From the house
One day, one direction.
These are days out from Kita 38-jo, not a tour of Hokkaido. Leave after breakfast. Be home for a late dinner, unless the page says the day is long.
No car · about 35–45 minutes from Sapporo Station
Otaru, and back for dinner.
The easy day, and the one most people take. A canal town and one seafood lunch.
Morning
Asabu, then the train
Walk to Asabu and take the subway to Sapporo Station, about the seven minutes in the listing. From there the JR Hakodate line runs to Otaru. The faster trains take about 35 to 45 minutes.
Late morning
Canal, then Sakaimachi
Walk the canal and the stone warehouses. Sakaimachi Street is the next lane if you want glass and music boxes. One street is enough. Tenguyama ropeway is the view over the port, if the cabin is running that day. Check before you climb.
Lunch
Sankaku Market
Sankaku Market, a short walk from Otaru Station, is the seafood lunch: kaisendon and the stalls. Go before the tour groups fill it. This page does not hold a table.
Afternoon
The same trains back
You can be at the house in time to cook. The car can stay in front of the doors.
Car or train · about 75–90 minutes
Noboribetsu. Hell Valley.
Steam, not a city. One volcanic walk and a foot bath, then home.
Morning
South, then the valley
By car, allow about an hour and a half in clear weather. Without a car, the train toward Noboribetsu and the bus up to Jigokudani take a similar stretch of the day, sometimes longer. Leave after breakfast.
The walk
Jigokudani
Hell Valley is a crater you can walk: vents, sulphur, and a boardwalk. Oyunuma pond is the next short walk. There is a natural foot bath near the entrance. The valley itself is a walk, not a ticketed show. Some paths close in bad weather.
Afternoon
One soak, then back
A day bath in Noboribetsu Onsen if you want the full soak. Do not add Lake Toya. You would be driving home in the dark.
Bus or car · about an hour from Sapporo Station
Jozankei. The closest onsen.
A valley of hot water on the south side of the city. Autumn color is the famous week. A soak is the ordinary reason.
From this house
Subway, then the direct bus
Jozankei is not on the subway. From Asabu ride to Sapporo Station, then the Jotetsu Kappa Liner from stand 27. The company puts the ride at about 60 minutes. It is a reserved bus, and the booking window closes the day before. A one-way fare is on the order of ¥1,700. An ordinary Jotetsu bus also runs to the valley and costs less. Check that morning. By car, allow about an hour.
There
The valley, not a checklist
Walk the river, look at Futami suspension bridge if you want one view, and take one bath. Jozan Gensen Park is the outdoor source. Hotels sell day baths. Pick one and ask the price at the door.
Back
The last bus matters
The liner back to Sapporo Station is a few departures, not every ten minutes, and those seats are reserved. Note the return before you get in a bath. The ordinary bus is the other way home.
Car · a full day, about 2 to 2.5 hours each way
Furano and Biei, if you leave early.
These two valleys are the summer photograph. Together they are one long day, not two strolls. Leave after breakfast. Be home late.
The drive
One expressway, then a choice
Furano is about two hours and ten minutes in ordinary conditions, via Takikawa. Biei is closer to two and a half, via Asahikawa. Tolls are a few thousand yen each way. In winter both are slower, and some hill roads close.
Biei
The Blue Pond, then one hill
Shirogane Blue Pond is toward Tokachidake, not in the middle of Biei town. In summer the patchwork fields are the other stop. Do not try to walk every hill.
Furano
Flowers, or the woods
Mid-July is the lavender at Farm Tomita, and it is crowded. Go early or skip it. Outside that window the town is cheese and the station street. Ningle Terrace, in the trees by the Prince Hotel, is the craft stop if you still have daylight. Check that it is open.
This subway line, then a bus · or about 40 minutes by car from central Sapporo
The Hill of the Buddha.
Tadao Ando’s Buddha at Makomanai Takino Cemetery, in the south of Sapporo. It is not at Lake Toya. Tours sometimes glue the two together. They are different days.
Without a car
Namboku line to the end, then the bus
From Asabu the subway runs south to Makomanai, the last stop. From there, Hokkaido Chuo Bus Shin 108 (Takino line), stand 2, is the direct bus, about 20 to 25 minutes, to Makomanai Takino Cemetery. The cemetery’s own sheet has listed that ride at ¥500. Buses are not frequent, and the last one home can be early, especially in winter. Read the return before you leave the cemetery.
The visit
The hill, then the moai
The Buddha is buried to the chin in a lavender hill, with a long approach and a water garden. Since April 2026 the cemetery lists adult admission at ¥1,000. Ask at the gate about children. The moai and a stone circle are on the same grounds. The cemetery can close the Buddha in bad weather or for maintenance.
By car
About forty minutes from the center
Cars have parked on the grounds without a fee, and the lot is large. Coach parking is charged separately, and that fee went up in April 2026. Read the board. From this house you drive south. It is a morning, not a tour of Hokkaido.
Car · about 2 hours
Lake Toya, on its own.
A caldera, Mount Usu, and a long way home. Do not add the Buddha or Noboribetsu.
Morning
Leave early
Allow about two hours by car in clear weather. The Donan bus from Sapporo toward Toyako also exists and passes through the Jozankei side of the city. It is a bus day, not a flexible one. Check the return before you go.
There
The lake, or the volcano
The view is the caldera. Mount Usu is the volcanic walk if the paths are open. One of those is the day. A lakeside lunch, then turn around.
Car · often under 40 minutes
The short day is Teine.
When the valleys are too far, the mountain to the west is already enough.
Morning
Stay in
Work at the table, or don’t. The kitchen is there. Leave after lunch.
Afternoon
Olympia or Highland
Sapporo Teine is the 1972 Olympic hill. Olympia is the lower, easier area. Highland is higher, where the old courses are. Parking at the mountain is free.
Evening
The same door
This is the day the space in front of the house is for. Dinner does not have to be in the city.
Times are in clear weather, from central Sapporo, plus the walk from this house to Asabu and the subway. Snow, flower season, and road closures change the day. Check that morning. This page does not sell tickets or hold a table.