This nine-night itinerary combines Sapporo and Furano with the lakes of Akan–Mashu and the Shiretoko Peninsula. Fly into New Chitose Airport and out of Memambetsu Airport, rather than driving back across Hokkaido at the end. The route is intended for summer to early autumn.
Check your flights and one-way rental-car options before booking hotels. Returning the car at a different airport can add a substantial charge, and the available flights need to fit your onward journey.
Who this itinerary suits
Choose this route if you want both city time and eastern Hokkaido's scenery, can drive from day 3 onward, and can depart from Memambetsu. Without a car, start with our three-day Sapporo and Otaru itinerary and build around places served by public transport instead.
Route: New Chitose Airport → Sapporo → Furano and Biei → Obihiro → Lake Akan → Lake Mashu and Kawayu → Utoro → Memambetsu Airport. Use trains and walk for the first two days, then rent a car from day 3 through day 10. For a snowy-season trip, use the winter itinerary: shorter daylight hours and road conditions require a different plan.
Where to spend the nine nights
- Nights 1–2: Sapporo. City sightseeing and food, with an optional Otaru day trip.
- Nights 3–4: Furano or Biei. Flower fields, hills and the Blue Pond.
- Night 5: Obihiro. Travel into Tokachi and enjoy dinner in town.
- Night 6: Lake Akan Onsen. Lakeside walks and hot springs.
- Night 7: Kawayu area. A base for Mashu and Kussharo.
- Nights 8–9: Utoro. Arrive on day 8; reserve day 9 for Shiretoko.
- Day 10: Depart from Memambetsu. No overnight stay.
Kushiro Marsh, Hakodate and Niseko are not part of this route. To include them, add days or replace another region rather than adding more driving to each day.
Days 1–2: Begin in Sapporo
Take the train from New Chitose to Sapporo and keep your first day flexible around your arrival time. Have a meal and take a short walk; leave a full day for Sapporo or Otaru on day 2. You do not need the rental car yet.
Our airport-to-Sapporo guide covers the transfer, and the Otaru day-trip guide helps you plan a walking route. Choose your hotel using the Sapporo area comparison, keeping the location of your day-3 car pickup in mind.
Days 3–4: Stay two nights in Furano or Biei
Collect the car on day 3 and head toward Furano. Choose one main stop for the afternoon, such as a flower farm, then use day 4 for the hills and Blue Pond. Two nights in the same hotel let you change the order if the weather turns.
Choose stops for your travel dates rather than assuming lavender will be in bloom. The Furano and Biei guide explains the area and its seasonal sights.
Day 5: Cross into Tokachi and stay in Obihiro
Make this a transfer day with breaks on the way to Obihiro. Check restrictions on your chosen mountain route before leaving. Once in town, try a pork rice bowl or visit a confectionery shop.
If you want to visit a garden or farm outside town, choose one that fits your driving route. Avoid booking several timed activities on a day that also involves changing regions.
Day 6: Lake Akan and its hot-spring town
Drive from Obihiro to Lake Akan Onsen. Depending on when you arrive, take a lakeside walk or visit a cultural facility. If a sightseeing boat is your priority, work backward from its departure time when planning the morning.
Stay by the lake for dinner and a hot-spring bath. Keep Lake Mashu for the following day so that this stop includes time outside the car.
Day 7: Mashu, Kussharo and Kawayu
Move to the Kawayu area and choose from Mashu's first observation deck, Mount Io and the shore of Lake Kussharo. If fog hides the lake, spend more time by the lakeshore or at a hot spring rather than waiting at every viewpoint.
Use the Akan–Mashu guide to understand the layout. You do not need to visit every observation deck to enjoy this part of the trip.
Day 8: Travel to Utoro
Head to Utoro, then visit the Shiretoko Nature Center if your arrival time allows. Check the meeting point and weather-change arrangements for tomorrow's walk or cruise. Tell your hotel when you expect to arrive if dinner is included.
Keep the main excursion for day 9 so you are not trying to reach a boat check-in immediately after a long drive.
Day 9: Spend a full day in Shiretoko
Choose a lake walk or coastal cruise as the main activity. For a shorter walk, the elevated boardwalk reaches a viewpoint over the first lake. The official Shiretoko Goko FAQ gives a return distance of about 1.6 km and a walking time of about 40 minutes. This is different from the ground-level trails around the five lakes; check which route a tour includes.
