Hokkaido 2011

[godwine]

Hey All

I will be going to Japan again in 2011. This time i am going to Hokkaido with a party of at least 7 people, possibly up to 20 people, and they want me to do all the planning

There are 3 things on their list

1. Food
2. Flower field
3. Shopping

Shopping I can take care off, as I have plans to fly everyone back to Tokyo to do some serious shopping

Can someone recommend some good place for street food in Sapporo and Furano?

For Furano, I plan to take them to the Brewery and the cheese factory, as well as the flower farm. Or maybe even Ningle Terrace.

How many days do I need in Furano and Sapporo?

I will be taking them to Tokyo and Yokohama after, can someone recommend a good area for yatai food (similar to Hakata?), does anyone know where the Yakitori Dori is? I know Tokyo and Yokohama well enough so even if you can just give me general direction I should be able to find my ways

Last thing. onsen resort. They definitely don't want to travel to Kinugawa, and or Hakone, can someone recommend a good resort that is not too far from Tokyo or Sapporo/Furano? A nice clean place that have a meal plan (Kaiseki preferred). Money is not an issue here

Thanks!

[Firebird]

In Sapporo i´d recommend to try getting food in Susukino (the night district). I remember there beeing a good Ramen shop and a good sushi shop inside the building with the ferry wheel on top.
In Furano i went to a small restaurant wich served a special kind of Okonomiyaki. I think it was called Masaya (wikitravel says its 5th Street (between Furano Marche and Furano Station). The owner was very nice and spoke good english because he lived in Canada for a year.

For Furano i´d say max 2 days should be ok. Besides the farm this is just a normal town. In Sapporo it depends what you want to do. I´d say 2-3 days.

There is Noboribetsu Onsen not to far from Sapporo. Its quite famous with Japanese and a bit pricy. I didn´t like it as much as other places because it was quite touristy and expensive but its ok and the only place i can think of near Sapporo or Tokyo. It has alot of funny statues, a geyser that erupts every 3 hours or so, alot of hotels to choose from and "Hell Valey" wich is the natural volcanic area with steam everywhere and stuff. See my blogpost for some pictures from there.
Other than that my second recommodation is Aiku Onsen just outside of Sendai, but i guess thats to far to travel.

Hope that helped a little

Edit: Actually i´m sure now that the place in Furano was called Masaya and it serves Teppanyaki, take a look here. If you do read Japanese this is the restaurants page.

[godwine]

Originally Posted by Firebird

In Sapporo i´d recommend to try getting food in Susukino (the night district). I remember there beeing a good Ramen shop and a good sushi shop inside the building with the ferry wheel on top.
In Furano i went to a small restaurant wich served a special kind of Okonomiyaki. I think it was called Masaya (wikitravel says its 5th Street (between Furano Marche and Furano Station). The owner was very nice and spoke good english because he lived in Canada for a year.

For Furano i´d say max 2 days should be ok. Besides the farm this is just a normal town. In Sapporo it depends what you want to do. I´d say 2-3 days.

There is Noboribetsu Onsen not to far from Sapporo. Its quite famous with Japanese and a bit pricy. I didn´t like it as much as other places because it was quite touristy and expensive but its ok and the only place i can think of near Sapporo or Tokyo. It has alot of funny statues, a geyser that erupts every 3 hours or so, alot of hotels to choose from and "Hell Valey" wich is the natural volcanic area with steam everywhere and stuff. See my blogpost for some pictures from there.
Other than that my second recommodation is Aiku Onsen just outside of Sendai, but i guess thats to far to travel.

Hope that helped a little

Edit: Actually i´m sure now that the place in Furano was called Masaya and it serves Teppanyaki, take a look here. If you do read Japanese this is the restaurants page.

Amazing, thanks for all the help. I too want to take them to a natural onsen, so steamy is good, but hostel not good. At least 40% of the participant of this trip will be at least in their 50s, they want luxury, so i will see

[godwine]

So i have another question, what else is there to do in Sapporo? I mean what is interesting to see there? They are not big museum or temple people....

I was thinking maybe a 3 days stay in Furano and 2 days in Hokkaido, then i will take them back to Tokyo area for another 6 or 7 days.

