Hokkaido’s capital city, Sapporo, is the fifth biggest metropolis in Japan. It is best known for its snow festival celebrations every February, top notch beer, and delicious ramen.
How To Get to Sapporo
Sapporo is accessible via plane, train, and ferry.
The city’s New Chitose Airport sees heavy air traffic daily. Several airline companies, such as ANA, JAL, JetStar Japan, Vanilla Air, and Air Do, fly in and out multiple times a day. Tokyo to Sapporo is approximately a 90-minute flight.
By train, Sapporo is about an 8-hour ride away from Tokyo. The JR Tohoku-Hokkaido Shinkansen Line takes 4 hours to get from Tokyo Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station. And, from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station, another 3.5-hour train ride on the Hokuto Limited Express finally gets you to Sapporo Station.
There are also ferry ports in Otaru and Tomakomai (towns that are about 30 to 60 minute train rides away from Sapporo) that serve long-distance ferries coming from and going to Niigata, Sendai, Nagoya, Maizuru, Tsuruga, and Oarai.
Top Attractions in Sapporo
Odori Park
Situated in the middle of the city, Odori Park is a kilometre-and-a-half long green space that divides Sapporo into north and south. Every February, it serves as the primary event site of the highly-anticipated Sapporo Snow Festival.
Sapporo TV Tower
A 150-meter tall tower that stands on the eastern portion of Odori Park, the Sapporo TV Tower is among the city’s top landmarks, with an observation deck that offers 360-degree views of Odori Park and the surroundings. It is illuminated every night, making it a magnificent subject for photos.
Historical Village of Hokkaido
With a collection of around 60 mid-19th century old buildings, the Historical Village of Hokkaido is a fantastic open air museum that gives visitors a peek at Hokkaido’s culture and lifestyle more than one hundred years ago.
Hokkaido Museum
About a 15-minute walk from the Historical Village of Hokkaido is the Hokkaido Museum, an exhibition space that features important aspects of Hokkaido’s history, culture, and natural resources. It has a diverse collection of artefacts and treasures from the indigenous Ainu civilization.
Susukino
Home to several pachinko parlors, karaoke bars, clubs, restaurants, stores, and other entertainment establishments, Susukino is known as Sapporo’s red light district. Every February, it also becomes one of the Sapporo Snow Festival sites, along with Odori Park.
Ramen Yokocho
Found in the middle of the vibrant Susukino District, Ramen Yokocho is a narrow alley lined with the city’s best ramen shops that serve not only the popular Sapporo Ramen but also an array of other mouth-watering ramen varieties.
Sapporo Beer Museum
Sapporo is the birthplace of Sapporo Beer, one of the country’s most famous beer brands. In 1987, the Sapporo Beer Museum was opened as a place for people to learn the history and brewing process of beer. Next to it, there is the Sapporo Beer Garden, a festive space with a number of beer halls and restaurants that typically offer all-you-can-drink beer.
Getting Around Sapporo
Sapporo has an efficient transportation network made up of a tram line, three subway lines, and several bus lines that can take you to the popular tourist spots without any difficulty.
For ease of travelling, pick up a Kitaca or a Sapica card once you arrive in Sapporo. You can simply tap it on the card readers by the bus or tram doors and on the station turnstiles before entering and exiting the platforms. There is no need to buy single tickets every time you get on buses, trams, and trains. These prepaid cards are available at the ticket vending machines at the airport and subway stations.
If you plan to use the subway at least a couple of times in one day, consider getting a Subway 1-Day Card, which lets you ride all three of the city’s subway lines as many times as you want in a day for only 830 yen.
Because many of Sapporo’s most popular attractions are found in the downtown area, travelling on foot or biking from one to the other is always an option. There are many bicycle rental shops all over the city, and some accommodations even provide bikes for their guests to use for free.
Weather in Sapporo
Sapporo’s weather ranges from very cold and snowy winters to moderately warm and humid summers.
Its coldest month is January, with an average daily temperature of -4 degrees Celsius, and its hottest month is August, with an average temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. Rain is most commonly experienced starting mid-March until the beginning of December, with February as the city’s driest. Snowfall can be expected as early the second half of October and lasts until mid-April.
Sapporo welcomes the cherry blossoms season later and the autumn leaves season earlier than Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and other cities down south. Expect the first sakura blooms around mid-May, and the leaves changing colors in the second half of October.