evergrn

We're spending a week in Hokkaido in mid-July. We'll have a car. We're spending the first few nights in Sapporo, Niseko, Noboribetsu, etc. The last three days, we're driving from Noboribetsu to Asahikawa (call that day1) and then spending 3 nights in Asahikawa, flying out from CTS in early pm on our last day (call that day4).

day1: stop by Furano (ex: Furano Marche), Farm Tomita, Shikisai no Oka in Biei.
day2: Asahikawa Zoo
day3: either Souunkyo & Kurodake Ropeway -or- Asahidake Ropeway.
day4: drive straight to CTS (no time to stop anywhere even if we left before 9am).

If it's raining on day1, then we'll drive straight to the hotel in Asahikawa and then put off those activities until day3 (and scrap our plans for Souunkyo/Daisetsuzan). If it rains two days out of days1~3, then we'll only be able to do the zoo. We have two little girls, so our trip is catered to that. We like eating, gift shops and food stores, hiking (short, easy ones due to kids) and any other outdoor activities that kids can do, and just hanging out. We're not into museums and things of that nature.

Questions:
-- Which is better on day3? Souunkyo/Kurodake or Asahidake? The former is a longer drive and Internet research tells me that the latter may be better in terms of views from the ropeway and the hike once you get up to the top. However, the former has nice-looking waterfalls. We want to do a couple hours of easy hike, hopefully a real scenic one.
-- What could one do in that area on a rainy day? We could easily spend hours at Aeon Mall in Asahikawa. But if there's anything else, I'd like to hear.
-- Asahikawa Zoo will be a major highlight, so I'm thinking a whole day there but maybe that's too much. While our kids are really into petting zoos and shows, they'd be bored by exhibits. For instance, they'd spend more time at Inokashira Zoo than Ueno Zoo. Does Asahikawa Zoo have a lot of petting/feeding areas and shows? We might also be going to North Safari Sapporo earlier in the trip btw.
-- I hear some people say they were put off by the amount of crowd at places like Farm Tomita and other area attractions. We'll there on a weekday just before Jpn schools break for recess. However, I'm sure there'll be tons of foreign visitors since it's lavender season... the price and scarcity of hotel rooms for our time frame is unbelievable! If the crowd is going to be crazy, do you think we should give this whole region a miss?

Thanks a lot!

abmj-jr

Two comments,

Assuming you have not been there before, I think you are missing a bet not including a day or two in Hakodate. That was a highlight of my last trip to Hokkaido. The Museum of Northern Peoples was definitely worth the visit and the waterfront morning market, near the station, was great. Crab and roe bowl for breakfast was a real treat. The western historical district was different from anywhere else in Japan with the possible exception of Nagasaki.

Of the Asahikawa area locations you mentioned, I have only been to Asahidake. I liked it very much. The ropeway takes you up to tree line and above. There are no waterfalls close to the top station but the trails are nice and can be tailored to the length of hike you want. There are some nice ponds in the area. I was there in fall and the fall color was very nice and the temps at the top were quite nippy. In July it won't be so colorful and the temperatures will likely be cool but not cold. The ropeway itself gives nice views out over the area.

evergrn

We actually did Hakodate last year and it's a bit too far out of the way too, so I think we'll give it a miss this time. Yes the morning market was nice, as was the city view from the top of the mountain.

Thanks for the feedback on Asahidake. Between Kurodake and Asahidake, I think I am leaning towards Asahidake.

shuigao

I will differ with abmj-jr and say that I had no interest in porotokotan (the ainu museum), and wouldn't recommend going out of your way for it particularly if you don't understand Japanese -- because the explanations of the performances, etc are in Japanese only.

When you're in Noboribetsu, do check out the Bear Park. Think your kids should thoroughly enjoy feeding the bears. Pricey, though.




I have a video too but can't access it from office, so ... check out my itinerary on blog if you're interested.

For Sounkyou -- the waterfalls aren't anything fancy. If niagara falls was a 9/10, the two falls combined would be like 2/10 (at best). So if your accommodation is (i assume) already planned/fixed in Asahikawa then it makes sense to just go to the closer ropeway. FWIW, my pics from Kurodake. (I didn't do much hiking cos the mountain was already snowing when I went).




Asahiyama Zoo -- I do recall there was a small petting zoo area with rabbits, chickens, guinea pigs etc but by and large the majority of the area is a fenced off, view-from-afar zoo. Polar bear exhibit was quite nice. It's also relatively small and you should be done in half a day.

evergrn

Thanks, shuigao. I like your blog a lot. Looks like you went to a lot of the places that we're planning to visit this summer. How's the drive from Asahikawa to Souunkyo? Is the drive itself scenic and worth it, or not really?

If we're doing Asahidake and the zoo is worth only a half-day, then I wonder if we should try to squeeze Asahidake and the zoo into one day. If we leave Asahikawa at 7.30a and spend 2.5hrs at Asahidake, we should get to the zoo ~4.5hr before closing. Doing this would allow us to shift one day from Asahikawa to either Sapporo or Niseko (we loved both of those places last year but didn't have enough time).

Did you spend any time at all in either the town of Furano? I wonder if we should set aside any time to check out the town.

Not sure we have enough time for the bear park at Noboribetsu. I like bear parks (although many Westerners seem to object to the concept), but there're bear parks in other parts of Jpn, and we've been to others before.

shuigao

evergrn it was a boring drive. Other than the autumn colours (which you won't have cos you're going in July), I don't recall anything particularly scenic along the way.

