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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/herodotus67 on 2025-07-03 12:27:53+00:00.
I’m posting this to summarise my thoughts while travelling (part of) Hokkaido. It’s going to be as realistic and detailed as possible, with some highs and lows thrown in there that you can fight over in the comments.
Hokkaido is a land of ice and fire (any GOT fans?). It is perishingly cold in the winter, with Japanese people travelling there to ski its many mountains. But it’s also a fiery volcanic region, perfect for those drawn to hot springs and dramatic landscapes.
I landed in Sapporo. It has a winter theme to it, even in summer, with imagery of polar bears, penguins and snowflake manhole covers. As a city, it is honestly top 5 strangest I’ve ever visited. There is an enormous underground city with a huge network of tunnels. Everything you could ever need is sold in shops underground, so you could basically live there. And I think that’s almost the idea; as I said, it can be very cold in Sapporo, so I imagine the tunnels allow locals to shelter from the elements while still making it a walkable commute.
Very little to no English is spoken here, which is fine, you just need to get used to using Google Translate (download Japanese offline and Japanese Romaji keyboard so they can type on it). It came as a shock when I visited a bus station in Sapporo and there were no attendants, only Japanese signs and I was constantly getting lost in the underground maze. The first night felt like I may never find my way out of the city, trapped in a haze of neon ramen shops and dark tunnels.
Speaking of shocks, there are small differences that you need to get used to. I found out quickly that you need to tap your Suica card (download to Apple wallet for bus/metro) both on AND off the bus to be charged when I was shouted at angrily by a bus driver for not tapping off (this is not the case where I’m from, you just tap in and get charged a fixed rate). Also, for some reason one of the information points was beyond the barriers in the metro, which appear to be open, but when I tried to walk through to the info point they slammed shut and gave me a fright.
Some side notes about Sapporo; Odori park is nice, it’s the main square with Sapporo clock tower, Hokkaido university and its botanical garden, and Sapporo Factory are worth a visit. While there, I stayed in Hotel + Hostel Sapporo, which was very good for £11 per night and located on the Tanukikoji arcade.
Looking at transport out of the city, I had options of the bullet train (too expensive, a £50 train along the coast to Hakodate, a car rental, or a moped <50cc. As long as you have a standard driver’s licence that usually covers mopeds without a motorbike licence, and importantly an International Drivers Permit (you NEED to get this in your home country before arriving), then you’re good to go, and this is what I wanted to do. I had ambitions of purchasing a bike and driving it down South. After much back and forth with a motorbike dealership, using Google translate, it turned out that I needed to pay city tax at the city tax office in order to register the bike, which you CANNOT DO WITHOUT A RESIDENCY CARD. So you should basically forget about buying a bike in Japan. Of course, I did consider renting via rental819.com but they (and seemingly none of them) do drop off in a different location.
One of the ways people get around this (generally, not exclusive to Japan) is to register it in the name of a friend who lives in Japan. Of course, they would need to be living in the city you buy it, and pay the tax. Others get help from their hostel to register it at their address, but my hostel could not help me. I ended up going to the city tax office on a whim, but it didn’t work. It was an interesting experience though; I honestly feel that parts of Japan are stuck in the 80s with incredible amounts of bureaucracy and red tape. Even just walking into the tax office I felt like I was in the Soviet era (the underground tunnels fit this vibe too). Japan is strange in that some things are very advanced (famously the toilets) but other things feel retro like some of the decor.
Anyway, I ended up renting a car using klook.com and had no problems. It was booked through Orix and they spoke English when I picked it up. Now some things about my road trip in Hokkaido. I decided not to do Daisetsuzan national park because it was in the opposite direction of my destination (I’m travelling North -> South Japan). It looks great, but quite similar to Noboribetsu Jigokudani valley or Mount E which I will describe in more detail.
The trip went smoothly, Japanese driving is pretty easy (at least for me as someone who drives on the left). The speed limits in Japan are extremely conservatives. Almost every road, even ones that feel like they should be fast, are 50 kmh (30 mph). However, basically everyone on the road drives 10-20 kmh over the limit because enforcement is lax (watch me now get tickets in the post for following their lead). While there in summer, there were also lots of roadworks and closures, possibly because they can’t access some roads in winter due to ice.
As for my itinerary, I tried to visit Mt. Sapporo and Mt. Eniwa but couldn’t because of said closures. If you really wanted to, I did find trails for both (for Mt. Sapporo you can head towards Kudan Falls and should find the trail) but they warned of bears and to not trek it alone, so I didn’t. Lake Shikotsu you could probably give a miss.
However, Lake Toya is a must, specifically Shikotsu Toya National Park Silo Observation Deck where you get an incredible view. Another one absolutely worth the visit is Noboribetsu Jigokudani Valley (Hell Valley), and Oyunama Pond. They are active hot springs. Most people won’t do the walk to the pond but it’s only 10 minutes from the valley and it’s so worth it. I also saw some deer in the valley which was pretty cool (there are lots of deer in Shikotsu-Toya national park).
I then drove up towards Mt. Yotei, where I came across the thickest fog I’ve seen in my life. With about 2% visibility for an hour, I had my hazards on constantly. My guess is it can be like this quite often when the weather is hot plus the volcanic activity, so just beware. Unfortunately I didn’t get a great view of Mt. Yotei because it was clouded at the peak, but pictures online show it’s worth a visit. You can see it from Kyoguku and Kutchan.
I then spent the night in Otaru at an Airbnb which was a traditional Japanese Minka with a futon bed. You should definitely experience this while in Japan.
On my last day in Hokkaido, I drove the coastal route from Shakotan, to Iwanai, to Hakodate. There’s some pretty jurassic looking features of the coast that are cool to see. Once in Hakodate I went to the Seikan Ferry Hakodate Terminal and bought a ferry ticket on the spot. They go every 2-3 hours and I had no problem just turning up, though you can book on something like on the Seikan website or tsugarukaikyo.co.jp if it’s 2 days in advance.
Some final tips. Buy an eSIM on Airalo and activate it before you get to Japan, because there isn’t much public WiFi including airports. Japan is known for being expensive too, but that hasn’t been my experience. You can get lunches from 7-11 or Seicomart for <£5, and dinner at a decent restaurant for £6-11 including drink. If you are taking bullet trains or buy the JRP it will quickly add up, so look at buses instead.
Useful links Motorbike rental: https://rental819.com/ Car rental: https://www.klook.com/en-US/car-rentals Buses: https://12go.asia/en and https://secure.j-bus.co.jp/