The Best Things to Do in Hokkaido
Season by Season

The gateway to Hokkaido and the home base for almost every trip. Odori Park cuts a 1.5 km green ribbon straight through the city centre, with the TV Tower at one end — a lovely stroll in any season. In summer there are fountains to splash in; in winter it becomes the stage for the largest snow festival in Japan. Around it you'll find the historic Clock Tower, the Sapporo Beer Museum, and the buzzing Susukino nightlife district.

A seaside port town just 30–40 minutes from Sapporo, the Otaru Canal is lined with 1920s brick warehouses and gas lamps that are lit every evening. At sunset, or under a blanket of snow, it's the most photographed scene in town. The Sakaimachi shopping street is packed with music-box shops, glassware studios, and some of the freshest sushi in Hokkaido.

The defining image of summer in Hokkaido — rows of lavender shading into bands of multicoloured flowers at Farm Tomita in Nakafurano. Just beyond lies Biei, with its rolling "patchwork" hills and the surreal turquoise Blue Pond. This is exactly why so many travellers choose to visit Hokkaido in July specifically.

The most famous zoo in Japan, thanks to enclosures designed to show animals' real behaviour — penguins swimming overhead in a glass tunnel, polar bears diving right in front of you. The undisputed highlight is the winter Penguin Walk, when a line of penguins waddles across the snow. Kids adore it, and it's the main reason families make the trip to Asahikawa.

One of the night views most often called the finest in Japan. Hakodate sits on a narrow isthmus, so the lights on either coast curve into a glittering fan shape — from the summit it looks like jewels scattered across the dark. The ropeway whisks you to the top in just a few minutes. By day, the city also has a famous morning market, the star-shaped Goryokaku fort, and the historic Motomachi district.

Hokkaido's most famous hot-spring town. Its heart is Jigokudani, or "Hell Valley" — a volcanic crater hissing with sulphur steam and boiling water, ringed by wooden walkways that let you see it up close. This is the source that feeds the mineral baths of ryokan all over town. Soaking in an outdoor onsen here, surrounded by snow, is Hokkaido at its most quintessential — and it's an easy day trip from Sapporo.

A national park gathering several beautiful caldera lakes. The highlight is Lake Toya, its clear water encircled by Mt. Usu and the still-steaming Showa-Shinzan volcano, with fireworks over the water almost every night in summer. Nearby Lake Shikotsu has some of the clearest water in all of Japan. It's the place to come when you want to escape the cities and lose yourself in nature.

A name skiers everywhere know. Niseko catches frigid air sweeping in from Siberia across the Sea of Japan, so it receives 10–15 metres of dry, feather-light powder a year — the famous "Japow." The main resort, Niseko United, links four ski areas, with celebrated night skiing and ski-in hotels and ryokan with onsen for soaking after a full day on the slopes. In summer it becomes a hub for cycling and white-water rafting.

If Hakodate has its night view, Sapporo has Mt. Moiwa. A two-stage cable car carries you to a summit where the city lights stretch out all the way to the mountains. It's celebrated as one of Japan's "new top three night views," with a couples' bell and a café at the top — the perfect romantic way to close out a day in Sapporo.

Hakodate was one of the first Japanese ports to open to the West, and its Motomachi district is full of churches, former consulates, and European-style houses climbing the hillside. The Hachimanzaka slope, running dead-straight down to the sea, is the classic photo spot. Right by the bay are the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses, now a popular shopping-and-dining waterfront.