For the first time, we went to Japan twice within a year, or five months rather, in this case. After our trip to the Kansai region in February, we visited Hokkaido on a 6-days trip in late June. While pondering whether to take a short break away in the summer, a fairly attractive package of flight and hotel for Hokkaido helped us make the decision. One restriction of the package was to spend three consecutive nights in the same hotel in Sapporo. We might have planned our trip differently without this requirement. But anyway we generally prefer a leisurely holiday, seeing more of one or two places, rather than a rushed and packed itinerary with too much driving. And while the trip was to be in early summer, when some of the flowers that Hokkaido is famous for were not yet in full bloom, it meant we avoided the crowd in the peak summer months.
It was the first time we had visited Hokkaido. After making the bookings, others told us that 6 days were far too few for a Hokkaido trip. I very much agreed, when I started reading up on Hokkaido and realized it was such a vast place with so much to see. So, we would have to make more careful plannings to include what we really wanted to see.
Here is an outline of our actual itinerary:
Day 1. Arrive at New Chitose Airport. Pick up rented car. Drive to Furano (富良野).
Day 3. Biei (美瑛). Drive to Sapporo (札幌).
Day 4. Day trip to Otaru (小樽). Return car in Sapporo.
Day 6. Morning in Sapporo. Take train to New Chitose Airport.
This was our actual itinerary, as opposed to our planned itinerary, which had included a stop in Asahikawa (旭川) on Day 3. (Had there not been the requirement to stay three nights in Sapporo, we probably would have spent one night in Asahikawa.) But eventually we spent more time in Biei than originally intended, so Asahikawa would have to be left for a future visit.
After arriving in New Chitose Airport in the afternoon, we picked up the pre-booked car at the airport and drove directly to Furano, where we would be staying for two nights. The drive via the toll highway took a bit more than two hours.
The hotel was located on a small street in a quiet neighbourhood in Furano. Fortunately we had taken a look at the site of the hotel on Google Street View before the trip. Otherwise, the small sign at the entrance with only Japanese writings would have made it a bit hard to locate. The hotel had about six guestrooms, making it the smallest and quietest hotel where we had stayed in Japan. But the room was the biggest one that we had seen!
It was good that we arrived before 7pm. Everything in the quiet town, including some restaurants, seemed to close early. The ramen dinner that we had in a restaurant on the nearby main road was the last order of the day. On the way back to the hotel after dinner, we got some milk and cereal from the local convenience store, for breakfast on the next two days.
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| Peaceful Furano at dusk |
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| Antique cashier machines decorate the hotel lobby in style |
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