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Sapporo

Japan

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Route info

Timezone

GMT+9

Currency¥ JPY

LanguageJapanese

Airport transfer~37 minTrain / Bus / Taxi

About Sapporo

Sapporo is Hokkaido's sprawling, unhurried capital — a city that feels like Japan with extra breathing room, built on a grid that makes it surprisingly easy to navigate. In winter it transforms into a snow globe come to life, hosting one of the world's great winter festivals, while summers bring lavender fields, fresh seafood, and craft beer gardens that rival anything in Europe. It's the kind of place where a bowl of miso ramen on a snowy night, eaten in a tiny nine-seat shop in a backstreet alley, becomes the memory you talk about for years.

Visa requirements

Visa Free

Visa requirements depend on your passport — check your government's travel advice before booking.

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✈️ Getting there

CTSNew Chitose Airport

📍 42 km⏱ 37 min🚂 Train🚌 Bus🚕 Taxi

The JR Rapid Airport train is the clear best option — it departs from the basement of the domestic terminal every 12 minutes and reaches Sapporo Station in 37 minutes for ¥1,230 (around €8), no reservation needed.

New Chitose is Japan's fifth-busiest airport and Hokkaido's main gateway — a well-organised two-terminal complex with an unusually good selection of shops and a Doraemon theme park inside, served by most major Japanese carriers plus select Asian and European routes.

Don't Miss

Hidden gems and local experiences in Sapporo — beyond the tourist trail.

🍜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.

🎑Take the 40-minute JR train to Otaru and visit the historic canal at dusk when the gas lamps flicker on — the crowds thin out significantly after 5pm. Duck into the side streets off the main canal for the glass-blowing studios and sake tastings away from the tourist strip.