If booking both a cruise and a walk, allow time for lunch and travel between meeting points. Weather and bear activity can change access, and wildlife sightings are never guaranteed. Our Shiretoko guide explains the options. This itinerary focuses on Utoro; add time or remove another stop if a Rausu cruise is also a priority.
Day 10: Depart from Memambetsu Airport
Drive to your rental return office near Memambetsu Airport. The official Hokkaido tourism website lists approximately 2 hours 12 minutes by car between Memambetsu Airport and Shari–Utoro. Treat that as a planning reference: your exact start point and road conditions matter, and refuelling, car return, the shuttle and flight check-in all require additional time.
Avoid new sightseeing stops unless there is ample slack. If your flight leaves early in the morning, move the final night closer to the airport and shorten day 9's sightseeing rather than attempting a rushed drive from Utoro.
Compare two airports with a return trip on equal terms
A cheaper return flight to New Chitose is not automatically a cheaper version of this trip. Compare the same travellers, nine hotel nights and the journey all the way home, then record what sightseeing each option gives up. A route without Shiretoko is a valid alternative, but it is not the same holiday at a lower price.
- Keep the one-way route: total the New Chitose arrival and Memambetsu departure, checked-bag charges, the day-3 to day-10 rental quote, one-way fee, chosen cover, fuel and tolls. Ask for the actual pickup and return offices, opening hours and airport shuttle arrangements. Availability for a vehicle category does not by itself confirm that those two offices accept that one-way booking.
- Use New Chitose both ways: redraw the last part of the route before pricing it. Include the return journey's fuel, tolls and rental time, and replace hotel nights as necessary within the nine-night total. Write down which eastern stop or full sightseeing day disappears. If keeping every stop requires another night, label it an extended trip and include the extra accommodation and travel costs rather than comparing it as nine nights.
- Keep nine nights but reduce the area: use the seven-day route with additional rest days, or concentrate on eastern Hokkaido. Price flights and rental availability for the actual revised route, not an assumed service between airports.
Check the onward connection before paying
If the Memambetsu flight connects to another flight, check whether the seller issues a through itinerary or separate tickets, whether bags must be collected and checked again, and whether terminals or airports change. Ask who handles rebooking if the first flight is delayed; do not infer connection protection from buying both flights on the same website. Include any transfer or overnight stay outside Hokkaido in the comparison.
For the rental enquiry, send the day-3 pickup date/time and Sapporo branch, the day-10 return date/time and Memambetsu branch, passenger count and luggage sizes. Ask: “Is this one-way route available for the vehicle we need, what is the complete price including the selected cover and extras, and what changes if our flight or return time changes?” Compare the written answer with the checkout total.
Keep the flight, car and hotel cancellation deadlines together. Check that all three parts work before committing to a non-refundable component; a flight change does not itself change the car or hotel reservation. Use the trip-budget worksheet to separate the quoted total from optional extras and still-unconfirmed costs.
Book in this order
- Flights. Compare arrival at New Chitose and departure from Memambetsu with a New Chitose return ticket. If the Memambetsu flight does not work, change the itinerary before reserving hotels.
- The rental car. Request a quote for pickup in Sapporo on day 3 and return near Memambetsu on day 10. Include one-way charges and the cover you need when comparing totals.
- The two-night stays. Secure Furano or Biei and Utoro, then connect them with nights in Obihiro, Lake Akan and Kawayu.
- Shiretoko activities. Plan around day 9 and check travel from your hotel to the meeting point. Pick one main experience before adding anything else.
Use our driving-time guide to check the journey between actual hotel addresses. For fewer hotel changes, consider spending the whole trip in eastern Hokkaido.
Adjust for rain or an early flight
The two-night stays give you some flexibility to swap sightseeing days. A cancelled cruise can only be moved if space is available, so have an alternative such as a nature-center visit or time at your hot-spring hotel.
For a morning departure from Memambetsu, one option is night 8 in Utoro and night 9 in Abashiri or near the airport. Keep day 9's Shiretoko visit short enough to reach that hotel comfortably. If both flights must use New Chitose, build extra nights into a seven-day itinerary rather than simply adding a cross-island return drive to this route.
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Northern Land Hokkaido Team — Sapporo, Japan