Our 6 Day Hokkaido road trip itinerary takes you from Niseko's volcanic mountains and Otaru's historic port city to Sapporo's exciting food scene and Biei's rolling farmland.
Along the way, you'll discover Hokkaido's local food, stay at unique hot spring retreats, and drive through the wild landscapes of Daisetsuzan National Park and Mikuni Pass.
This one-way route means no backtracking. We drove it ourselves in late May and have included our favourite stops, stays and tips to help you plan your trip.
June to September is the ideal time, with snow-free mountain roads and Biei's colourful flower fields. Late May and early October can also work, but check conditions at Mikuni Pass.
We loved the peace and quiet of May, although the mountains at higher elevations were still patchy with bare trees, and Biei's flowers hadn't bloomed yet.
Overview: Hokkaido Road Trip Itinerary
Day 1: Drive past volcanic lakes and Hokkaido's 'Mount Fuji', then settle into a design-forward mountain retreat in Niseko with natural hot springs. Day 2: Explore Niseko's scenic trails beneath Mount Yōtei, soak in natural onsens, and discover the region's impressive dining scene. Day 3: Enjoy fresh Hokkaido seafood and explore Otaru's historic shopping streets, then head to Sapporo for its exciting food scene, local beer and jazz bars. Day 4: Drive through the mountains to Furano, taste local cheese and wine, explore Biei's scenic farm roads, and spend the night in a countryside cabin. Day 5: Drive through Daisetsuzan National Park and over Mikuni Pass, browse traditional Ainu woodcarvings, and unwind at a riverside hot spring retreat. Day 6: Enjoy a slow morning at your onsen hotel, stop for Hokkaido milk soft serve, and fly out from Kushiro Airport. |
6 Day Hokkaido Road Trip Itinerary
Drive times for your 6 days in Hokkaido:
- Day 1: 2 hours (A ⮕ C)
- Day 2: rest day
- Day 3: 2 hours (C ⮕ E)
- Day 4: 2.5 hours (E ⮕ G)
- Day 5: 4 hours (G ⮕ I)
- Day 6: 1 hour (I ⮕ J)
Day 1
Drive past volcanic lakes and Hokkaido's 'Mount Fuji', then settle into a design-forward mountain retreat in Niseko with natural hot springs.
Take the scenic route to Niseko
Fly into New Chitose Airport, near Sapporo, and pick up your rental car to start the drive to Niseko.
We rented through Sixt and were able to do a one-way drop-off, which meant we didn't have to plan our road trip around returning to the same airport.
The scenic Route 276 takes you past Lake Shikotsu. Formed by volcanic activity more than 40,000 years ago, it's the second-deepest lake in Japan.
Just after passing the lake, pull over at the west shore boat landing. It's an easy stop right off the route, where you can stretch your legs and take in the beautiful open view across the lake.
From there, continue along Route 276 to Kinoko Okoku Otaki. You'll know you're there when you see the big yellow dinosaur off the side of the road.
Inside, you'll find tons of local Hokkaido products. We used this as our first stop to pick up a few things for our dinner spread that night, including local honey and cheese.
The best part of the drive is when Mount Yōtei comes into view. We actually gasped when we first saw it. It was the same reaction we had seeing the Matterhorn for the first time in Switzerland.
The almost perfectly symmetrical volcano is nicknamed Ezo Fuji ("Hokkaido's Mount Fuji"), and you'll get views of it for a good portion of the drive.
Before checking into your hotel, stop at MaxValu in Kutchan to pick up the rest of your dinner spread.
The deli section here is great, with chicken wings, potato salad, sushi, local cheeses and all kinds of other prepared foods.
Check into your mountainside hotel
Niseko is best known as Japan's chic ski capital, but it's also gorgeous outside of snow season.
When we visited in May, everything was green and quiet, making it a great place to wind down in nature, soak in onsens, and go e-biking or hiking.
Hotel prices are also slashed outside of ski season.
Niseko actually reminded us a bit of Zermatt in Switzerland, with stylish contemporary boutique hotels and chalets surrounded by nature in the mountains
Its volcanic landscape also means the area is filled with natural hot springs, so for your first two nights, we recommend choosing a hotel with its own onsen.
If you haven't heard of an onsen, it's a traditional Japanese bath fed by naturally heated spring water.
We splurged on our stay at Shiguchi, which might be the most jaw-dropping place we've ever stayed from a design perspective.
Artist Shouya Grigg transformed the historic Japanese farmhouses into contemporary villas that are truly works of art.
