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Sapporo

Snow Sculptures, Miso Ramen and the Gateway to Hokkaido

Plan this trip
2 daysIdeal stay₹5,450From / night₹2,120Food / day₹1,270Entry

Hokkaido's capital, an hour and a half's flight from Tokyo: a grid city built in the 1870s with Odori Park down the middle, where the Snow Festival fills the park with ice and snow sculptures in early February. Eat miso ramen, soup curry and crab, drink at the Sapporo Beer Museum, and take the ropeway up Mount Moiwa for the night view. The canal town of Otaru is 40 minutes away; Niseko and Furano are two to three hours, and Hakodate, where the shinkansen from Tokyo arrives, about four hours south by train. Winters are long and snowy.

Highlights

  • Sapporo Snow Festival (early February)
  • Miso ramen in Ramen Yokocho
  • Mount Moiwa night view
  • Odori Park and the TV Tower
  • Nijo Market crab and sea urchin
  • Sapporo Beer Museum
  • Otaru canal and glass shops
  • Hokkaido soup curry
  • Jozankei hot springs

Things to do

  • Odori Park, TV Tower & clock towerMorning · 2h
  • Nijo Market seafood breakfastMorning · 1h 30m
  • Sapporo Beer Museum & beer gardenAfternoon · 2h
  • Mount Moiwa ropeway at nightEvening · 2h
  • Otaru canal day tripMorning · 5h
  • Ramen Yokocho in SusukinoEvening · 1h 30m

Tours & tickets

Tours & tickets in Sapporovia GetYourGuideTours & tickets in Sapporovia Klook

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When to go

Best time: June – September, December – February (snow)

Heads up

Golden Week Crowds (29 April – 5 May)

Golden Week is a run of national holidays from 29 April to 5 May: shinkansen and domestic flights sell out, hotels raise prices, and sights are packed. Book transport and rooms early, or plan around those dates.

Heads up

Obon Holiday Rush (mid-August)

Around 13–16 August Japan travels home for Obon: trains and flights are full (Nozomi trains ran reserved seats only at Obon 2026), and resort hotels charge peak rates. Reserve seats for every long journey that week.

Heads up

Hokkaido Snow and Cold

December to March is snowy and -5 to -15 °C in Hokkaido. Flights from New Chitose and trains are delayed or cancelled in storms a few times each winter, so keep a spare half-day before a flight home. Pack a warm coat, gloves and shoes with grip; drive only with winter experience.

Heads up

Sapporo Snow Festival Week

In early February the Snow Festival brings two million visitors: hotel prices double and flights from Tokyo fill. Book months ahead.

  • Golden Week — Four public holidays in a week, when much of Japan travels: shinkansen and domestic flights sell out, hotel prices rise, and sights are packed. Avoid travelling between cities on the first and last days.
  • Obon — The festival of the ancestors, around 13-16 August: families travel home, shinkansen and flights sell out (Nozomi trains ran reserved seats only at Obon 2026), and there are Bon dances and lantern floats in towns across Japan.
  • New Year (Shogatsu) · 31 Dec — Japan's biggest holiday: temples ring their bells 108 times at midnight on 31 December and millions make the first shrine visit (hatsumode), Meiji Jingu and Fushimi Inari above all. Many museums, restaurants and offices close from about 29 December to 3 January; trains run, but are full around the start and end.
  • Sapporo Snow Festival — For about a week in early February, Odori Park fills with snow and ice sculptures, some the size of buildings, lit up at night, with ice slides at Tsudome. Two million visitors: book flights and rooms months ahead.
  • Hokkaido ski season — Powder snow from December to March, best in January and February. Niseko's lodging and lift passes peak over Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year; book by summer.