Otaru in a Day: Easy Walk from Cruise Ship to Canal – Japan Travel Vlog
welcome to Ataru one of the most underrated and beautiful cruise ports in Japan today I’ll take you along as we explore this beautiful town known for its historic canal unique shopping streets ski resorts and some seriously quirky attractions stay tuned to see what we got up to on our Trans-Pacific port stop in Ataru and some tips on how to make the best of your day or trip there whether you’re traveling around Japan or sailing in on a Carnival Princess or any Japan cruise this stop is definitely one to enjoy and I’ll show you why welcome to Travel with Xan please hit the subscribe button below it’s free for you but it means a lot to me i hope you enjoyed this video and let’s see what there is to see in Ataru so we arrived to just absolutely stunning scenery and the the ship docks straight right into the port so we were straight out and into the city center it was such a pretty little town and there was this really cute railway and cool statues around we really enjoyed exploring one thing to note is things don’t tend to open until like 9:30 or 10:00 so we docked quite early in the morning and we got straight off we wandered around but none of the shops are open or anything so I would actually recommend checking that out before you go and staying on the ship for a bit and then just leaving you know having breakfast on the ship and leaving at like maybe 9:00 so that you can just wander around have a look at the canal and stuff before the shops open one of the things we were wanting to do was go up one of the mountains like to go up to Mount Tangyama or even go over to Saporro to go to Mount Moa my daughter said that there is a camera on the top of Mount Moiwa and that you know it live streams and so she’d be able to see us so both of those were closed the day we were there so do check that out and don’t buy a bus ticket the Mount Tanguyama stop where you can take the cable car up the mountain without reading where it says on it that it’s closed yes I will admit that that’s something we did so yeah I really wanted to do that but we couldn’t do that that that day but that was fine we wandered around the shopping streets we checked out you know what was available in the shops i had a ham and egg sandwich for breakfast this was all just while we’re wandering around waiting for everything to open up so as I say I would actually recommend probably going a little bit later there is this famous cheesecake there the little cheesecake and we had some there that was absolutely beautiful highly recommend that and the canal is really just one of the top attractions you can get a boat on the canal i had wanted to do that i didn’t actually see where these were going from and decided not to do it in the end but that’s something to look out for i just really liked walking around here i just found that you know the buildings quite quaint and old uh there was you know interesting food giant crabs everywhere giant crabs in Japan and yeah it was just nice to walk around have a look in the shops glass is one of the things that they’re famous for here so there is lots of beautiful glass stuff and there is just some quirky things like there’s the Snoopy village that was kind of cool and they even had Snoopy ice cream in there one thing in Japan that they’re quite famous for is the fake food uh I know there’s a street in Tokyo where you can go and see where they they sell all these fake foods that they put in the windows of restaurants and stuff i don’t think you probably need to go to that street we’d seen so many by the time we got to Tokyo but yeah everyone’s got you know these fake food displays that was quite interesting and it was cold when we were in Ataro and there was still snow where they’d moved it to the sides banked up around the place i imagine the ski season was finished it wasn’t that cold but it there was still snow around so if you’ve not seen snow as a couple of the crew members hadn’t that was kind of cool for them one of the coolest things in Ataro is the steam clock so there’s only a few of these still operating in the world um we actually saw two on it on this trip which is quite funny so we saw the one here at Nataro and also one in Vancouver so that is one of the major tourist attractions and one of the other big things that it’s famous for is the music box museum as they call it there is a museum part of it it’s actually shop selling music boxes there’s a couple of these so one’s up near the gas clock and it’s still very interesting to go in and have a look at and if you want to buy a music box you can buy a music box there so it’s sort of something quite quirky and different so some of the old music boxes really were quite interesting so it is worth going upstairs in particular and having a look around up there at some of the old stuff as well so we just found a little restaurant in the Sun Mall for lunch i just had noodles and beef and we also had like a pork katsu dish so they were really nice and whilst it goes absolutely nowhere so the the train line to nowhere that I really enjoyed it as you see I’ve put it up a couple of times in the video it was just fun and quirky kept sort of stumbling across it and if you walk along the the train line to nowhere you can actually see you know some of where the locals live and the sort of untrodden non-ouristy parts of the town as you can see the ship docks literally right in the town and it really is just a beautiful port so recommend hanging out on deck and checking out the mountains so that’s where people go skiing i hope you enjoyed my video on Ataro and if you’re in that part of Japan it’s up the north then you might consider stopping by and having a look at it as well it really was a lovely little town so I hope you enjoyed the video please like and subscribe it really does help my channel grow uh it cost you nothing to hit the subscribe button but it means a lot to me so that would be great and until next time see you soon bye
Cruise Stop in Otaru, Japan | What to See, Eat & Do Near the Port 🇯🇵
Join me as I explore Otaru, a charming canal city just a short walk or train ride from the cruise port in Hokkaido, Japan. Whether you’re visiting on a cruise or planning a day trip from Sapporo, Otaru offers a blend of history, delicious local food, and easy sightseeing — all perfect for a short stop!
In this video, I share:
✅ How to get from the cruise terminal into town
✅ Must-see spots like the Otaru Canal and Sakaimachi Street
✅ Tips for cruise passengers: timing, access, and what to prioritise
Perfect for cruise travellers, over-50s adventurers, and anyone looking to make the most of their Otaru cruise stop or day trip from Sapporo.
#OtaruJapan #CruisePortGuide #JapanCruiseStop
AloJapan.com