taipeipeter

Will be going up for 4 nights for the Snow Festival. Cannot find a lot of recent solid information--any tips welcome, especially re.:

1. Hotel, 4 Feb-8 Feb. Hopefully near RR station and Odori Park. The JR Tower Hotel Nikko seems full up. Definitely want decent-sized rooms and gym; nice would be pool and public bath/onsen.

2. Day trips. Day trips in general and especially for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing (we don't do downhill).

3. Sapporo sights: (we've never been). Of course, we've noted the major museums and temples, fish market. And the botanical garden hothouse sounds worth a visit for horticulturalists. Anything else?

Nivek

Hi there!

I was in Japan last year, but it was in November. I'm guessing that the major attractions would be open all year round?
So sorry to hear that JR Tower is full, we had a great stay when we stayed there.

Are you interested in trips out of Sapporo? I had a day trip in Sapporo, and another in Otaru (a train ride away, it was pretty accessible). For Sapporo, how about Okurayama Ski Jump Hill and Shiroi Koibito Park? Personally, Shiroi Koibito Park is a must-see!

Don't wanna flood your thread here, check out my experience for Sapporo and Otaru. Hope it helps

I like to check out what tours are being offered and then "steal" their itinerary for our own use, so that's one more resource there for you.

Enjoy your Japan trip! ^

mayerstrat

Otaru is definitely a must visit, especially in winter.

The view from Okurayama is good, but I actually recommend the ropeway to the top of Mount Moiwa. For that matter, the view from Tenguyama in Otaru is actually really good too.

In terms of day trips, if you're a fan of onsen some of the most famous ones in Japan are located a two hour train ride south in Noboribetsu.

Food: if you're going to do sushi then you'll want to eat in Otaru, it's cheaper, larger and fresher. Most kaiten sushi restaurants are really good quality and fairly inexpensive (starting at a little over 100 yen for two pieces). Ramen is also really famous in Sapporo. Depending on where you go either shio or miso will be the speciality. Finally, my personal favorite is Genghis Khan (ジンギスカン）essentially grilled mutton with vegetables served over or with rice.

mosburger

I'd also pay Hakodate a visit, not only because of the awesome fish and seafood dishes to be had at the local fishermen's co-operative market. Hokkaido is among my favourite, if not the favourite place to visit on this beautiful planet.

jerry a. laska

Here are a couple of threads with some info you could review:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...+snow+festival
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...cts-ideas.html

CanucksHKG

If one were to drive to Otaru for a day/half day trip....what's the parking situation in that area like? Would it be fairly inexpensive in this area?

From Sapporo to Furano, would you guys recommend going up north and take the Hokkaido Expressway? or going south and take the Doto Expressway? Google Map's time difference is almost the same.

AlwaysAisle

If you are planning a day trip to Otaru from Sapporo then I recommend taking train. Rapid train runs between Otaru and Sapporo every 30 minutes, train takes about 40-45 from Sapporo to Otaru, and fare is JYE 620 one way. Pretty much all tourist sites are walking distance from Otaru station, I done that.

What I liked about taking train to Otaru is a train runs right by the ocean with a nice view and do not have to worry about having beer and sake while touring Otaru.

CanucksHKG

Thanks. But we would already have a car rented (for visiting other parts of Sapporo) so it's probably a better idea to put it to use. JPY 620 X 2 trips X 4 people....plus the 100yen local train fare....it does add up

AlwaysAisle

I am assuming from your handle that you are located at Hong Kong. I am based at the U.S. and comparing from the U.S. that driving in Japan can be expensive due to price of gasoline, parking, and extensive toll roads.

If you are making half day or a day trip by car from Sapporo to Otaru you want to use toll road highway rather than surface road. Surface road will make driving time a lot longer and will cut into time you can spend at Otaru.

City parking lot at Otaru is JPY 300/20 min. Let’s say you are planning a day trip and ended up parking a car for total of 6 hours at various locations in Otaru, then that will be JPY 1800 total parking.

The highway connecting Sapporo and Otaru has a toll of JPY 1200 one way, which is JPY 2400 round trip. Again, taking a surface road will add driving time and provide less time at Otaru.

Currently, gasoline price in Sapporo is around JPY 155/liter (for those of us at the U.S. it turns out be $5.94/gal.). Round trip from Sapporo and Otaru is 76 km which ends up being JPY 589 for gasoline.

The total will be JPY 4789 for driving to Otaru, where four people round trip on train is JPY4960.

I have drove in Japan and driving in places like Tokyo, especially small narrow roads of suburb residential area is not comforting. Because of gasoline, parking, and toll roads, I never found driving a car by myself in Japan to be economical. As I showed above, if you have a group of four then finally able to bring up to breakeven point.

As for driving to Furano, it is faster to take northern route from Sapporo rather than take southern route. Toll on the expressway to Furano will be JYP 1250 one way, JYP 2500 round trip.

CanucksHKG

Thanks for the detailed info AlwaysAisle, very helpful indeed.

Unless we walk, it would be another 200Y /per person / per trip from our hotel station's closest subway to Sapporo station. That's another 1600 Y. But of course, renting a car is never economical. It's all about the freedom and flexibility. Been to Japan quite a few times...but this will be our first time in Sapporo, away from the urban cities like Tokyo, etc....so we thought we might consider driving around this time around.

1) Beside the cost of parking in Otaru, is parking something that's easily accessible / find? Or is limited / far away from attractions? Spent some time just browsing around on Google Map Street View....couldn't find that many official parking lots...but in fact, a lot of places have (free?) parking infront of the buildings.

- Base on my brief research...some of the attractions within Sapporo itself (ie. Shiroi Koibito Park, Historical Village, etc will all offer free parking)

2) Thanks again for the very helpful info on the ETC toll fees. I was actually looking around for that...but couldn't really find a decent English website with relevant info. I know there are X days unlimited passes....but where could I find how much each route / segment would cost, like the ones you listed out?

3) I assume you can pull up to most of the lavender farms in Furano, and they would all offer free parking right? Appx. how many of these 'farms' would you recommend one visit? Is there anyone of them that's particular famous / 'main attraction'?

Thanks again for all your help.