Logistics to Prepare When Planning for a Hokkaido Trip
January 1, 2024
I recently got married and for our honeymoon, we decided to go Hokkaido – a place neither of us have been to before, and one we were quite keen to check out. I’ve always wanted to go actually, but the long travel time (international flight from Manila to Tokyo, then from Tokyo to Sapporo) has always been a huge turn-off. Well, I figured better now than never, so we were off!
So for today’s blog, we’ll be discussing all the logistics you need to take care of BEFORE the actual trip proper.
What flight should I take to Hokkaido?
Well, we were coming from Manila, and previously, PAL used to have a direct Manila-to-Sapporo flight. Sadly it was discontinued sometime during the pandemic, and so now you’re stuck flying to Tokyo first, then to New Chitose (Sapporo’s airport) from there. If you have more time, you can opt to spend a few days in Tokyo before flying to Sapporo, or after. This way, you get to hit up two cities! We even considered taking the JR train from Tokyo to Sapporo, but it would take longer AND the price was comparable (especially if you availed of a JR pass). Alas, we were pretty tight on time, so we decided to just fly.
In case you decide to fly Tokyo then Sapporo, make sure to check which airport you fly into and out of. Keep in mind Tokyo has two international airports – Narita (~45mins from the city center) and Haneda (smack dab in the middle of the city). If you’re trying to catch your domestic flight to Sapporo immediately after your international flight, make sure your arrival and departure is on the same terminal!
Manila-Tokyo Haneda-Sapporo New Chitose
In our case, we flew into Tokyo Haneda Terminal 3, then flew to Sapporo from Haneda Terminal 2. There’s a free shuttle bus connecting all three terminals. When you exit immigration and grab your luggage, just follow the signs that indicate “Free Shuttle Bus to Terminal 1, 2.”
We timed it. It took around 10-15 minutes travel time to get to Terminal 2 from Terminal 3, plus the time we waited for the bus to get full (although this was pretty quick)
At Terminal 3, check in your bags, then you’re free to roam around a bit before going in. We opted to grab dinner and buy some souvenirs first since we had time to kill. Can you imagine? Our trip hadn’t started yet and we were already buying souvenirs.
Sapporo New Chitose-Tokyo Narita-Manila
On the way back, we flew via Tokyo Narita. This was really cool actually because at New Chitose Airport’s domestic terminal, there’s an International Transfer counter (Counter 6 at the time). When you check in here, you get tickets for both legs of your flight AND you don’t need to pull out your bags at Tokyo and re-check in anymore. To be honest, I always thought this was the way it would work if you flew on the same airline (in our case, ANA codeshare with PAL), but I was surprised as we had to pick up our bags and re-check in when we were flying in to Sapporo.
Random note – I was SO impressed with the PAL lounge at NAIA Terminal 1. Newly renovated, it is really beautiful. Beautiful soft edges to the ceilings and walls, great acoustics, warm lighting, nice artworks and sculpture – beautiful ambiance overall. But most importantly, the food selection was GREAT. Lots of variety, and they tasted good! Kudos to the chef.
Pro tip: There’s a new budget Japanese airline called ZIPAIR and prices are damn cheap, and the planes are pretty new! Check them out for sure: https://www.zipair.net/en I’m always glad for some healthy competition!
Which hotel should I book?
Well, we stayed in Sapporo the entire time we were at Sapporo simply for comfort as it’s such a hassle to keep moving hotels. So the question in our mind was mostly – should we stay near the Sapporo JR Station, or stay near Susukino (the “happening” area) where most of the restaurants and bars can be found.
Hmm this is a tough question to answer. If you’re mostly just staying in Sapporo, then I’d suggest staying nearer to Susukino. But if you plan to go around Hokkaido, then staying near the JR Station might be better. Literally. Our hotel was a ~5-10 minute walk to the station, which is SUCH a blessing because we always seem to leave our room around 15-20 minutes before our train was due to leave!
Although the downside is, if we do want to grab dinner at Susukino, it was a good 20 minute walk from our hotel. Thankfully, the walk’s pretty chill as ALL the malls are connected to the underground walkway (which traverses the same path as the subway). It’s a lovely walk as you pass by shops and stores. We found my favorite ice cream and cheese tart place here – Kinotoya, as well as our favorite bakery – Donguri. So it’s actually a great excuse to explore.
Likewise, in case we were tired or in a rush, Susukino is also just a subway ride from the Sapporo JR Station, so that worked out for us too!
For reference, we booked Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel, which was admittedly a bit pricier than some other hotels, but was in a fantastic location (~5-10 mins walk from the station), had a large-ish room (in comparison to most Japan hotels), excellent bathroom and shower set up (separate stalls, with each having their own sink), and every other day housekeeping.
How do I get around Hokkaido?
