🇬🇧 Newcastle → 🇯🇵 Sapporo · 2 weeks

Find Ganso Ramen Yokocho (Ramen Alley) in Susukino after dark — it's a narrow lane of 17 tiny shops, some seating fewer than ten people. Go late (after 9pm) to skip the longest queues and order the buttery corn miso at Teshikaga Ramen.

Head to Nijo Market at 7am when the stalls are freshest — pick a crab or sea urchin bowl from the stalls inside the back alleys, not the tourist-facing counters at the front. Prices are cheaper and quality is the same.

Walk the Hokkaido University ginkgo avenue (Icho Namiki) in late October — 70 trees turn a deep gold along a 380-metre path. Locals treat it as a near-sacred autumn ritual and it's completely free.

At the Sapporo Beer Garden, skip the à la carte menu and book the all-you-can-eat jingisukan (Genghis Khan lamb BBQ) course — you grill at the table, pour your own freshly tapped Sapporo Classic (only available in Hokkaido), and the whole thing costs around ¥4,500 per person.