Our first trip visiting Hokkaido on our own – Sapporo > Otaru > Niseko > Hakodate > Toya-ko (by public transport).
Sapporo
Remaining snow was on the roads/pavements here and there, while some Azaleas were blossoming.
Former Gov’t Bldg
old clock
Tower in Odori Park
Sapporo Beer factory
tsutsuji (azalea)
Otaru
Easy day visit and stayed in hotel overlooking Otaru Port.
otaru canal
BOJ Otaru Museum
kitaichi glass emporium
“Sea Cat house”
old Hokkaido bank (otaru bine)
Port view from Hilton hotel
Niseko
stayed in Niseko Konbu onsen for the first time. Returned in 2008 by car.
Mt Annpuri
dinner
Hakodate
visited the Historical Buildings area including the ex-British Consulate where we had a tea set. Had dinner in the warehouse area. Returned in 2008 for Mt Hakodate night view and others.
russian orthodox church
catholic church
view from Hachiman-saka dori
old public hall of hakodate
ex-British consulate
tea set
meijikan
Onuma National Park
On next day, went to the famous morning market to have breakfast. Took the Steam Locomotive (SL train) to visit Onuma National Park. Spent about 2 hours there.
After landing in New Chitose airport, took train to Obihiro and stayed overnight. Picked up rental car on next morning then drove to Akan-ko. Stayed in Tsuruga onsen ryokan for the first time.
Akan-ko
It was a rainy and cold day, around 11C if my memory was correct even in end May.
Ainu village
Tsuruga
view of Akan-ko
Higashi-Mokoto Shibazakura Park (東藻琴芝桜公園)
It was a rainy day with drizzles at times, but the scenery was awesome with the scale of Shibazakura on the hill slope.
visited this lake for the first time and immediately fell in love with it. It was serene with almost perfect reflections from the hotel garden and from room.
wild onsen along lake rim
serene reflections in lake
plants in the hotel garden
view from room
Kotan onsen in the wild
Tokachigawa onsen
stayed in this onsen for the first time and would return another 5 times.
The Yuni Garden is a huge English garden. Various flowers were blooming in late June when we visited. Worthy to spend a few hours there for those who love gardens and flowers.
After a brief overnight stay in Yubari, drove to Obihiro and stayed in our favourite Tokachigawa onsen with ensuite rotenburo again.
90-year old soba shop in Obihiro
Tokachigawa onsen park
stayed in one of our favourite onsen ryokans
overlooking Tokachigawa from our balcony
sunset
Tokachi plain from observatory
Biei+Furano
Minami-Furano
stopped by serene Kanayama-ko while driving en route to Furano.
Kanayama-ko
Tomita Farm
flowers were blooming such as Iris, Dahlia, Gazania, Poppy and early Lavender indoor flower beds etc.
Iris
Dahlia
Gazania
early Lavender species
Marguerite
Tokachi range in the distance
Poppy
Senbou-toge, Flowerland
Stopped by Senbou-toge for panoramic view of Tokachi plain, and to our surprise Wisteria (Fuji) was blooming in the resting area. Wild Lupins were blooming here and there on the road side and Flowerland.
Wisteria (Fuji)
wild Lupins
Shikisai-no-oka, Biei Patchwork Road
Dropped by Shikisai-no-oka as usual and had quick lunch there. Re-visited some famous trees in that area before visiting the Philosophical Tree. We did not realize this would be our last encounter 🙁
2nd visit since 2004. Dropped by Onuma National Park while en route. Koyo was about 10%. Took an easy walking path of 1 hour. Nice view of Mount Komagatake in the distance.
Yunokawa onsen and Trappist Convent
While we took a day time onsen in Yunokawa in 2004, we stayed in an onsen ryokan with seaview and rotenburo in-room. On the next morning, visited the Trappist Monastery before returning to Hakodate city.
view of Mt Hakodate from onsen ryokan
Kaiseki dinner in-room
our room with rotenburo facing the sea
Trappist Convent
Back in Hakodate city, we first visited Kosetsu-en, a famous garden for Koyo. Though Koyo was about 10%, it was a nice walk. We then headed to the morning market for lunch and checked in to new onsen hotel with view of Mt Hakodate and bay. Went up to Mt Hakodate for famous nightview. The narrow road up to the peak was so congested that there were long lines of cars and buses on either way. On the next morning, we strolled around in the bay area before heading back to Sapporo.
at the north-western tip of Hokkaido. Took about 2 hours from Niseko to skirt around the coastline to get there.
coastline while heading north to Cape Kamui
Shimamui-kaikan in Shakotan Peninsula
clear blue sea water from above
Otaru Shukutsu
Took about 1 hour drive from Shakotan to Otaru. Stayed in a hotel overlooking the Shukutsu coastline in Otaru. as we have visited Otaru twice before, did not stop by the city centre this time.
