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Hokkaido in 14 days: Japan's great north from Sapporo to Hakodate

The northern island in two weeks: Sapporo, Otaru, the Furano hills, the Shiretoko Peninsula, the eastern lakes and Hakodate.

Sequenced by Kylian Updated on 27 September 2026

The Otaru canal and its old stone warehouses, in Hokkaidō
  • 14 days
  • 62 places
  • 13 nights
  • sustained pace

Online check of 27 September 2026: 9 hotels checked, 13 booking links tested, 5 tickets to book checked, 33 fixes made

Start
Sapporo
End
Hakodate
Main transport
Car
Recommended season
June to September, Furano lavender from mid-July to early August

What you get

  • The complete itinerary: 14 days sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Hotel
  • The card of every hotel, with the address and a direct booking link
  • Quota tickets, fixed-date tickets and surcharges flagged in advance
  • The country quick guide: weather, transport, formalities, budget
  • A PDF file of 37 pages

What the price does not include

  • Flights
  • Hotel nights
  • Tickets and admission fees
  • Travel insurance
  • On-the-ground assistance during your trip

The travel book preview

The free day in full, with its hotel card. This is the sample.

Day 12

Crater lakes and Ainu land

Morning

Travel: 1 hr 30 min by car from Kitakobushi Shiretoko Hotel & Resort, 92.8 km

Lake Mashū

The lake occupies a closed caldera, with no inflow or outflow: its water is among the most transparent in the world, with visibility measured up to some forty metres. The 200-metre walls make it impossible to go down; you look at it from viewpoints 1 and 3. The Ainu called it the sea of the mountain gods, and mist swallows it for a good part of the summer.

Open access · Parking: ¥500 at viewpoint no. 1 (valid the same day at the Mount Iō car park), free at viewpoint no. 3

Afternoon

Travel: 26 min by car, 24.4 km

Lake Kussharo, Sunayu and Wakoto

On the shore of the country's largest crater lake, hot water wells up under the sand: at Sunayu, you only have to dig about ten centimetres into the sand to make yourself a hand or foot bath. The Wakoto peninsula, linked by an isthmus, adds a 2.5 km path and an open-air bath at the water's edge.

Open access · Sunayu: free parking · Wakoto: free open-air bath

Travel: 1 hr by car, 56.4 km

Lake Akan and Ainu Kotan

Lake Akan is known for its marimo, balls of green algae that roll slowly on the bottom, protected as a natural treasure. On the shore, Ainu Kotan is the largest Ainu village in Hokkaidō: some thirty families, wood-carving workshops and a theatre.

Craft shops: hours vary from shop to shop, from 8:00 AM-10:30 AM to 9:00 PM-10:00 PM, irregular closures · Parking: free

Evening

Lost Kamuy

At the village's Ikor theatre, a show mixing traditional Ainu dances, contemporary dance and digital projections around the Hokkaidō wolf, extinct at the end of the nineteenth century. Half an hour, a single show at 9:00 PM, no booking needed: tickets on site or online through an agency.

Show at 9:00 PM · Admission: ¥2,200

Travel: 10 min on foot, 700 m

Hotel · Night 12

New Akan Hotel

A large spa establishment in the village of Akanko Onsen, about ten minutes' walk from the Ainu village. Its signature is the Sky Garden Spa, an infinity thermal pool on the roof of the 9th floor, which seems to melt into the lake facing Mount Oakan. Buffet dinner of more than eighty dishes.

Address
· 2-8-8 Akanko Onsen, Akan-chō, Kushiro 085-0467
Website
· newakanhotel.co.jp (new tab)
Check-in
3:00 PM · Check-out 10:00 AM
Book this hotel (new tab)

Travel times (Google Maps), opening hours and prices (official websites): checked on 27/09/2026, to be reconfirmed before departure.

Buy this itinerary

€39 incl. tax

that is €2.79 per day of travel

The buy button becomes active once the box is ticked.

  • Secure payment through Stripe, bank card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
  • Available immediately in your customer account: online reading with clickable booking links, downloadable PDF for offline use
  • Method: what is checked, and when

A hotel in the itinerary closed or impossible to find, a place to visit permanently closed?

Within 12 months of purchase, email contact@etaperia.com

Itinerary corrected within 7 days, or refunded in full. Terms in article 12 of the T&Cs, on top of the legal warranty (new tab)

€39 incl. tax · 14 days

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A question before buying? Email Kylian, reply within 48 working hours.

The day-by-day rundown

14 stops, 890 km as the crow flies

  1. Day 1 Arrival in Sapporo, from Ōdōri Park to Susukino Ōdōri Park Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  2. Day 2 Sapporo, red brick and the memory of the pioneers Hokkaidō Aka Renga Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  3. Day 3 Noguchi, chocolate and the baths of Jōzankei Moerenuma Park Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  4. Day 4 Otaru and the blue of Shakotan Otaru Canal Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  5. Day 5 Asahiyama and the hills of Biei Asahiyama Zoo Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  6. Day 6 Furano lavender and the Shirogane valley Farm Tomita Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  7. Day 7 The Sōunkyō gorge, gateway to Daisetsuzan Sōunkyō gorge Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  8. Day 8 Asahidake, the roof of Hokkaidō Asahidake ropeway and the Sugatami ponds Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  9. Day 9 Bihoro Pass and the Sea of Okhotsk Bihoro Pass Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  10. Day 10 Into Shiretoko, the end of the world Shiretoko National Park Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  11. Day 11 The cliffs of Shiretoko seen from the sea Shiretoko cruise Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  12. Day 12 Crater lakes and Ainu land Lake Mashū Free
  13. Day 13 The hell valley of Noboribetsu Jigokudani Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  14. Day 14 From Lake Tōya to Hakodate Lake Tōya Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF

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Country quick guide and logistics

The essentials of the country, scannable in ten seconds.

Weather and when to go

  • June to September for the full loop: the Furano lavender flowers from mid-July to early August, and the high roads and the Shiretoko pass are only clear from late May or June.
  • Mild summers, 20 to 26 °C, cool nights in the mountains: Hokkaido largely escapes the rainy season.

Transport and permits

  • A rental car is essential, picked up on day 3 in Sapporo: Hokkaido cannot be done by train. About 2,150 km on the route, an average of one hundred and fifty kilometres a day.
  • Which document you need depends on the country that issued your licence: a 1949 Geneva-format International Driving Permit for a UK, US, Irish, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand or Spanish licence, among others; an official Japanese translation for a French, Belgian, Swiss, German or Monégasque licence. A Mexican, Colombian, Uruguayan or Bolivian licence does not allow driving in Japan. Without the right document, no agency will hand over the car.

Formalities and safety

  • French nationals enter Japan visa-free for tourist stays of up to 90 days.

Budget and meals

  • The Shiretoko cruise and the ryokan of Sōunkyō and Utoro book up far in advance in July and August.
  • The guided slot for the ground-level paths of the Shiretoko Five Lakes is compulsory during the brown bear season, 10 May to 31 July; the raised boardwalk stays open to all.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I receive?

Your Étaperia itinerary, available immediately in your customer account after payment: readable online with clickable booking links, and downloadable as a PDF for the trip. Every day is sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening, with the hotel for each night, its address and its booking link, and timed-entry tickets flagged in advance.

How is this better than what an AI gives me?

A generative AI composes a plausible list in seconds, without saying what was checked or when. At Étaperia, every itinerary is sequenced by hand, place by place, with the booking constraints spotted before it is too late to get them. The Method page says what is checked, against which source and on what date.

Can I adapt it to my dates and my pace?

Yes. The days are self-contained blocks: you can shift the departure, stretch a stage or skip a day without breaking what follows. Only timed-entry tickets require adjusting the dates accordingly, and they are all flagged.

What if a hotel or a place in the itinerary has closed?

Email contact@etaperia.com within 12 months of your purchase. If a hotel in the itinerary is closed or can no longer be found, or a place to visit has closed permanently, the itinerary is corrected in your customer account within 7 days, or you are refunded in full. A hotel fully booked on your dates, a seasonal closure or a change in opening hours or prices is not covered. This guarantee comes on top of the legal warranty of conformity; details in article 12 of the terms and conditions of sale.

Who is selling you this itinerary

  • Kylian, sole trader, SIRET 927 587 709 00035
  • Consumer mediator: ANM Consommation
  • Payment handled by Stripe: Étaperia never sees your card number
  • Publisher, not a travel agency: you book flights, hotels and tickets yourself

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To read before you go

Our articles about Japan

The bands of flowers on the hills of Biei, in Hokkaidō

Japan

How many days do you need for Hokkaidō?

Fourteen days are enough to loop Hokkaidō from Sapporo to Hakodate. You need eighteen to add the far north and the climb up Rishiri-Fuji.

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