Hokkaido Late Oct

[cormet]

I'm planning to do a solo self drive late Nov in Hokkaido. First time to Hokkaido but done solo self drives elsewhere.

Roughly planned out the route as follows:

1) Hakodate (1N) - get in early morning, pick up car
2) Lake Toya (2N) - day trip Noboribetsu
3) Lake Akan (2N) - Lake Akan, Kussharo, Mashu, Mt Io)
4) Sounkyo (2N)
<Asahikawa along the way>
5) Sapporo (3N) - return car, otaru day trip

Hope to advice on my rough itinerary Thanks!

 

[deodorant]

Furano and Biei in October is already way past summer flowers season. Better to spend more time in sounkyo.

Make your own red rice wine (红酒)

 

[limweeli]

I've not done solo self-drives but I think it's a bit too stretched. I feel it would be better if you concentrate 2 of the sectors (maybe South & Central) and spend more time exploring. Just my 2 cents

 

[cormet]

Noted all the advice so far. Will shift Sounkyo to 2N and Asahikawa 1N. Am i trying to cover too much? Where should i cut off?

 

[limweeli]

I think it's ok. Just for your reference, last trip I left Furano at 9am and it took around 3+ hours driving casually to reach Lake Toya via the national highways, Doto and Hokkaido expressway. I think the drive down to Hakodate from Norboribetsu took around the same time too.

 

[cormet]

Played around with the itinerary a bit, how does it look now?

There's a very long drive from Lake Toya to Lake Akan. Any interesting stops along the way?

 

[evilerniex]

wah.... tt is a really long drive. u are driving from westen part of hokkaido all the way to east, then back to sapporo?

how about flying off from kushiro airport instead?
maybe something like this:
hakodate -> lake toya -> sapporo -> asahikawa -> lake akan -> kushiro

 

[touchme]

10 days still alright, not if you touching the easternly coastline, which is quite awesome too.

Research how many jap tourers convert their cars to campervans, pretty neat,

 

[cormet]

wah.... tt is a really long drive. u are driving from westen part of hokkaido all the way to east, then back to sapporo?

how about flying off from kushiro airport instead?
maybe something like this:
hakodate -> lake toya -> sapporo -> asahikawa -> lake akan -> kushiro

looks good too. but what should i do with the car when i'm in sapporo? is it going to be an issue driving around a busy city?

 

[touchme]

looks good too. but what should i do with the car when i'm in sapporo? is it going to be an issue driving around a busy city?

Sapporo still ulu by intl standards. Parking also cheap by Singapore stds.

 

[cheefarn]

looks good too. but what should i do with the car when i'm in sapporo? is it going to be an issue driving around a busy city?

Sapporo city traffic is nothing compared to SG la, even their morning and evening rush hour is perfectly acceptable to us sinkies.

As I've mentioned before, Sapporo had strong New England influences and the city grid like layout is very similar to what you see in Boston and New York. Miss a turn and you can always detour back at the next junction.

And rem, they have excellent road manners, you don't get horn off or be shown the international greeting hand sign when you tried to filter to next lane or merge from small to big roads.

As I've said several times in this forum before, in Sapporo, although parking charges are high (well not as high as you park in Orchard and Raffles Place of cos), you can save a bundle by parking in major shopping malls. If you want a centralized location, try parking at ESTA or JR Tower (Sapporo railway station) After that buy something from one of the shops inside those buildings, meal included and you can redeem your parking for 2 hrs... but somehow I parked there for almost 4 hrs and I didn't need to pay...

See here
http://www.jr-tower.com/share/jr-tower/other/info/JR_TOWER_AREA_GUIDE_for_WEB.pdf

Or if you're staying overnight in Sapporo already, park at your hotel (they usually charge 1000 yen per 24hr, unlimited in an out of the carpark) and then take their excellent subway to your location in Sapporo.

 

[cormet]

Sapporo city traffic is nothing compared to SG la, even their morning and evening rush hour is perfectly acceptable to us sinkies.

As I've mentioned before, Sapporo had strong New England influences and the city grid like layout is very similar to what you see in Boston and New York. Miss a turn and you can always detour back at the next junction.

And rem, they have excellent road manners, you don't get horn off or be shown the international greeting hand sign when you tried to filter to next lane or merge from small to big roads.

