in advance using the sapro Fano area pass if you don’t have the pass and are paying separately the train costs 1,590 Yen per adult arrive at Minami otato station which is a small station walk about 15 minutes to Tanaka sake Brewery kikura which typically opens around 9:00 a.m. you can head upstairs for a free self-guided tour I couldn’t get the tour app to work on my phone but I still enjoyed walking around back downstairs is the gift shop and you can taste some sake as well I bought a bottle for us to enjoy at a realon in NCO keep in mind liquids restrictions if you’ll be getting on an airplane that day after the brewery we’ll walk through otat and then cut across to otat station walk about 15 minutes to the otaru music box Museum you’ll approach it from behind but it’s worth walking around to the front of the building so that you can also get a view of the OT steam clock enjoy browsing through the many music boxes some of which are made in Japan we always like to go up to the top floor for the selection of mchi chi dolls who else had mchi Chi as a kid right next door to the music box museum is OT Cafe Hello Kitty reservations for the cafe can be made downstairs in the shop I only recommend eating eting here if the timing works out just right and there isn’t a long wait the food is more cute than it is tasty plus otu has a lot more to offer cross the street and begin walking along Saka Machi DOI shopping street I highly recommend wearing ice spikes on your shoes as the sidewalks can be icy and slippery it’s quite common to see people slip and fall down along the way there are many branches of leau each focusing on a specific type of chocolate or past you can buy some gifts to take back home with you or enjoy a sweet treat for yourself otat is famous for glass production so there are many shops offering beautiful glass pieces you can stop off for eight layer ice cream The Landmark to look for is the crab restaurant across the street turn right and enter into this Brick Warehouse walk all the way to the back of the building passing the restaurants and shops order the counter and if you’re lucky find a table to sit at otat isn’t just about sweets please be sure to enjoy kaedon which is a rice bowl topped with fresh Sashimi there are many restaurants to choose from along the way some of them don’t allow young kids our kids love to eat eadon which is a rice bowl toed with salmon row if you skipped the ice cream earlier it’s not too late a trip to otat would not be complete without eating soft cream even if it’s snowing now it’s time to head toward the ocean and walk along otato canal if you happen to visit during the OT snow light path Festival it will be adorned with snow lanterns the festival is scheduled for February 8th through 15th 2025 the canal is beautiful any time of year you could even take a boat ride after walking along the canal it’s time to turn left onto chodor Street and walk to Jr otaro station this is a bigger station with more food options inside ride the rapid airport train from otu station either stop at sapo station to retrieve your luggage or ride directly from otaru station to new toose airport if you’ve already forwarded your luggage this train ride is covered by the pass if paying separately the rapid airport train from otaru to new chosa airport cost 2750 Yen per adult and it takes about 1 hour and 13 minutes not everyone will leave Hokkaido by airplane if you will instead take trains South to to Tokyo you can return to sapro station and catch the hokou limited Express train to Shin hakodate hoto station this train is not covered by the sapo Fano area pass it costs 9,440 Yen and takes 3 hours and 43 minutes from Shin hakodate hoto station you can board a shinkansen bullet train headed south if you’re interested in this option Please Subscribe and watch our upcoming video about our adventure traveling from from Sappo to Tokyo with the Jr East South Hokkaido Rail Pass and stopping off at Hidden gyms along the way winter versus Summer in Hokkaido for this winter itinerary I left out visiting ba and fono if you visit Hokkaido in the summer I highly recommend visiting Fano to see the gorgeous flower Fields the Lavender Fields reach Peak Bloom around mid July in the summer you can reach Fano from sapuro without transfers via the Fano lavender Express train which takes approximately 2 hours this train does not run in the winter to reach Fano in the winter you would need to travel the other route going through asahikawa cost comparison with or without the pass I mentioned earlier that the Jr sapo Fano area pass costs 10,000 or 11,000 Yen per adult the total cost without the pass would be 16,777,216 6,000 Yen per adult or us40 you could see even more savings if you added in a day trip to Fano now for some more details on how to reserve seats with the sapo Fano area pass most of the trains I recommend taking in this itinerary are limited Express trains which are best enjoyed with a seat reservation to guarantee that you have a seat to sit in when you pick up your pass at the Jr information desk at new chos airport it’s a perfect opport opportunity to also make seat reservations for any limited Express trains have your itinerary written out to show the attendant remember that any local Transportation within Sappo you can pay for separately using an IC card you can also make seat reservations for limited Express trains online through the Jr East EET website customers using a pass seat reservation pass purchased elsewhere sapo Fano area pass search by station departing station arrival station even if you reserve seats online you will still need to pick up your tickets from a ticketing machine select ticket pickup then Jr East train reservation you can either scan the QR code or if that doesn’t work enter the pickup code issue tickets for this reservation then the machine will ask you to insert your train passes finally it will print your seat reservations and return your passes please allow some time for this process you could skip making reservations online and make reservations directly at the ticketing machine select Reserve seat with discounted ticket and insert your rail pass I will link to the full instructions below if you appreciate the format of this video you can also watch my 3-day itinerary using the Fuji hakone pass next up we’ll be sharing a video with more details of the winter festivals in Hokkaido Japan we’ll also share our adventure traveling south from Hokkaido to Tokyo Please Subscribe 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With this 4-day winter itinerary, you can explore Hokkaido Japan by train using the JR Sapporo-Furano Area Pass. Fly into New Chitose Airport, spend 3 nights in Sapporo, and take day trips to Asahikawa and Otaru. You can even see a penguin parade! Sapporo is one of my favorite cities in Japan, and I’m happy to share it with you! We appreciate the commissions we earn when you buy a pass through our Klook affiliate link: https://geni.us/sapporofuranopass or book hotels through our Expedia Travel Shop: https://expedia.com/shop/kenshoquest/share

