Hokkaido北海道

Places to seeWhere to go in Hokkaido

Start with the first of these. Each is worth half a day.

Sapporo札幌

The island’s city: miso ramen, a beer museum, and a snow festival in February.

A full dayWinter

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Furano and Biei美瑛の丘

Lavender rows and low striped hills. July is the month; the rest of the year is quiet and green.

A full day

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Hakodate函館

A port town with a night view from the mountain and a morning fish market.

A full day

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Lake Toya洞爺湖

A caldera lake with a volcano beside it and hot springs on the shore.

Half a dayYou can get in

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What Hokkaido is

Roads run straight, farms are large, and the seasons are severe in both directions.

It is the one part of Japan with a real winter. Snow falls dry and light here rather than wet, which is why skiers come from the other side of the world, and why Sapporo can build a festival out of it in February. It is also the one part of Japan that has no rainy season — June, which is grey and wet everywhere else, is dry here.

When to comeThe same place, four different places

Pick the season first and the days will arrange themselves.

March – May

Snow lasts into April. Cherry blossom is early May here — the last in Japan, sometimes with snow behind it.

June – August

No rainy season. June is clear and cool; lavender is July; August is the warmest and busiest.

September – November

Autumn colour comes first in Japan, from late September in the mountains. Crab and scallops are at their best.

December – February

Dry powder snow, the snow festival in February, and drift ice on the north coast. Roads need winter tyres.

Find it fastEverything in Hokkaido