I only spent like 2 in Furano. One short stop at the mini ski slope to check out the flowers (https://goo.gl/maps/TpiZUDTW9no), then tomita melon house (ate few slices of melons and some melonpan) then farm tomita (selfies with flowers, lavender, etc), and then headed off to blue pond / biei.

Blue pond was a bit of a let down for me (when I went the color was like a dark algae green rather than the milky light blue in the photos), but Biei was gorgeous.

abmj-jr

I actually found the bus up to Asahidake to be more enjoyable than driving would have been as I could enjoy the scenery better. Also, the rather small parking area at the bottom ropeway station looked like it might fill up rather quickly during the high season. FYI, there is a decent place to grab a warm meal at the top and a couple of snack bar-type places at the bottom.

evergrn

Thanks for the photos, guys. Okay, we will plan on Asahidake instead of Souunkyo.

Didn't think about the parking lot situation at Asahidake Ropeway. I did some google search, and apparently you could still park along the road further away from the ropeway station. Guess that's what we'll do if the lot's full.

Worried about the parking lots at other places around Furano and Biei. It'll be the peak of flower/lavendar season when we visit.

freecia

I just wanted to point out the Hokkaido pudding options if you like flan types of desserts.

Personally, I liked Furano Delice (far left) the best. The shop in Furano sells it http://shop.le-nord.com/ but I've also seen it sold at Asahikawa airport gift shop refrigerated section. CTS sells the other three, I think. At least Le Tao and Hokkaido Milk Kasutera (right half).



I think I skipped Furano Marche in favor of hitting up Furano delice. In general, I will choose crowds of people with good milk pudding/lavender soft serve/other tasty food over crowds of people at souvenir shopping. Especially since I usually bring food as souvenirs/omiyage.

Are you visiting any onsen spots in Noboribetsu? I liked the water quality & variety at Dai-Ichi more than at the Grand but the baths themselves are more noisy at Dai-Ichi due to the single large bath structure. I also saw other families visiting while using Dai-Ichi on a day pass.

jpatokal

My, what a well-timed thread: clan jpatokal will also be in Hokkaido in mid-July. We're starting from Sapporo, where we're seeing an old friend, and the Mrs. is dead-set on seeing the lavender, so Furano/Biei is the next item on the agenda.

That still leaves us with around two days free though. I've done a Sounkyo-Wakkanai-Shiretoko-Akan NP loop previously, and while that was fun, the kids are too young for many of the best bits (Daisetsuzan hikes, Kamuiwakkayu-no-taki etc) so we're looking elsewhere.

Plan A was Meto Onsen, but it's pretty awkwardly located and these seems to be next to nothing of interest in Obihiro or points nearby. So the current thinking is staying in/near Akan for two nights, for onsen, the Ainu village (yes, I know it's touristy) and some light hiking, then flying out from Kushiro. Better ideas?

abmj-jr

The only other thing that comes to mind is the Koshimizu wildflower park near Abashiri. The drive from there to Kushiro would be pretty nice as well.

freecia

Yoroushi for a onsen/ryokan stop in natural surroundings between Abashiri and Kushiro
http://www.yoroushi.jp/
湯宿だいいち

evergrn

I do like pudding (purin), but frankly I actually really only love the caramel sauce part at the bottom. If I could just pluck off and eat that part and then give the rest of the pudding to someone else, I would. The one second from the right looks great, as it's got a lot of caramel sauce. Hokkaido just has so much amazing food. Furano/Biei area seems to have tons of great cafes, dessert places and veggie-based eateries. But lavendar soft serve... is that really good?

Had this amazing ekiben I bought at Sapporo train station... it was a bed of rice with three different kinds of crabmeat on top of it (hairy, taraba[king?], zuwaigani[snow?]). Wonder if I could get that somewhere without having to go inside the station.

Yes, going to Daiichi Takimoto. We were there last year, and we have to go back. That place is a pure onsen heaven. The onsen area is so monstrous, I almost had to laugh. I've been to onsens all over Honshu and Kyushu, but I'd never seen anything like it. There were many people, but the onsen area is so huge it never felt crowded. On the other hand, the day pass kind of ruins it at Niseko Hilton, which has nice onsen but feels really cramped and busy due to too many day users. Back to Daiichi Takimoto... it's interesting how workers in swim trunks and even female staff go about cleaning while we guests are there bathing butt-nekkid.

How many days did you take to do that? Was Wakkanai and the area up north worth the long detour?

freecia

I like lavender soft serve and ice cream but would skip the lavender soft serve at Farm Tomita. The lavender flavor was mild and could have been any soft serve mixed with a light floral flavor which might appeal to some? There was another flower/melon park/farm which had a nice strong lavender soft serve which I wish I could find again. I can't remember the name but it had a little golf cart train for visitors (not just children).

jpatokal

Gah, brainfart -- I meant Abashiri, not Wakkanai. I've never been to Wakkanai, but I gather there's nothing of interest in the town itself and it's primarily a jumping-off point for Rebun and Rishiri.

I spent about a week on the loop, which I covered mostly by hitchhiking and camping. Night bus from Sapporo to Abashiri, hitched to Shiretoko NP, rideshare down to Kussharo, then thumbed across Bihoro Toge, train to Sounkyo, hitched back to Sapporo. I entirely missed out on Lake Akan and Kushiro, and am looking forward to filling some of the gaps this summer