Shiguchi is definitely at the very high end, but you don't need to spend that much to find a beautiful, design-forward hotel surrounded by nature with onsens.
Our top hotel picks with onsens:
- Setsu Niseko
- Sansui Niseko
- Chalet Ivy Weiss
- MUWA NISEKO
- Moku No Sho - largest hot spring resort in Niseko. Traditional ryokan stay.
- Niseko Inn of Youtei Raku Suisan - offers rooms with onsens
- Shiguchi - offers rooms with onsens
Enjoy your local Hokkaido spread for dinner
After a day of flying and driving, we loved being able to relax at our hotel, have an onsen and put together a spread with everything we picked up along the way.
Enjoy yours in your room or out on the terrace!
Day 2
Explore Niseko's scenic trails beneath Mount Yōtei, soak in natural onsens, and discover the region's impressive dining scene.
Spend the day exploring Niseko's nature
Spend your second day getting out into Niseko's beautiful countryside. There are plenty of ways to explore, whether you want to go e-biking, hiking or take a gondola up the mountain.
Our hotel had e-bikes, so we took them out along quiet country roads, passing creeks with Mount Yōtei in the distance. It was such an idyllic way to explore the area.
Quiet roads for e-biking
Other fun outdoor activities around Niseko:
- Hiking: For an easy hike, check out Lake Hangetsu (3.1 km, 128 m elevation gain), or if you're up for more of a climb, hike Mount Iwanonupuri (4.5 km, 355 m elevation gain).
- Summer gondolas: For beautiful views without the hike, take the Niseko Annupuri Gondola or the Grand Hirafu Gondola up the mountain.
- Stand-up paddleboarding: You can also go SUP boarding along the Shiribetsu River. Ask your hotel about arranging a guided tour.
After spending the day outside, head back to your hotel for a soak in the onsen. Your muscles will love it.
Dine out in Niseko
Tasting menu at Somoza
Niseko has a great dining scene, with everything from casual ramen and sushi spots to creative multi-course tasting menus.
You'll find plenty of restaurants around Hirafu, Niseko Village and Kutchan, including Teuchi-Soba Ichimura for soba and tempura, Nakama for traditional ramen, Izakaya Koharu for small Japanese plates, and Tsubara Tsubara for Hokkaido-style curry.
For something special, there's also Rakuichi, known for its handmade soba and multi-course tasting menu. It was featured on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
For the ultimate treat, make a dinner reservation at Somoza, the restaurant at Shiguchi.
Set inside a beautifully restored 150-year-old Japanese farmhouse, it has serene views overlooking the river and surrounding forest.
The tasting menu makes the most of Hokkaido's seasonal ingredients, including produce from their own garden, with inspiration from the region's Ainu and Jōmon food traditions.
Every dish we had was so fresh and delicious, and they also have a great selection of Hokkaido wines.
It's definitely a splurge, but worth it for a special occasion, especially with the Hokkaido Through the Ages gallery tour included before dinner.
Don't miss the little shop at the entrance, either. It's filled with handmade Japanese pottery and minimalist pieces. We brought home a few side plates.
Day 3
Drive to Otaru for fresh seafood and shopping along its historic streets, then head to Sapporo for its exciting food scene, local beer and jazz bars.
Drive to Otaru for a fresh seafood lunch
Drive to Otaru, a historic port town known for its fresh seafood and shopping streets.
It's a great stop for lunch and a couple hours of exploring before heading to Sapporo.
Start with a walk through Sankaku Market, Otaru's famous seafood market. You'll see giant crabs, live seafood in tanks and stalls packed with fresh fish.
For lunch, we highly recommend Otaru Masazushi Main, a sushi restaurant that's been around for over 80 years.
Thanks to their direct connection with a local fishmonger, they can serve fresh seafood on the very day it's caught.
We sat at the counter with our friendly sushi chef, and loved how we could order individual pieces rather than commit to a full omakase.
This is the place to try Hokkaido seafood specialties like uni (sea urchin), hotate (scallops) and kegani (horsehair crab), along with whatever seasonal catches the chef recommends.
I had the best otoro (fatty tuna) sushi of my life here.
Explore Otaru's historic shopping streets
Shopping down Sakaimachi Street in Otaru
After lunch, shop down Sakaimachi Street, lined with historic stone and brick buildings from Otaru's trading days.
Once nicknamed the “Wall Street of the North,” the town has a distinctive Western-influenced architecture.
Otaru is especially known for its handcrafted glass, a tradition that began with fishing floats and oil lamps.
We had no idea the shopping would be so good and spent way longer here than expected. It's a great place to pick up gifts.
