Hi braintrust,
Looking for some suggestions to help me up to scratch with winter holiday in Hokkaido in winter 2025/26 season. We are family of 4 with kids in primary/early HS. Basically wanting to give the kids (and the adults) some snow experience because we haven’t had much of that. Maybe even skiing because it seemed fun to try.
We love the idea of hanging in one place for a couple nights at least just so we are not rushed. Explore the local eateries and views. Basically a laid back holiday with a bit of skiing just for the experience to see if its something we would do again in the future. But at the same time, mindful about budget so while the idea of all-inclusive resort such as ClubMed seems great, I think its out of our reach.
Some questions in my mind such as:
- Where should I visit and how long in each place? (In my mind: Sapporo, Lake Toya, Niseko, Otaru)
- Advice for ski beginners (where to go, cost for ski hire, school classes, avoiding huge wait)
- Any kids friendly places suggestions? (We love going to kids museum such as Anpanman, Zoo, Science Centre.. basically for kids to play. We have little knowledge if there are such places in Hokkaido area)
- Any other activity ideas? Scenic train ride maybe?
Been looking and reading but would love to hear first hand experience especially from budget minded person like this forum :)
Any suggestions is greatly appreciated!
I went to Furano for snowboarding. It's less touristy than Niseko but that might be easier for you with kids. In Asia, you won't get the massive queues like in Australia.
Otaru is nice. It's just an hour from Sapporo so can just do a day trip. The train is a bit scenic but I got tired of the lake and snow landscape pretty quick. There are a lot of glass museums and stores so younger kids need to behave themselves. Get the giant soft serves! Melon flavour is good.
Onsen is good in Lake Toya but difficult to get around unless you have a car. I basically stayed in the hotel's onsen for my time there.
Make sure to use the underground in Sapporo. It's quite massive and better to walk around than street level.