Noboribetsu

I finally found a bus that goes to both Toya and Otaru! The bus is small, and most of the tourists in this tour spoke Chinese and English. Our guide, Mr. Zheng, switched fluently between the two languages, making communication easy and putting us at ease. He also provided explanations along the way, allowing us to rest. The driver drove very smoothly. Perhaps because it's a small bus, the speed felt quite fast, but we were still able to rest comfortably on the bus. We arrived at the attractions early, avoiding large tour groups, which was great! 🥺 Highly recommend it to anyone who wants a quick day trip, saving you transfer time! Since Otaru was the last stop, you could leave freely there, but you need to inform your tour guide, otherwise you might not be able to wait for anyone. The only regret, which was unavoidable, was that we didn't have time to walk to the Otaru Canal. The bus stopped near Minami-Otaru. If you want to see the Otaru Canal, I suggest heading straight there after getting off the bus. It's very crowded, and a round trip on foot would take at least an hour. On the way back, you can leisurely browse the shops. After visiting the shopping streets, I didn't find anything particularly special that I wanted to buy, as there are similar shopping areas at Tanukikoji and the airport. In short, it left me with a bit of regret, but I'll definitely visit again sometime. 🖐️

The penguin walk, dolphin, and seal shows can be combined into one performance, and seeing the penguins up close is truly adorable! A complete tour of the entire area plus all the shows takes approximately 4 hours, and the Noboribetsu Tourism Association recommends this itinerary.

It's a really interesting place, perfect for a morning visit followed by an afternoon check-in at a Noboribetsu onsen ryokan (hot spring hotel).

The attractions are all located in the suburbs, making it very convenient to travel by car. The tour leader also explained everything very clearly. We encountered heavy snow along the way and saw a complete rainbow, which made it all worthwhile. Unfortunately, we only had a short time to visit each attraction.

The staffs were so grateful. They helped us a lot because my mom used wheelchair. The view from viewpoint was so beautiful. We saw a lot of snowfall even it was in early November. The activities were great and so fun. Recommend this.

After exchanging my JR rail pass at New Chitose Airport, I headed straight to Hakodate, then traveled back to Noboribetsu, Sapporo, Otaru, and Asahikawa. The five-day rail pass also included three attraction passes. Although I only used the Asahikawa Zoo and Sapporo TV Tower passes, overall it was excellent value for money.