While you're there, stop at Matcha Sweets Shop SAWAWA for a matcha soft serve.
Someone local to Niseko recommended it to us, saying it was his favourite matcha ice cream ever, so of course we had to try it!
Spend a fun evening in Sapporo
Continue your drive to Sapporo, Hokkaido's capital and a fun city for food lovers. There's so much to eat, drink and explore.
We stayed at Hotel Sosei Sapporo - MGallery Collection, which has a great location, contemporary, comfortable rooms and sits on the historic site where Sapporo Beer began in 1876. 🛏️ Browse more stays in SapporoTry a tasting at the Sapporo Beer Museum
Enjoying a tasting at Sapporo Beer Museum
Once you've checked in, head to the Sapporo Beer Museum. Ari was especially excited about this stop.
Housed in a beautiful 1890 red-brick building, the museum takes you through the history of Japan's oldest beer brand.
Afterwards, head to the tasting hall for a flight of three Sapporo beers.
Try raclette made with local Hokkaido cheese
For dinner, try something you might not expect in Japan: raclette made with Hokkaido cheese.
If you haven't had raclette before, it's a Swiss and French alpine specialty where melted cheese is scraped from a half-wheel onto potatoes.
We went to Opico, a little restaurant on the ninth floor of a building in Sapporo, run by the sweetest husband-and-wife duo who specialize in raclette, European-style dishes and homemade bread.
Having eaten some incredible raclette in Switzerland and France, we were skeptical Hokkaido's version could compete. But wow, it was some of the best we've ever had!
We tried three cheeses, two from Hokkaido and one from Switzerland, all melted on a traditional raclette machine and scraped straight onto our potatoes.
The clear winner was NEEDS raclette from Makubetsu, Hokkaido. It was so good!
End the night at Sapporo's jazz bars
Finish the night exploring Sapporo's jazz scene.
Start at Modern Jazz Jamaica, a traditional jazz kissa (Japanese listening bar) with an impeccable sound system and collection of jazz records handpicked by the owner.
Then head to Jazz Spot Jericho, a lively jazz bar located in the basement of a building.
We were lucky enough to catch local university students playing a jam session. The place was full of young people, and the atmosphere was so much fun!
Day 4
Drive through the mountains to Furano, taste local cheese and wine, explore Biei's scenic farm roads, and spend the night in a countryside cabin.
Take the scenic drive to Furano
From Sapporo, head to Furano, a beautiful farming region in central Hokkaido known for its rolling countryside, lavender fields, skiing and local produce.
It's a completely different side of Hokkaido from the coastal towns and mountain resorts you've explored so far.
Take the scenic route along Highway 116 and then Highway 452, winding through the forested mountains towards Furano. This was one of the prettiest and quietest drives of our road trip.
Stop at the Furano Cheese Factory for lunch
Make your first stop the Furano Cheese Factory, where they make cheese and ice cream using fresh local milk. Choose a couple of their cheeses for tonight's dinner spread.
There's also a pizzeria on-site serving pizzas made with Furano cheese and local ingredients. We shared one for lunch, and it was surprisingly good. We wished we had ordered one each!
Gather local ingredients for dinner
Before leaving Furano, stop at Furano Marche in the town centre. It's a collection of specialty food shops, including a farmers' market, selling local produce, snacks and other Hokkaido goodies.
We had so much fun putting together another Hokkaido picnic dinner. We picked up sausages, fresh vegetables, crackers, and some of the sweetest fruit. Definitely get the strawberries if they're in season.
Keep an eye out for French salad dressing too. It's a delicious dip for crunchy cucumbers. And grab some Hokkaido string cheese for a road trip snack.
Between the cheeses from the factory, fresh market finds, and our bottle of Furano wine, we had everything we needed for dinner.
Taste local wines at Furano Winery
Next, head to Furano Winery, where they've been making wine from locally grown grapes since 1972.
You can sample some wines for free, but we recommend spending a little extra on the premium tastings. There was a big difference in taste.
You choose your wines from a self-serve tasting machine, which makes it super easy and fun to try a few. Pick up a bottle of your favourite to enjoy with dinner later.
Take the scenic farm roads to Biei
Continue north to Biei, a beautiful rural area famous for its rolling hills and patchwork farmland that create different colours across the landscape.
As you drive from Furano to Biei, skip the main highway and explore the quieter country roads.
Don't miss Panorama Road for its rolling farmland and Tokachi mountain views, or Roller Coaster Road for its dramatic ups and downs.
