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Summer in Hokkaido: 6 Days Hokkaido DIY Itinerary (Sapporo)

Contributed by: Reina Agcaoili

The estimated expenses were about ¥60k inclusive of accommodation, bus/train transpo (exc.airfare) food, souvenirs, Omiyage.
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Note: I don’t have JR pass, I used and reloaded my Suica card ¥6000

DIY Tour Highlights:

No entrance fee at all locations
✳ Flower Farms
✳ Kita Kita movie locations
✳ Museums

Accommodation:

Backpackers Hostel Ino’s Place [Agoda] [Booking]

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6 Days Sapporo DIY Travel Guide

Day 1: Odori Park, Sapporo TV Tower, Sapporo Clock Tower, Old Government Building of Sapporo, Mt. Moiwa

9:45 am: Arrival at New Chitose airport
From the airport, ride airport 101 trains going to Shin-Sapporo then transfer to subway train use Tozai line and get off at Shiroishi station.
Exit at gate 1 then walk towards Inos Place Inn (drop off the bag)
11:00 am: Take the subway from Shin Sapporo to Odori station via Tozai line (orange color) bound for Miyanosawa
11:08 am: ETA Odori station, go to tourist information and get a map of the area
11:08 am: Explore Sapporo. City center all are walking distance from each other and no entrance fee
First stop: Odori Park – just outside Odori station.
Next, Sapporo TV Tower can be seen from Odori Park. This is one location of Kita-Kita movie scene
2nd stop: Sapporo Clock Tower (Kita-Kita scene)
3rd stop: Old Government building of Hokkaido
4th stop: walk to Jr Sapporo station and inquire about transpo going to Furano by bus or by train
5:30 pm: wait for a Japanese friend and have dinner at Jingisukan restaurant アルコ（aluko）
This is at Tanukikoji shopping street no. 7 just walk until the end. Highly recommended!
7:00 pm: Take Streetcar and go to Mt. Moiwa. Get off at ropeway Iriguchi. There’s a free shuttle bus going to the Mt. Moiwa ropeway.
Tip: There is a discount of coupon 200 yen off on the back of streetcar for the cable car ride to Mt. Moiwa just get it.
8:00 pm: Take a night view of the city at the top of Mt. Moiwa (Kita-Kita scene).
Souvenir: I bought a ref magnet that has a picture of the bell w/ a real thermometer on the side. 😂
10 pm: Back to hostel take the same route. Check the weather forecast for tomorrow.

2: Otaru, Music Box Museum, Le Tao, Otaru canal

Since the rainy weather is forecasted to Furano area, I switched this to a day trip to Otaru.
Note: Always check the weather forecast. It’s not nice to explore the flower farm if it’s rainy.
8:00 am: Take the subway Tozai line towards Miyanosawa. Get off at Odori station. You can either transfer to Namboku line (green) to go to Sapporo station or just exit at Odori station and walk towards Jr Sapporo station. (Since I’m not in a hurry I just walked 5mins)
8:13 am: From Sapporo station take JR Hakodate line and get off at Minami-Otaru station. Just walk around 10 mins going to the Music Box Museum.
9:30-5:00 pm: Explore the Otaru area for the whole day. But since the forecast is going to rain in the afternoon I didn’t wait for it so better check and plan this day trip.
No entrance fee to Music Box Museum (Kita-Kita scene) I just wanted to look around but there’s a cute heart-shaped music box keychain so I bought it, the song is somewhere over the rainbow 😁
Another souvenir: A glass necklace which is really elegant. If you like to buy some home glasses, a lot of great choices is available too. Bring passport if you want to have discounts. In this area is the factory of Kitaichi glass.
Must try: Le Tao sweets. There’s a lot of free taste here for sure you will like it. Plus one of the museums has flyers for a free ice cream cone at Le Tao. Just take it and present to the cashier for free ice cream.
Last stop is the Otaru canal (Kita-Kita scene).
6:00 pm: back to JR Sapporo station. Buy a train ticket for Furano tomorrow and get a timetable.
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Day 3: FLOWER FARMS – Lavender Fields, Tomita Farm, Blue Pond, Shikisai No Oka