Hoheikyo and Jozankei onsen
our first visit – Koyo was a bit late in both, which are in the outskirts of Sapporo. Stayed overnight in an onsen ryokan in Jozankei.
In this Koyo trip, we visited Hokkaido from mid to late Oct starting from Shikotsu-ko, Toya-ko, Niseko, Cape Kamui, Hoheikyo, Otaru, Sapporo and Hakodate.
Shikotsu-ko
First stay right after landing in nearby New Chitose airport, about 30min by car. Deep-blue lake in peak Koyo.
sunrise from onsen ryokan
Toya-ko
Koyo was a bit after peak. Nevertheless, it was a sunny day and it was my first shots on fireworks.
view from Sairo Observatory
Ukimido
Mt Yotei in the distance
Niseko
visited Shinsen-numa for the 1st time. Koyo was clearly beyond peak in mid-Oct due to higher elevation. Refer to our trip in Oct 2013 when we visited 1 week earlier to catch peak Koyo.
Half-moon lake
At the foothill of Mt Yotei, about 15-20min walk from car park through a forest of White Birch (Shirakaba in Japanese).
Drove to Tomita Farm in Kami-Furano. When we arrived at Hinode (sunrise) garden in Biei after 3pm, sun was slowly setting and it shined a warm yellowish orange glow in the fields, a slightly pink glow in the far away Mt Tokachi range.
Tomita farm
Biei
Biei
On the next day, we continued our visits in Biei. First we went to Flowerland where the deep red Kochia quickly caught our attention, whereas the pink Cosmos is a widely seen in Autumn Hokkaido. Next we quickly drove around the Patchwork road to visit the Mild-Seven trees, the family trees, Ken & Mary tree, the Philosophical tree – our favourite. From Shikisai-no-oka, we noticed the Mt Tokachi range was well covered in snow (in the distance), so we headed up to the mountain gate where it was covered in snow.
Flowerland
Family tree
Ken & Mary tree
Mt Tokachi range
Philosophical tree
Mt Tokachi from Biei
X’mas tree
Sapporo
in Sapporo, fall foliage was probably at 70% peak. Visited the campus of University of Hokkaido, and Nakajima Park.
Returned to Hokkaido for a 10-day trip from mid to late October by car. This was to time for peak fall foliage in places like Shiretoko, lakes in Teshikaga, Tokachi, Biei/Furano etc.
Sounkyo > Abashiri (層雲峽 > 網走)
Took JR express train to Asahikawa straight from New Chitose airport. Next morning picked up rental car and arrived at Sounkyo around noon. Fall foliage obviously has passed its peak as expected. Visited the dual waterfall – Ginga-no-Taki (Milky Way Galaxy waterfall) and Ryusei-no-Taki (meteor waterfall). Next day, stopped by Mt Tento in Abashiri while driving to Shiretoko. From Mt Tento, Abashiri-ko and Okhotsk Bay can be seen.
Ginga-no-taki, Ryusei-no-taki
Sounkyo
Daisetsu dam
Tentosan in Abashiri
Abashiri-ko
Shiretoko 5 lakes (知床五湖)
Stayed in a nice onsen hotel in Utoro town (see ONSEN page). Next day visited World Heritage Shiretoko 5 lakes. It was an easy walking trail. Fall colours were not that brilliant – peak might have passed. Bumped into wild deers so everybody around suddenly went silent. Afterwards, drove to Shiretoko-toge (Pass) for a close-up view of Mt Rausu, whose summits were already covered by some snow patches. On the way to Shari, stopped by Oshikoshin-no-taki (waterfall).
Shiretoko national park
walking along the trails of 5-lake area
Mt Rausu range
wild deers
Mt Rausu
Shiretoko toge (Pass)
Oshinoshin-no-taki
Kussharo-ko, Mashu-ko, Akan-ko (屈斜路湖 >摩周湖 > 阿寒湖)
2nd visit to these 3 lakes we like most in Hokkaido East. Drove to Bihoro-toge (Pass) and Wakoto Peninsula for nice views of Kussharo-ko. Stayed in Kussharo-ko onsen hotel as we love the serene lakeview from hotel room. On next day we went to Mashu-ko. Unlike in May we finally had a panoramic view (clear of fog) from 3rd observatory deck. Finally, we went to Akan-ko and stayed in Tsuruga onsen hotel (see ONSEN page).
From Tokachi we drove to Tokachigawa for our favourite onsen in Hokkaido, while stopping by Ikeda for lunch, where it produces wines from local grapes. On next day, we drove to Furano, stopping by Shintoku for famous soba produced locally when a rainbow showed up briefly. Next we drove past Minami-Furano where some colourful foliage was along the road.
