Things to do in Sapporo
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Sapporo
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Coldest and snowiest month, best powder at Teine and Kokusai and the quietest festival free weeks.
Snow Festival month, the signature trip if you booked hotels 4 to 6 months ahead.
Worst stretch plainly, late March to mid April slush with ski dying and blossom not yet here.
Cherry blossom late April to early May at Maruyama, then fresh green uncrowded May.
Dry and pleasant with YOSAKOI, green and pre peak prices, a connoisseur alternative.
Beer garden, lavender and golf season with warm days, cool evenings and no rainy season.
Best food and foliage window, Autumn Fest in September and Jozankei colour in early to mid October.
Quiet cheap shoulder in late November, good for eating and thin for outdoors.
What's on
- Sapporo Snow Festival Usually early February, about a week
Snow and ice sculptures across Odori, Susukino and Tsudome, drawing roughly 2 million visitors.
- Sapporo White Illumination late Nov-mid-Mar
Illuminations across Odori, Station and Susukino through winter.
- German Christmas Market late Nov-25 Dec
Christmas market in Odori Park through to Christmas Day.
- Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival late Jan-Feb
Ice festival at Lake Shikotsu, run as an excursion from Sapporo.
- FIS Ski Jumping World Cup at Okurayama typically a February weekend
World Cup jumping at the Olympic large hill in Okurayama.
- Cherry blossom hanami at Maruyama late Apr-early May
Hanami picnics at Maruyama Park and Hokkaido Jingu weeks after Tokyo's blossom.
- Sapporo Lilac Festival late May
Around 400 lilac trees in Odori and Kawashimo Park with a wine garden and outdoor concerts.
- YOSAKOI Soran Festival early June
Thousands of dancers with naruko clappers across about 20 stages in Odori and downtown.
- Odori Park Beer Garden mid-July-mid-August
Brewery run gardens along Odori Park, billed as Japan's largest, plus the Sapporo Summer Festival.
- Pacific Music Festival July-August
Classical festival founded by Leonard Bernstein, running through summer.
Best things to do in Sapporo
Sapporo Snow Festival
Giant snow sculptures in Odori, ice carvings in Susukino and snow play at Tsudome, all in one February week.
Mt. Moiwa Ropeway
Two stage ride to a 531m summit where you watch the city grid switch from daylight to a famous night view.
Moerenuma Park
Noguchi designed landscape you walk and cycle inside, with a glass pyramid, hills and play sculptures.
Sapporo Beer Museum
Japan's only beer museum, in the 1890 red brick brewery, covering Sapporo Beer history since 1876.
Sapporo Beer Garden
Jingisukan lamb and fresh draft beer in cavernous brick halls next to the Beer Museum, best booked for dinner.
Maruyama Park
Forested locals park for cherry blossom picnics, New Year crowds and autumn colour away from central events.
Hokkaido Jingu
Hokkaido's main Shinto shrine, founded in 1869 and wrapped in Maruyama Park forest.
Odori Park
A 1.5km green boulevard that hosts snow, beer, food and light festivals and works as an everyday walk.
Where to stay in Sapporo
Odori Park
first trip, all-round base
Middle of the centre, festival ground at the door, all three subway lines and walks to Station and Susukino.
Sapporo Station
transport, day trips and ski buses
Trains and buses from your door and the JR Tower complex means you never need to go outside in a blizzard.
Susukino
food and nightlife
Densest eating in the city and the latest opening, with good hotels often cheaper than Odori.
Nakajima Park
quiet and family base
Leafy park with a pond and concert hall one stop south of Susukino, calm and good value.
Maruyama
repeat visitors who want to live like locals
Cafes, the shrine and park as your morning, small design hotels and 15 minutes by subway to Odori.
Jozankei Onsen
one splurge ryokan night, not a base
Private and open air baths with kaiseki dinner mid trip, but an hour by bus on every city day if you base there.
Think twice about
- Susukino crossing core
Loud and tout active at night, with street pitches leading to bars with inflated undisclosed charges. Never follow a tout.
- New Chitose Airport and Chitose city
Only sensible for a late arrival or dawn flight, otherwise 40 plus minutes and a train fare on every Sapporo day.
- Far suburbs sold as Sapporo
Shin-Sapporo, Teine and Kiyota are fine residential districts but add a 25 to 40 minute commute with nothing at the door.
- Niseko and Rusutsu as a Sapporo base
Ski resorts two plus hours away and a different holiday if the trip is Sapporo.
Best restaurants in Sapporo
Menya Saimi
Rich balanced miso ramen with yellow curly noodles from a chef trained at Sumire, worth crossing the city for.
Ramen Shingen
Thirteen seat late night miso institution with a creamy rich bowl and a mostly local queue.
Ebisoba Ichigen Honten
Shrimp broth ramen customised by blend, base and noodle, with a shrimp onigiri for the last of the soup.
Soup Curry GARAKU Honten
Benchmark soup curry with Hokkaido vegetables and a chicken leg, heat graded to your number.