From June-October, stop at Shikisai-no-Oka, a flower farm with colourful fields stretching across the hills.
Stay in a cabin in Biei's countryside
With its rolling farmland and views of the Tokachi mountains, Biei is a beautiful place to spend the night.
We stayed in a cabin in the countryside rather than staying at a hotel. It was so cozy and even had a CD player with a bunch of CDs to choose from, which was a fun touch.We loved settling in for the evening with all the Hokkaido food and wine we picked up along the way.
🛏️ Browse more stays around BieiDay 5
Drive through Daisetsuzan National Park and over Mikuni Pass, browse traditional Ainu woodcarvings, and unwind at a riverside hot spring retreat.
Drive through Daisetsuzan National Park and over Mikuni Pass
Day 5 is the biggest driving day of the road trip, but also the wildest.
Start by driving down Biei's Patchwork Road, a beautiful stretch of rolling farmland where fields of different crops create a patchwork of colours across the hills.
From there, drive through Daisetsuzan, Japan's largest national park, with its towering volcanic mountains, ancient forests and remote wilderness.
Known as the “Roof of Hokkaido,” it's home to the island's highest peak, Mount Asahidake.
One of the highlights is Mikuni Pass, the highest national highway pass in Hokkaido at 1,139 metres above sea level.
The road winds through an enormous forested valley and crosses Matsumi Ohashi Bridge, a beautiful red arch bridge that curves high above the treetops.
Mikuni Pass Cafe
Stop at Mikuni Pass Cafe for a hot drink, then don't miss Matsumi Bridge Observatory for the famous view of the bridge winding through the forest.
We actually missed it the first time and ended up driving back uphill once we realized where the best view was.
We had a pretty wild encounter in the park. After spotting a mother brown bear and her cub from our car, we noticed a couple unknowingly walking straight towards them from a nearby parking lot.
We turned around to warn them, but with no cell service and a language barrier, our best bear noises weren't cutting it. Then we remembered we'd taken a photo of the bears, showed them, and they finally understood 😅.
We had no idea Japan even had bears until this trip, let alone that it recorded more fatal bear attacks in 2025 than Canada and the US combined!
Stop at Lake Akan's Ainu craft village
Continue towards Lake Akan and stop at Akanko Ainu Kotan, a small village filled with Ainu craft shops.
The Ainu are the Indigenous people of Hokkaido, known for their intricate woodcarvings, textiles and traditional craftsmanship.
The village is quite touristy and set up for visitors, but it's still an interesting place to wander through, especially to browse the wooden handicrafts made by local artisans.
Spend a relaxing evening at a riverside hot spring retreat
Tucked into the forest beside the Akan River, it felt very peaceful and local.
Our room overlooked the rushing river, and falling asleep to the sound of the water reminded us of a riverside hotel we stayed at in Bhutan.
After checking in, you change into traditional Japanese robes and spend the evening enjoying the onsens, all fed by natural mineral-rich hot spring water from the property.
You're encouraged to wear your traditional Japanese robe around the hotel, even to dinner.
There are three private onsens you can use, plus separate men's and women's communal onsens. Most rooms also have their own hinoki (Japanese cypress) onsen bathtub.
There are also complimentary soft drinks and popsicles to enjoy between onsens.
With so many onsens to try, it felt like a playground for adults. We absolutely loved this place.
🛏️ Browse more stays around Lake AkanDay 6
Enjoy a slow morning at your onsen hotel, stop for Hokkaido milk soft serve, and fly out from Kushiro Airport.
It's just under an hour's drive from La Vista Akangawa to Kushiro Airport.
Spend a slow morning at your hot springs retreat before heading out.
Along the way, stop at あっかんべぇー阿寒本店 (Akkanbe Akan Honten) for one last Hokkaido treat. Their soft serve is made with fresh local milk.
Kushiro Airport has direct flights to Tokyo Haneda, making this a great route for a one-way Hokkaido road trip.
We returned our car rental from Sixt to its Japanese partner, ORIX, at the airport.
Enjoy your 6 days in Hokkaido!
Get started on planning your trip to Hokkaido
- 🌃 Book your accommodation: in Niseko, Sapporo, Biei, and Lake Akan
- 🚗 Book your car rental: we booked our one-way through Sixt.
Don't miss our other Japan guides:
- 2 Week Japan Itinerary
- 31 Fun Things to Do in Tokyo
- Kyoto Itinerary
- Naoshima Itinerary
- Osaka Itinerary
- Kanazawa Itinerary
Save and pin this Hokkaido road trip itinerary for later:
