Please review: Hokkaido in October Itinerary
 

Hi all,

Appreciate your feedback to my tentative itinerary in Hokkaido this October.

10/8: Fly into MMB airport near Shiretoko National Park at noon. Rent car. Drive to Utoro and stay the night. Where? Is Abashiri worth a stopover? What to see in Oct? Any other worthwhile stops on the way to Utoro?

10/9: Boat trip out of Utoro to see Shiretoko NP. Know of any boats specifically catered to bear and wildlife watching in October? Looks like most boats, esp smaller ones, stop running by end of Sept? Afternoon, drive to waterfall, onsen, lakes. Any safe (no bears) short hikes (1 to 2 hours)? All do-able by ourselves or any ranger-led tours? Heard that we need to go on a guided tour around the lakes (5000Y)?? Is it required? We prefer to DIY but with other folks around to be safer. What else? Overnight in Utoro.

10/10: Drive to Akan National Park. Which lakes are must-sees? Any short hikes? What not to miss? Drive toward Daisetsuzan National Park. Where to stay this night?

10/11: What is a good route to follow in Daisetsuzan? We have a car, so can be flexible. What not to miss? Where to stay?

10/12: More Daisetsuzan.

10/13: More Daisetsuzan or other places?

10/14: Drive to Sapporo by early afternoon. Return Car. Stay at Sheraton Sapporo.

10/15: Sapporo. (DH will fly out on 10/16, but I have a week of biz trip here.)

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General Questions:
* Please recommend some mid-range lodging options for the places above. We'll be spending a lot of time outside our room, so anything clean and convenient, private room with double bed (shared bath ok), less than $130 USD per room.

* Onsen / Rotenburo. We'll like to soak in an onsen, and better yet an rotenburo, every day/night! Please recommend any good ones, and they don't have to be at our hotel/ryokan. We'll be interested in those in nature that are scenice, nice, and anyone can access too.

* Anything else that can fit in our route? Any places to eat, see.

Thanks very much!

Also, please recommend any good, scenic hikes that are do-able in 1 to 2 hours. Any hiking clubs in Hokkaido we should check out. We'd prefer to go with other people (safety from bears). Any websites? Thanks!

Also question about car: We've reserved the lowest class car which is a Nissan March. A Japanese colleague told me it's smaller than a Honda Fit. For the places we're planning to go to (national parks, mountains), can the Nissan March handle it (enough hp)? Or should we upgrade to the next level car?

Thanks!

You review is very interesting, I have never heard about this pllace before

The Iruka Hotel(when I was there it was the Dolphin Hotel) is a no frills kind of place with a killer view of the ocean and the price is right. We did not stay here, but we did see the place and would not hesitate to stay there. I think they also have a tour boat and room deal as they have their own boat.

http://www.iruka-hotel.com/en/index.html

I think you are spending one day too many in Daisetzusan and one too few in Utoro. From Utoro you can drive through the Shiretoko Pass and over Mt Rausu to Rausu with fantastic picture spots and view points along the way. Tons of hiking trails which we did not do. We did hike in the Five Lakes area and I have written a trip report about the area if you haven't read already.

Hokkaido is a very "new" part of Japan to the Japanese people and although the culture is very Japanese the landscape and even the big cities such as Sapporo are not built like the atypical Japanese cities but more like their nineteenth century European counterparts. The streets are in the grid pattern and not the Japanese mess and you can actually find a street address here with few problems. Being new means no older ryokan, all in Hokkaido are the new hotel types with very little in old style.....all the newer hotel type of environment. Not a bad thing, just wanted you to be aware. The free types of rotenburo on Hokkaido are very rustic and not what you are envisioning I am thinking.....
If you do the trip over Mr Rausu you can go all the way to the end of the road and visit Seseki and Aidomari Onsen and see exactly what I mean.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6859.html

Lot more on my mind but have to get back to work right now ;)
Will be back later to finish up.

Aloha!

The Iruka also has an indoor onsen.

The drive from Shiretoko to Akan-ko is an easy one. You will hopefully have a GPS system in your rental car. If not, get one and if your rental agency doesn't have them, rent from someone who does.

http://www2.tocoo.jp/?file=rentcar_inbound/main

has English gps rentals and this place also has English GPS in their rentals

http://tiny.cc/74vhkw

You can learn to use the Japanese GPS easily if that's all they got but much better to have one than not. Just have them show you before you leave. The easiest way to use the systems is to have the phone number of your destination or a least somewhere near your destination. See here or print out on how to use the systems

http://www2.tocoo.jp/?file=rentcar_i.../navi/navi_top

In Lake Akan you might want to check out the accommodations as there are many all up and down the lake. Again you can read my trip report for details on our stay in Akan-ko but here is a list of places to check out. Lake Mashu is not be missed as is Lake Kussharo.

http://www.lake-akan.com/en/accomodation/index.html

Also check this site for maps, drive times and to familiarize yourself with driving on Hokkaido.

http://www.northern-road.jp/navi/eng/

a little more later about the Sheraton Sapporo....love the spa/onsen there.

Aloha!.

Thanks so much, HT! Lots of great info to dig into. Thanks for the tip about adding a day more to Shiretoko and cutting one from Daitsesuzan. Will do that.

I'll read your report again (and again) to get all the details and gems.