Jingisukan Daruma Honten
Lamb cooked on a charcoal dome grill since 1954, counter only and smoky, with branches for shorter queues.
Nemuro Hanamaru
Conveyor sushi at Hokkaido quality with double scallops, fatty herring, ikura and Hanasaki crab soup.
Sushi Miyakawa
Intimate Maruyama omakase counter serving Hokkaido fish with Edomae discipline, the splurge sushi night.
Ohiso
Market breakfast bowls of crab, uni, ikura and scallops at a long running Nijo Market restaurant.
Outdoor things to do in Sapporo
Sapporo Teine
Olympic mountain 40 minutes away with beginner and steep zones, night skiing, rentals and city views.
Sapporo Kokusai Ski Resort
Gondola served resort strong for beginners and families that holds snow late into spring.
Jozankei Onsen
Onsen gorge an hour away for canoe, SUP and rafting in summer, foliage in autumn and snow baths in winter.
Hoheikyo Dam
Side valley above Jozankei named as Sapporo's best autumn colour, peaking in early to mid October.
Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium
Chairlift to the Olympic large hill start gate for a jumper's eye view over the whole city.
Otaru
Meiji port day trip by train for the canal, glass workshops, music boxes, sushi lunch and Mt. Tengu view.
Sapporo Golf Club Wattsu Course
Seiichi Inoue design from 1958 and host of the ANA Open since 1973, the historic championship test.
Nidom Classic Course
Tournament course in 1,200 acres of spruce and oak forest, pitched as the best first round of a golf trip.
Best hotels in Sapporo
Onsen Ryokan Yuen Sapporo
City ryokan near Odori with real onsen style baths, tatami modern rooms and a strong Japanese breakfast.
Sapporo Park Hotel
Grande dame park side hotel with larger rooms than the business chains, facing the park.
Hotel Resol Trinity Sapporo
Park facing mid range hotel on Odori Nishi with a large public bath, a step below Yuen money.
Hotel + Hostel Sapporo
Hostel hotel inside Tanukikoji arcade with dorms and small private rooms minutes from Odori and Susukino.
JR Tower Hotel Nikko Sapporo
Rooms from the 23rd floor inside JR Tower above the station, unbeatable in snow and for early trains.
Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo
Reliable mid range hotel a few minutes from the station with a good public bath.
Mitsui Garden Hotel Sapporo West
The newer and quieter of the two Mitsui Garden properties near Sapporo Station, with a public bath.
Toyoko Inn Hokkaido Sapporo-eki Minami-guchi
No frills business hotel a few blocks from the station south exit, with compact clean rooms and free breakfast.
Is Sapporo expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ¥15,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ¥24,000 a person |
| Splurge | ¥48,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Sapporo Beer Garden: a few days ahead
- Sapporo 6hr Private Tour with a Government Licensed Guide: a few days ahead
- Sapporo Teine: a few days ahead
- Sapporo Kokusai Ski Resort: a few days ahead
- Sapporo Golf Club Wattsu Course: weeks ahead
- Nidom Classic Course: weeks ahead
- Hokkaido Classic Golf Club: weeks ahead
- The North Country Golf Club: weeks ahead
- Snow Festival hotels in Odori, Station and Susukino book 4 to 6 months out at two to three times normal prices.
- Sushi Miyakawa and top counters need weeks ahead through a concierge or reservation platform.
- Reserve Sapporo Beer Garden for dinner, especially Fridays, festival weeks and July to August.
- Book English ski lessons, ski bus packages and visitor golf times before the trip, not on the day.
Is Sapporo safe?
- Sapporo is very safe for violent crime and walking the centre at night is normal, including for solo women.
- Realistic risks are icy pavements, tout led bar bills in Susukino and blizzards stopping airport trains.
- Follow trail closure signs around Moiwa and Maruyama when bear activity closes paths.
- Emergency numbers are 110 for police and 119 for fire and ambulance. Carry your passport.
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
Sapporo travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Clock Tower interior is famously underwhelming. Photograph the exterior free and enter only for a specific interest.
- Ganso Ramen Yokocho trades on its address with mixed quality. Pick the shop with the local queue.
- Doing TV Tower, JR Tower T38 and Moiwa is the same city three times. Pick Moiwa at sunset plus one tower.
- At Nijo Market confirm the total price of any crab before it is weighed and cooked, and compare two stalls.
- Never follow a Susukino tout to a venue with no printed prices.
Getting around Sapporo: public transport and more
- Take the JR Rapid Airport train from New Chitose to Sapporo Station in 37 to 40 minutes, not a taxi.
- Get a Kitaca IC card on arrival. The weekend Donichika Kippu day pass is the bargain at 520 yen.
- In winter use the underground passages linking Station, Odori and Susukino and budget 1.5 times summer walking times.
- Wear boots with real tread from December to March and consider slip on ice cleats sold at stations.
Who Sapporo suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Sapporo your trip
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