5:00 am: Wake up call. Try to get 6:52 train going to Furano. Since I’m late by 20 seconds I waited for the next train available which was 7:49 am.
Note: my JR ticket is for an unreserved seat. Since I don’t know which car number is for unreserved I just stand anywhere, then upon arrival, the door I’m standing at was for reserved seats. I just hopped in and transferred inside to go to the unreserved section.
To be safe, stand in the middle or car no 3. Sometimes reserved seat is from car 1-3 then unreserved is 4-5. But upon my return to Sapporo, the unreserved seat is car no 1-3 & 5 so reserved seats is 4, 7 onwards. Kinda confusing.
From Sapporo, get off at Takakiwa station, then transfer to platform no. 5 bound to Furano station but get off at Naka-Furano. It is nearer to the farm. Get map again upon exit. There’s lavender field first and then next is the Tomita Farm. Explore the area.
2:00 pm: Finished exploring then hop into the train going to Biei station.
3:00 pm: Upon arrival, go to the tourist info center. Ask for public transpo or bus tour. I decided to take the bus tour because I want to go to the Blue Pond and Shikisai No Oka which is quite far from each other.
6:30 pm: End of tour. Go to Asahikawa station then from Asahikawa station ride going back to Sapporo.
Tip: The farms are quite big and you will enjoy it a lot. If you can find a hotel in Asahikawa, just stay there for a night and then go back again to Biei to explore the area.
Souvenir: Lavender products (soaps and bookmarks)

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Day 4: Shiroi Koibito Park and Chocolate Factory, Hokkaido Shrine

Since today’s forecast is to rain, I stayed and sleep more in bed.
But in the afternoon, I decided to go to Shiroi Koibito Park and Chocolate Factory and Hokkaido Shrine
2:30 pm: From Shiroishi station to Miyanosawa station (last station of Tozai line). Get off at exit 5 and follow the signs posted on the wall to Shiroi Koibito. No entrance fee here.
4:00 pm: Go to Hokkaido Shrine. From Miyanosawa Tozai line, get off at Maruyama Koen station exit at no. 3. 5mins walk to the shrine.
5:00 pm: The closing hour of the shrine. Go back to the hotel. Use the same subway line (Tozai)

Day 5: Sapporo Beer Museum, Hokkaido University Museum

Light rains in the forecast again
10:00 am: Get out and went to Sapporo Beer Museum. I took a train from JR Sapporo station then get off at Higashi Kuyakusho Mae station. But there’s a bus option too, Chuo bus 188 at the north exit of Sapporo then get off at Sapporo Biruen bus stop.
Free entrance 🙂
Try their Genghis Khan and unlimited Sapporo beer at their restaurant.
3:00 pm: get on the bus and get off at Sapporo station.
From Sapporo station, walk 10mins going to Hokkaido University Museum. Free entrance.
5:00 pm: Go back to hostel due to bad weather
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Day 6: Back to Tokyo

Nice sunny weather!
But unfortunately, it’s my return flight back to Tokyo.
If Sunday and Monday didn’t have to be rainy, maybe I have gone back to the flower fields.

10 Recommended Places to Stay in Sapporo

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1. Igloo Dorm & Breakfast [Agoda] [Booking]
2. Social Hostel 365 [Agoda] [Booking]
3. Hotel Tetora Spirit Sapporo [Agoda] [Booking]
4. The Stay Sapporo Hostel [Agoda] [Booking]
5. Frame Hotel Sapporo [Agoda] [Booking]
6. Marks Inn Sapporo [Agoda] [Booking]
7. Grids Sapporo Hotel & Hostel [Agoda] [Booking]
8. SappoLodge [Agoda] [Booking]
9. Tmark City Hotel Sapporo [Agoda] [Booking]
10. Hotel Ascent Inn Sapporo [Agoda] [Booking]