7 nights · Summer
Hokkaido in summer: Hakodate, Lake Shikotsu and the valleys below Mount Yotei
North from Tokyo by Shinkansen to the port of Hakodate, then up the island to a lake in a caldera south of Sapporo and to a valley at Niseko below Mount Yotei. It is for cool weather, walking and the lake, and dinner from Hokkaido's farms and seas.
- Nights
- 7
- Stays
- 3
- When
- Summer
Japan
We build it around you
Tell us your dates, your pace and who is travelling. We draw the route around them, choose the inns and rooms, arrange the trains and cars between each stay, and stay one point of contact from the first plan to the last night. Every stay at its own rate.
Already have an itinerary in mind?
Have it reviewed for USD 85The trip, leg by leg
1 · Day trainMaedaAkihiko, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsGranClassGranClass on the Hayabusa, with an attendant and a light meal, from Tokyo to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto in about four hours; the hotel is about 35 minutes by car.
2 · 2 nightsHotel Biaclyn HakodateSix suites in the former Russian consulate of 1908 at the top of Saiwaizaka, for the churches of Motomachi, the morning market and the night view from Mount Hakodate; the Hokuto limited express reaches Minami-Chitose in a little over three hours, one stop from the airport, where the inn's free bus calls at the domestic terminal.
3 · 2 nightsShikotsuko Tsuruga Besso KohakunoshoOpened in August 2026 on Lake Shikotsu, each of its 24 rooms with its own hot-spring bath, for canoeing on the clear water of the caldera lake and walks in the forest round it; Hanazono is about an hour and a half by car.
4 · 3 nightsShiguchiFive villas in farmhouses brought from Aizu to a wooded valley in Hanazono, each with its own hot-spring bath, for walks below Mount Yotei and the French-trained cooking of Hokkaido produce next door; New Chitose airport is about two hours by car.
Make it yours
This is one way to do it. We change the stays, their order and the nights in each to suit you, move it to the season you want, and plan the days between: the trains and cars, the restaurants worth the detour, a quieter night where the route needs one. Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and our team in Japan will draw up your own.
Other sample trips
Each one a starting point: we build the trip around your dates, your pace and who is travelling.
9 nights · Summer
Hokkaido by train in summer: Hakodate, Niseko, Otaru and Sapporo
Up the island by rail, with no car: the Shinkansen from Tokyo to the port of Hakodate, the Hakodate line to Niseko below Mount Yotei, the local train down the valley to the canal town of Otaru, and the coast line into Sapporo, flying out of New Chitose.
7 nights · Winter
Hokkaido in winter: Niseko powder, then the lakes of Shikotsu and Akan
A trip from the ski slopes of Niseko to a lake in the caldera south of Sapporo, then a short flight east to Lake Akan.
8 nights · Summer
The Japanese Alps in summer: Takayama, Kamikochi and the Kiso post towns
A trip west to east across the Northern Alps, from Takayama by bus into the Kamikochi valley, down to Matsumoto and the old post towns of the Kiso valley, and out by the hot-spring town of Yudanaka to Tokyo.