Clarification: For seat reservations made online through https://www.eki-net.com/en/jreast-train-reservation/Top/Index you can pick up your tickets at a JR Office if you bought your pass through an agent such as Klook. You can print your tickets from a ticket machine only if you bought your pass directly through eki-net.

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DATES

Sapporo Snow Festival Feb 4-11, 2025
Asahikawa Winter Festival Feb 6-11, 2025
Otaru Snow Light Path Feb 8-15, 2025

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Purchase JR Sapporo-Furano Area Pass on Klook (affiliate link): https://geni.us/sapporofuranopass

Purchase pass and reserve seats on JR East: https://www.eki-net.com/en/jreast-train-reservation/Top/Index

Details about JR Sapporo-Furano Area Pass: https://www.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/english/ticket/railpass/index.html

Rail passes offered by JR Hokkaido: https://www.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/pdf/2403e-railpass_pamphlet.pdf

Luggage forwarding from airport: https://www.hokkaido-airports.com/en/new-chitose/service/baggage/baggage-checkroom/

Sapporo hotels in our Expedia Travel Shop: https://expedia.com/shop/kenshoquest/share

Sapporo tourist map: https://www.sapporo.travel/en/info/about/map/

Tourist friendly restaurants in Sapporo: https://www.sapporo.travel/en/atws-restaurant/

Hoheikan Building Nakajima Park: https://www.sapporostation.com/hoheikan-historic-wooden-building-nakajima-park/

Sapporo Beer Garden Restaurant: https://www.sapporo-bier-garten.jp/global/english.html

Mt. Moiwa Ropeway: https://mt-moiwa.jp/en/access/shuttlebus-tram/

Shiroi Koibito Park Chocolate Factory: https://www.shiroikoibitopark.jp/en/

Asahiyama Zoo: https://www.city.asahikawa.hokkaido.jp/asahiyamazoo/

Furano Lavender Express train (summer): https://www.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/english/travel/furanobiei/train/index.html

Reserve seats at ticket machine: https://www.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/pdf/e-railpass-machine.pdf

TIME STAMPS

00:00 Winter Itinerary Hokkaido Japan
00:19 JR Sapporo Furano Area Pass
02:08 Day 1 New Chitose Airport
03:31 Half day in Sapporo
06:13 Day 2 Sapporo
10:27 Day 3 Asahikawa
12:47 Day 4 Otaru
18:07 Winter vs Summer Itinerary
18:42 Cost comparison with pass
19:07 How to reserve seats with pass
20:43 Subscribe for more Japan travel tips!

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🎞 WATCH NEXT

Best Winter Festivals in Hokkaido Japan: https://youtu.be/BYxfQ_CfHMQ

Fun Winter Things to Do in Sapporo: https://youtu.be/qwpOI9alcJc

Japan Winter Packing List: https://youtu.be/OyjcojRdgJo

Plan Your Visit to Sapporo Snow Festival: https://youtu.be/FX5FtwClzyg

Sapporo Chocolate Factory: https://youtu.be/TCZAQKVwaT4

Traveling to Japan’s Snowiest City! Hokkaido to Tokyo by Bullet Train: https://youtu.be/5WX1vuJK0bA

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