As I've said several times in this forum before, in Sapporo, although parking charges are high (well not as high as you park in Orchard and Raffles Place of cos), you can save a bundle by parking in major shopping malls. If you want a centralized location, try parking at ESTA or JR Tower (Sapporo railway station) After that buy something from one of the shops inside those buildings, meal included and you can redeem your parking for 2 hrs... but somehow I parked there for almost 4 hrs and I didn't need to pay...

See here
http://www.jr-tower.com/share/jr-tower/other/info/JR_TOWER_AREA_GUIDE_for_WEB.pdf

Or if you're staying overnight in Sapporo already, park at your hotel (they usually charge 1000 yen per 24hr, unlimited in an out of the carpark) and then take their excellent subway to your location in Sapporo.

Thanks for the tips!! Looks like I will just drive in/around Sapporo for convenience then I won't have to loop around all of Hokkaido.

So roughly:

Hakodate (1N)
Lake Toya (2N)
Sapporo (3N)
Sounkyo (2N)
Lake Akan (2N)
Kushiro (1N) - fly off from here.

 

[steadybongbibi]

Thanks for the tips!! Looks like I will just drive in/around Sapporo for convenience then I won't have to loop around all of Hokkaido.

So roughly:

Hakodate (1N)
Lake Toya (2N)
Sapporo (3N)
Sounkyo (2N)
Lake Akan (2N)
Kushiro (1N) - fly off from here.

the way i see it, u r pretty much sitting in the driver seat, 70% of your day. relax buddy, some places are best enjoy on foot, some best on trains.

 

[cormet]

the way i see it, u r pretty much sitting in the driver seat, 70% of your day. relax buddy, some places are best enjoy on foot, some best on trains.

any suggestions what to cut/extend?

 

[cheefarn]

Thanks for the tips!! Looks like I will just drive in/around Sapporo for convenience then I won't have to loop around all of Hokkaido.

So roughly:

Hakodate (1N)
Lake Toya (2N)
Sapporo (3N)
Sounkyo (2N)
Lake Akan (2N)
Kushiro (1N) - fly off from here.

Hmm... I would rather you do 2N in Hakodate and 1N in Lake Toya/Mt Showa. Lake Toya, while very nice, its far too touristy for my taste. Wait till you drive ard the lake and get swarmed by tour buses at every hotels and onsen hotels surrounding the lake. And then tons of PRC tourists making a mess n din over there. Its not the lake's fault of cos, but Lake Toya is really a very touristy place where most run of mill tour agencies will bring their customers to.

If u want to do 3N in Sapporo, you may wish to do a day trip to Furano or even Biei (abit rushed though) for one of the days. These 2 places are far more worth the visit than Lake Toya.

Why don't u do 1N in Asahikawa and then 1N in Sounkyo Gouge area instead? Asahikawa do offer an excellent zoo and a few other attractions that IMO, is breathtaking too.

Its a long drive from Sounkyo to Lake Akan, make sure you start off as early as possible, else you may not have enough time at Lake Akan area. Rem shops and attractions in Hokkaido closes early, ard 5-5.30pm.

Do you need 2N in Lake Akan? I would rather you do 2N in Kushiro before flying off.

In summery, how about this?

Arrived at Hakodate(2N)
Lake Toya (1N)
Sapporo (2N)
Furano, Biei (1N)
Asahikawa (1N)
Sounkyo (1N)
Lake Akan (1N)
Kushiro (2N) - fly off from here

 

[cormet]

I heard about the tourists at Lake Toya. But wanted to use it as a base to do a day trip to Noboribetsu as well, and can't seem to find accommodation there for a solo travel, which is equivalent to Toya in quality and about the same price.

Yup will do the 1N Sounkyo and 1N Asahikawa. If i'm not interested in the zoo, should i do an overnight in Furano or Biei instead? Will take your advice for 2N Sapporo

 

[cheefarn]

I heard about the tourists at Lake Toya. But wanted to use it as a base to do a day trip to Noboribetsu as well, and can't seem to find accommodation there for a solo travel, which is equivalent to Toya in quality and about the same price.

Yup will do the 1N Sounkyo and 1N Asahikawa. If i'm not interested in the zoo, should i do an overnight in Furano or Biei instead? Will take your advice for 2N Sapporo

Biei is a really small town with virtually no accommodations.

You would either stay at Furano or Asahikawa and then visit Biei enroute

Asahikawa still have a lot to offer and not just the zoo itself ya.

see here

http://www.asahikawa-tourism.com/