need suggestions for day trips from sapporo, mainly east or north-normally go to sapporo each year for 10 days sometime between yasakoi soran and end of summer

take a one stop train ride north to otaru. very quaint, old japanese town. great sushi. forgot the name of the restaurant, but ask around town, i don't think you can go wrong with any sushi bar there.

been to otaru-it is west of sapporo-thank you anyway

RTBOSS: You don't need to reask your same question in a second posting (which I see you have a pattern of doing). Instead, do this: if you are not getting answers then reply to your own first posting of the question and type "to the top" or "ttt" and post the reply. This sends your post back up to the "top" of the other posts so more people will see it.

From Sapporo you can take the train that goes toward Muroran, on the rail line that goes past New Chitose Airport. You can visit an Ainu village that is somewhat interesting. It would take a couple of hours and you would want to check the train schedule becaus some of the trains that stop there are slow locals. Not all of the fast trains stop there.

Noboribetsu is further down that rail line (but before Muroran). Take the bus in front of the station to Noboribetsu Onsen. You can get off at the bus station and walk uphill up the main street there, past the several shops. You'll see a fairly large hotel just past the shop just where the road bends left. That is the Daiichi Takimotokan. You can go into the main entrance and say that you want to use the onsen. A nice young lady will escort you to the onse entrance in the complex. It is a great place. If you haven't been to a Japanese onsen before then you definitely need to read up on how it is done before you go here (that applies to all public baths at onsen resorts).

There are buses from Sapporo into Shikotsu-Toya Natonal Park. Lake Toya is a popular stop and there are ski slopes in the area.

There are onsen ryokan in the hills near Otaru. You might go for a soak there but there were issues with gaijin not being permitted entry, but that may have changed. Noboribetsu would be the first choice, though.

Noboribetsu would be the first choice for an onsen. Otaru the first choice for sushi!

sorry about the directions. can't seem to get n,s,e,w. here we use diamond head, ewa, mauka, makai.lol.

need ideas such as ebetsu, tachigawa, ashigawa have been to noribetsu and otaru even bebu (spelling)-obihiro was great but not a daytrip-

HI there,
I think I may have answered your question on another mailing list too - but here we are again...
I recommend Furano - 2 hours by train/bus east of Sapporo, the publicised event is the lavender flowers etc in July...but there is also the fun Heso Festival -belly button festival, which I think is the end of June...fat men with painted faces on their bodies parading down the street....
I'd also recommend the Ainu museums at Nibutani - a long train/bus ride from Sapporo - but possible in a day.
I'd also recommend lots of hiking - the tourist office has a hiking guide, and you can choose from gentle 1 hour hikes to major climbs lasting several hours.
Also - have your explored the Shakotan Peninsular the other side of Otaru? There is a circular bus, you can buy a get on/off type of ticket and enjoy the beaches, the small villages etc - a few renovated old herring fishing dormitories too - Otaru tourist office has the info.

Hope that helps!

Amanda, with all due respect, I beg to differ with your recommendation of the Nibutani Ainu Culture Museum. Perhaps it may be interesting to some Westerners, but as an American, I've heard almost the exact same story since I was in grade school; it's pretty much the same thing that happened to the American Indians (though obviously not to diminish the troubles that either native population went through, of course). As a result, it was nothing new and certainly not worth the 3-hour trek from Sapporo.

It's debatable whether the museum should be a Fodors Choice, as well as be mentioned in the "Highlights of Northern Japan" section. Highlight? I don't think so. We had a better time getting to and from the museum than at the museum itself.

Hmmm...so desuka?

Well, I guess if you come from North America and have had Indian history and culture since Grade 1...yes...the Ainu story is kind of smiliar...

I think it is the BEST Ainu culture place in Hokkaido, the others are all commercialised tourist tat mainly...

did you go to both museums at Nibutani? the official one, and then 5 minutes across the road behind some buildings is Kawanyo's collection of stuff...clothes and things..

sorry if you didn't think it worth Fodor's Choice...guide book stuck is always pretty personal...

Thanks for your comments though, it all helps form a picture of what people think.

Amanda

thank you for your replies (RTBOSS is my other name) this year i did go for a day trip to furano and it was great-all day by bus from sapporo-end of july-was one of the many highlights of my annual trip and should be made by anyone on hokkaido time permitting