evergrn

Wow that's really roughing it!

How are you getting around Hokkaido this time? Rent-a-car or bus/train?

If you're going with kids, are you hitting Asahikawa Zoo?

jpatokal

Hokkaido's actually a great place to hitchhike, wide open roads and lots of roadtrippers. But this time we're renting a car after the initial few days in Sapporo. Asahikawa is not on the agenda this time.

canabiz

evergrn Have you booked accommodation for Asahikawa? We will stay in this area for 3 nights in August.

There are not too many AirBnB listings for Asahikawa. I have checked out a number of hotels that are within our budget (less than $90/night) and the reviews are not the greatest. I know we get what we pay for but we will be out and about most of the day anyway so I may just suck it up and go with a hotel or ryokan in the area.

abmj-jr

I found the Hotel Route Inn Asahikawa Ekimae to be a step up over the usual business hotel. Quite a nice lobby and helpful staff, less than a block from the main station and closer than that to a main bus stop if that is of interest. Since I used the bus to go up to Asahi-dake, it was good for me. The rooms are quite small but that is typical for business hotels.

canabiz

Thanks for the tip. I found something on AirBnB and ended up booking it for $260 (Canadian) for 3 nights. Private apartment in Asahikawa. We will rent a car so it's all good.

Happy travels, folks.

evergrn

As of now, we're booked at JR Inn. No idea if it's good or not and it seems more like a high-end business hotel, but it' one of few hotels in Asahikawa with good reviews/ratings and it's adjoined to the Aeon mall. 80,000 yen for 3 nights. There is serious price gouging in Sapporo and Asahikawa. Anyways I'm glad you found an affordable place.

jamescho

It's a nice hotel. New and convenient. There's plenty to eat at Aeon mall, but options are not great for the most part. Gokoku (五穀) on the 4/F is probably one of the best options, and is always busy. Better options can be found around the main shopping street (Heiwa-dori). There's also a nice small park right outside the train station, along the river.

evergrn

@jamescho
Thanks a lot for the info. Glad to hear it's a nice hotel!

evergrn

Haven't done any further planning whatsoever for Asahikawa for the past month, and we're leaving in a couple days. I've never been to Asahikawa, and it's been such a long time since the last time I went some place for vacation where I've never been before. For the last 10 years, we've been vacationing in the same places over and over and I've found out I no longer have the energy or the brain power to plan new trips.

Anyways, the plan is:
1). couple days in Niseko, just chilling out and letting kids play.
2). drive from Niseko to Noboribetsu Onsen, check in to the hotel as early as possible and just chill out. Is there anything worthwhile at Toya-ko (Lake Toya) en route, or just drive straight to Noboribetsu?
3). drive from Noboribetsu to Asahikawa. Hoping to cover the whole Furano-Biei corridor in a few hours driving through on our way up to Asahikawa. On the way, we'll stop at Farm Tomita and Shikisai-no-Oka. Any other sights worth stopping by? Is the town of Furano worth a look, or just drive past it? Personally I have no interest in flowers, but my wife will probably like the flower fields... I would think that Farm Tomita and Shikisai-no-Oka will suffice. Shikisai-no-Oka has an alpaca petting zoo... any other petting zoo in that area? I'm more interested in cafes with local farm food, but I've got this magazine with zillions of listings of such places that look all the same in that area, that all it does is give me headache looking at it. If anyone has rec for a very good cafe/restaurant (we want cheap and good), then do share pls!
4). We're staying 3 nights in Asahikawa, so will have 2 full days there (not counting aforementioned Furano-Biei portion). As discussed upthread, I was thinking Asahikawa Zoo one day, Asahidake another day. The Asahidake thing or basically any type of hiking was shot down by the family... we'll see. Trying to figure out how to spend the second day in Asahikawa if we're not going to Asahidake. My family could easily spend an entire day at the Aeon Mall... they'd prefer that to just about anything else. But asides from that, would it be worth considering a long day trip to Tomamu (~2hr away) or Obihiro/Tokachi area (~3hr away)?

I'd appreciate any last-minute feedback/recs. Note that we have no interest in museums.

abmj-jr

It would be a long driving day but the old, historic prison at Abashiri was one of my favorite sites in eastern Hokkaido. The drive would be on the also historic northern highway (built by forced prison labor with some loss of life.)

While in Abashiri, you could also drop in at the Drift Ice Research Museum (I know, no museums, but it is pretty cool and has a Disney-style video presentation) or Koshimizu Wildflower Park. The biggest downer would be that at the end of your visit to Abashiri you would still have over 3 hours driving BACK to Asahikawa.

From Asahikawa, you can easily reach Sounkyo or any of the central region national parks. Also, even if there will be no hiking, the drive and ropeway up to the top at Asahidake are worth the trip for the views and gift shop.

I know nothing about shopping malls and such, avoiding them like the plague.

evergrn

@abmj: Thanks for the suggestion. I had a look at Abashiri prison and the ice museum. Sorry, but I can't imagine that any of us would be interested in the prison museum... it's not you, it's us... we're a quirky family. Our kids might like the ice museum, but I just think Abashiri is too far away. It's 20min further from Asahikawa than even Obihiro. If you think Asahidake is worth going even if kids don't want to hike, then I might still do that.

I screwed up the trip planning. Main reason we did 3 nights in Asahikawa were 1).kids wanted to do Asahikawa Zoo; 2).wife wanted to go somewhere new. I wish we'd done 3 nights in Sapporo instead, since there's just so much more in Sapporo.

abmj-jr

Well, even if nobody wants to do any "hiking," there are some very short boardwalk-type paths just outside the top ropeway station that loop out around a few of the scenic ponds and viewpoints where there are benches. I'm talking a couple hundred yards tops. Little old ladies were doing it, for crying out loud.

Of course, I was there in fall and the fall color was stunning but the high-mountain scenery should be nice any time of year. The little ticket-machine service snack shop in the top station served up a pretty mean plate of curry rice and had an extensive menu of other diner-type foods and a glass-walled dining area with nice views to go with the meal.

evergrn

On top of everything else, someone said Sapporo's Maruyama zoo is better than Asahikawa zoo. Just spent the last hour trying to overhaul the trip, changing plans from Asahikawa to Sapporo. But can't quite pull the trigger and it's time to sleep. Leaving in a day for crying out loud. All I can say is, don't be like me, kids!

That all sounds good. I think Asahidake is what we shall do after all, if we end up doing Asahikawa.

freecia

I don't have a rec for Furano cheap and good farm to table cuisine but wanted to point out the LeTao cafe near Chitose if you need a spot to stretch your legs
https://www.letao.jp/global/en/shop/doremo.php
They had a meal add on for a variety of breads, similar to Brazilian bbq/dim sum style. This might interest your family if someone is the type to head for the carbs first at a buffet. Makes for a departure from a desserts buffet, anyhow.

armagebedar

FYI, I drove from Sapporo to Asahikawa, then down through Furano and then on to Chitose this weekend. Taking into account stops for lunch and to see Farm Tomita, the blue lake, etc., it took from 9 AM to 6 PM and we felt rushed; I was also driving for about 4 hours in total, sometimes in the rain, which was tiring. Asahikawa to Noboribetsu will likely take about the same amount of time, so I would keep that in mind when planning your trip.