Thanks for being so helpful!

a few Hokkaido sites you may find useful from my computer here at work:

http://www.easthokkaido.com/english/

http://onsen.u-p.co.jp/en/

http://www.neos.gr.jp/concierge/EN/en_ag_NP_hotels.htm

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-103.pdf

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-101.pdf

This one is for your other thread about what to do in Osaka

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-505.pdf

Aloha!

Hi HT,

I just re-read your koyo trip report. Excellent! It looks like we'll pretty much follow your itinerary, except for maybe skipping Kushiro (too early for cranes?) and Otaru (unless you really think they're worth it).

Question: Do you remember what rental car you got? Did it have enough power and stability to go up mountains and through mountain passes? From the map, the road to Rausu looks really winding. How was that drive? Did you go back the same way? Did you have to drive in the dark?

Our current reservation is for a Nissan March. Are you (or anyone) familiar with this? Afraid it's too tiny for the places we want to go to. Please advise, so we know whether to upgrade our car. Don't want to get stranded in the middle of no where with no cell service, no AAA, and surrounded by bears!! :)

Here's the wiki page on the Nissan March
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Micra


Thanks all for your help!

Yes your car looks great and you will love it! We had a similar car when we were in Hokkaido and in Kyushu this past fall. There is a picture on that trip report I did about Kyushu but I can't seem to locate right now in all the pics on the post.

The drive over the top of Rausudake(Mt Rausu) through the Shiretoko Pass is a spectacular one imho and not to be missed. Stop at the many viewpoints(especially at the summit)for spectacular scenery. The former Japanese islands located off the Kushiro coast are visible from the summit. They were taken over after WW II by Russia and are still a bone of contention between the two countries and the two have been in negotiations to return to Japan since.

The roads are modern and nicely paved so no real worries about being a frightful drive. Be sure to go all the way to the end of the road and over the little bridge to take a look in the stream to see if the salmon are running....they were when we were there. We drove back the same way over the pass as it had already been a long day with doing Shiretoko-go-ko(five lakes) earlier that morning. You are more likely to see more deer than any bear unless you take that boat cruise around the Shiretoko Nat'l Park's coastline. No, we did not have to drive the pass in the dark. We were in a ryokan hotel at the time and anxious to get back to bathe, soak and eat :)

Aloha!

If you go here , you can see the car we last rented similar to yours in picture # 266 and 267. Follow the link and the password is:

Fall 2011

Capital F and a space between the words.

http://hawaiiantraveler.smugmug.com/...0744&k=8NCmtNq

Aloha!

Thanks, HT, for the link. Wow, great pictures. Looks like a fantastic trip!

Do you remember which model Nissan it was? Nissan has several "small" cars. I think the March was at the tiniest end of the spectrum. It matters how big the engine is.

Thanks again!

Is there a shorter driving route from Sounkyo to Asahidake? Google map shows a roundabout road that takes 3 1/2 hours when physically on the map they look pretty close together (separated by mountain range). Maybe faster to hike over? :)


Any other online maps you use?

Thanks!

I always try to get at least 1000 hp in a car which is usually the second lowest price and those are plenty enough for where you will drive.

You have to drive out of Sounkyo to Kamikawa and the highway then on past Asahikawa(maybe 60-70 minutes) then another hour to Asahidake. Three and a half hours is a little much. Yes you can hike over but that would mean hiking back ;)

Here is a hiking trail and a driving map of the area

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6777.html

On the navi link I left you above are maps of Hokkaido highways by area but of course are in Japanese. You can print out to take with you but you will have rented a car with GPS in it right?

Aloha!

Just re-read your responses, HT, and you already gave me a link to a map! Thanks!

Yes my rental was a Nissan March....1200 cc. I should have wrote cc and not hp above.

Thanks, HT! OK, I'll make sure they give me a bigger engine March. I heard the Nissan March has like 80 hp? You managed to go up the mountains in it? It doesn't feel like driving a golf cart?

Also, from your trip report, it sounds like you only stayed at Sounkyo. Did you go to Asahidake side?

Sorry for bugging you so much, but thank you very much for being so helpful. There are not much resources in English on Hokkaido, and you're the best one around I know! You can write your own guide now. :)

Thanks again.

No we didn't go to Asahidake as we were too pressed for time IIRC.

You will have enough hp to make it up the hills no problem. The thing to worry about in small cars is the take off as you get up to speed on the freeways but on Hokkaido this shouldn't matter as much as it would in say Tokyo or Osaka because of the lack of traffic. You will love the gas mileage and just filling up gas in Japan takes my memories back to the full service days of the US 50's and 60's.

On the Trip Advisor Hokkaido forum there is a member named Amanda who is the "Hokkaido expert" on the site and lives in Sapporo. You may want to go there for info but she also sometimes frequents this site as AmandaH.

Aloha!

Hi HT,

I'm planning to stay at Hotel Shiretoko in Utoro also. Do you know if it's possible to purchase the meals (breakfast/dinner) once we get to the hotel? Or we have to book them now? I'm using Japanican. Would it be the same price? Right now, breakfast/dinner are offered at 7000 yen extra per room (2 peoople).

We're not big eaters and so not sure we want to go for buffets. Are there decent restaurants in Utoro, esp at dinner time?

Thanks!

BTW, HT, thanks for the links, esp. the ones from JNTO with pdf files. I'm printing them out and bringing with me -- very handy and better than info in guidebooks, esp they have Japanese names for each place too! Thanks again!