Well, first off – it depends on where exactly you want to go in Hokkaido. For example, if you just want to go around Sapporo city proper, Japan IC cards like SUICA and Kitaka are accepted by Sapporo bus and subway system. Simply top up at any convenience store or top up machines at the station.
If you plan to go around Hokkaido on the other hand, you can opt to purchase single journey tickets for every stop OR purchase a JR Pass instead. It’s pretty important for you to map out your itinerary PRIOR to making this decision, as doing so will allow you to calculate how much you’d expect to spend on JR tickets to and from your destination, add them up, then compare against the cost of the JR Pass. Likewise, the JR Pass is also time-bound, so you’d need to make sure your itinerary fits with the JR Pass applicable period.
In our case, we decided to purchase the Sapporo-Furano Area Pass for 4 days: https://www.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/english/ticket/index.html
The pass costs 10,000 yen for foreign visitors (need to purchase ahead of time), which was so worth it because we were planning to go to Asahikawa for the Asahiyama Zoo (love this zoo so much), and one-way train ticket from Sapporo to Asahikawa already costs between 3500 to 5500 yen. So just that one round-way trip was already equivalent to the cost of the pass.
In essence, we used the 4 day pass as follows:
- Day 1: Train (Sapporo-JR Teine), Bus (JR Teine-Teine Ski Resort), Bus (Teine Ski Resort-JR Teine), Train (JR Teine-Sapporo)
- Day 2: Train (Sapporo-Otaru), Train (Otaru-Sapporo)
- Day 3: Train (Sapporo-Asahikawa), Train (Asahikawa-Sapporo)
- Day 4: Train (Sapporo-New Chitose Airport)
Another advantage of having a JR Pass is you won’t have to queue for tickets anymore. You can simply show up at the train station and get on the train. This was a HUGE help to us as we always run a bit late, so it was good to know that we could simply show up and get on.
Plus as a JR Pass holder, you can also book RESERVED SEAT tickets for certain trains, which we did for Asahikawa. This is nice, especially for the longer trips, as at least you’re assured of a seat even if you show up late.
To claim your ticket, simply bring the passport of all passengers who purchased the JR Pass, as well as the JR Pass QR Code/proof of purchase to any JR Station Information Center. They’ll then give you your tickets (1 per person). Safekeep this, as if you lose it, they will neither refund nor replace the ticket.
Do I need to get a travel simcard for WiFi?
First off, I am a HUGE fan of e-sims. In particular, I highly recommend Airalo. It’s easy to use and super convenient as you get to use your phone as normal while still accessing data. Gosh, I love technology. What I do not love is my Hong Kong-purchased iPhone, and my husband’s Globe-locked iPhone – which made it both incompatible with e-sims. Such a bummer!
So in the end, I bought a travel sim via Travel Sim PH instead (https://www.facebook.com/travelsimph/ ). We always buy from them and they’re pretty reliable. I 5GB only, since Japan has free WiFi everywhere, but tbh, we ran out by our 4th day. It was just too convenient to use our own data, and we were both Instagramming photos and videos quite heavily, so oops. I guess we really should have conserved our data a bit more.
Anything else I need to book in advance?
Well, it all depends on your itinerary. But couple of things you might want to consider booking ahead of time would be:
- Ski lessons. We opted to ski at Teine Ski Resort, as it was just 45 minutes away from Sapporo. Snows were great, and they had a pretty reputable ski school. Having said that, to book their ski lessons, make sure to book early as slots run out fast! They typically open slots by mid to end November, once they have a better idea of the weather conditions. Here’s the link: https://sapporo-teine.com/snow/lang/en/school.html . We got the whole day beginner ski lesson. It was pretty good, but the group was rather large, so the pace was pretty slow. Still, for first timers, this was good!
- Wow, a lot of the non-touristy restaurants in Japan require a reservation, which I kind of knew, but also wow did NOT expect at the same time. So we weren’t sure where exactly we’d end up or if we’d be too tired for legit dinner, so we didn’t bother to make reservations, but damn, every single restaurant we wanted to try needed one!!! Ohwell, we ended up checking out the more touristy stops (e.g. Ramen Alley), and they were all pretty good anyway, so all’s well that ends well. But if you have a particular restaurant you want to check out – make sure to ask your restaurant to help you make the reservation
- Tour Packages. If you want to do a shit ton of things, or you’re traveling with old people or babies – example: Asahiyama Zoo and the Blue Lake, you may want to book via Klook instead. It just makes things a bit more convenient since you’ve got a bus to shuttle you around, without missing the key tourist areas. The only downside here is really the time! Since you’re part of a group tour, you’ll need to follow the group schedule. I decided NOT to do this, because I really wanted to spend my own sweet time in each attraction
- Private Car & Driver: If you prefer doing your own private tour, you may opt to book a private driver. Here’s one recommended by friends: Masato Saitoh +81 90-6691-0046. You can contact him via Whatsapp
Have fun! For itinerary ideas, you can also check out my other Hokkaido blogs as well.