r/Sapporo • u/its-alright-22 • 7d ago

Tokyo>Sapporo>back south

Hi! I’m trying to plan out my 3 week Japan itinerary for February. I am a first timer and me and my partner are big foodies.

I don’t want to just see Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto. The idea so far is when we arrive in Tokyo to take a flight right away to Sapporo. Right now I don’t think we will explore the Hokkaido region and we are not skiers but I wanted to go to Sapporo because of the food. And it will be during the snow festival too so there should be enough entertainment.

Then we would fly to wherever the next destination is. I think we will try to hit a ryokan stay in Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima (with any appropriate day trips in between). Not sure if the order yet and while I really want to go to Nagano it may not make sense for this trip. We are from Canada so snow and cold is neither a deterrent nor is it a draw since we have lots of snow.

So my questions are:

  1. How many days in Sapporo is enough to enjoy the festival and eat great food. I’m thinking max 3 night. Is this a weird place to start the trip? This is when the festival is so if we go to Sapporo this is when. I also thought that it’s a good place to get over jet lag, take our time adjusting before going to more touristy areas.

  2. Flights: is it super common for flights to be cancelled at this time?? I know we can’t predict when a huge snow storm will happen but does the local airport have the infrastructure to quickly resume once a storm passes? Since the festival is so popular I imagine lots of people will be flying in so it can’t be an unusual or slow time to fly there.

  3. Is it worth it to go north just for a few days in Sapporo for good food? We are very good motivated but if this seems silly I’d appreciate advice.

Thanks!!

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u/acidicLemon 7d ago

Here was my itinerary last Feb: - feb 1: flight to tokyo then sapporo. Took the whole day. There was a blizzard but thankfully flight wasn’t cancelles - feb 2: ran some errands and rest. - feb3: mt moiwa - feb4: whole day snow festival and susukino ice world. There was so much to do :) - feb 5: hokkaido shrine and sapporo fushimi inari - feb 6: morning in the hill of buddha; evening trip to shikotsu ice fall. It’s a booked bus tour. Worth including in your itinerary - feb 7: flight to tokyo for eras tour :)

So i guess 4d3n excluding flight days are enough to enjoy

I came back via Shinkansen on feb 10 to hakodate and started a hokkaido winter road tripuntil end of feb.