Bus Tours in Sapporo

Biei Seasonal Highlights Day Trip from Sapporo

Good day overall, considering pretty ambitious itinerary!

We had a good day on this small group tour. We felt our guide Wakana navigated the bilingual tour really well (English and Korean speaking participants). We got picked up at ~9:15am and dropped off at 8:10pm. It's actually a pretty ambitious day considering ~300km of travel with several stops. It's an itinerary only a small-ish group in a mini van can pull off, not a whole tour bus. I'd advise future participants that each stop isn't going to be, understandably, very long with the given itinerary. Some stops (e.g. mild seven hill) are really photo-ops and some are "technical" stops only (eg service areas); they shouldn't require much time but they do add up to eat up time throughout the day. We specifically felt Shikisai no Oka stop was too short since we are paying extra 500jpy for admission and 40minutes didn't do it justice. Our lunch stop at Biei station felt sufficient, but we did opt for fast food, had we opted for a sit-down place (likely with a queue, as the area was very popular with tour busses that day) it may have felt rushed. Other than the above pacing issue, overall the day was worthwhile, seeing some precious scenaries, cute towns, and trying out cuisine. The info the guide added was meaningful too, with bonus suggestions for dinning options in Sapporo, which we took advantage of after.

Hokkaido Cape Kamui Shimamui Coast Otaru Day Tour from Sapporo

Great tour if you only want a driver, not a guide

The locations along the route were great, with a stunning start at Cape Kamui and really fun museum visit of whiskey factory and town of Otaru. Our guide was more of a driver than a guide; she spoke very little English and took us to all the places, but there was no explanation of history, etc.

[Sapporo] Go by private car! Takino Cemetery, Hokkaido Shrine, Shiroi Koibito Park

Great!

Our tour guide did not speak english, but she did her best with the translator app. I appreciated her trying her best. She was a local and I think that gave a special charm to the private tour. She was so kind and patient with us! It would have been nice to have someone help us through the Fish market but we managed. Additionally, the Takino Cemetery Budda was closed until March. You can go see the other statues at the Cemetery, but we really wanted to see the Budda.