[Firebird]

Well Noboribetsu has lots of high class hotels, no hostels don`t know where you read this in my post. Aiku Onsen has a really nice hotel as well, the Onsen there was really great!

Well what Japanese do is go and see the Clocktower but its not very spectacular. There is also a botanical garden and a Tower you can go up to. Other than that there is a quite big underground mall along the subway tracks and Susukino with lots of Isakayas, Clubs and stuff.
You can also reach Otaru by train in about an hour. Its also famous with japanese people, you can stroll along a river with cafes and stuff but you would have to look it up in a guide book because î`ve only been there a few hours.

So, Noboribetsu is definetly high class and comfortable. The town is quite small and most things are easy to reach by foot.

I`d recommend to go from Tokyo to Sapporo and Furano on the first day (if you fly to sapporo). Than spend the whole next day in Furano and leave after lunch on your 3rd day to Sapporo. Check in and see Susukino at night. Spent 1 or 2 days in Sapporo and than fly to Tokyo (so fly back on day 5 or 6)

[ModusOperandi]

Originally Posted by godwine

So i have another question, what else is there to do in Sapporo? I mean what is interesting to see there? They are not big museum or temple people....

I was thinking maybe a 3 days stay in Furano and 2 days in Hokkaido, then i will take them back to Tokyo area for another 6 or 7 days.

I may be the last person you would want information from since I've never been to Japan, but Hokkaido has been a major point of interest for me (regarding the Ainu)...
Anyways, from the research I've done on Hokkaido, I hear that one of the most popular things to see in Sapporo is their annual snow festival. So if you're there during that particular time, perhaps it might be something worth checking out.

Here's the link to a brief overview of what it might be like.

Have fun on your trip.

[GoNative]

Instead of Noboribetsu I would also suggest either Shikotsuko or Toyako. Both of these maganificent lakes have some nice accommodation options and onsens. Shikotsuko is very close to Chitose and there's also easy access to Sappporo.

Up near Furano I would also recommend Tokachidake Onsen for amazing mountain scenery and one of the best views from an onsen you can find anywhere.

[Firebird]

GoNative
yes you`re right, i totally forgot about Toyako because there i stayed in the Youthhostel wich didn`t have an Onsen. The Area around Toyako is very nice, you can also see some vulcanic action and you can walk through a Area that was destroyed by earth movement wich is quite spectacular with broken streets, destroyed houses and steam here and there. The lakeside is also nice and i think there`s a firework there every evening in summer. I haven`t been in the town itself so i can`t say anything to that but here is my post to the suroundings.
It is a bit further away from Sapporo than Noboribetsu but i think its better to go there. Haven`t been to one of the other 2...

[godwine]

Originally Posted by Firebird

Well Noboribetsu has lots of high class hotels, no hostels don`t know where you read this in my post. Aiku Onsen has a really nice hotel as well, the Onsen there was really great!

Well what Japanese do is go and see the Clocktower but its not very spectacular. There is also a botanical garden and a Tower you can go up to. Other than that there is a quite big underground mall along the subway tracks and Susukino with lots of Isakayas, Clubs and stuff.
You can also reach Otaru by train in about an hour. Its also famous with japanese people, you can stroll along a river with cafes and stuff but you would have to look it up in a guide book because î`ve only been there a few hours.

So, Noboribetsu is definetly high class and comfortable. The town is quite small and most things are easy to reach by foot.

I`d recommend to go from Tokyo to Sapporo and Furano on the first day (if you fly to sapporo). Than spend the whole next day in Furano and leave after lunch on your 3rd day to Sapporo. Check in and see Susukino at night. Spent 1 or 2 days in Sapporo and than fly to Tokyo (so fly back on day 5 or 6)

Hey Firebird, sorry, i misread your post, i was at work at the time, so i was jsut flying through the posts...

Thanks everyone for your input, keep it coming, i am still in the planning stage

[Firebird]

no worries,
i remember now that Otaru was famous for the old warehouses along the river and i remember reading about a crazy ice-cream shop (in the lonenly planet i think) where you can get really strange flavours like "squid ink ice cream" and stuff.
If you´ve got more specific questions let us know.