The Otaru canal at dusk under a pink sky, gas lamps lit along the water and the old stone warehouses on the far bank

The Private Collection

Pure Hokkaido

Nine days, six nights at onsen ryokan

$21,600per person, twin share

Choose dates

The canal at Otaru, at dusk

Pure Hokkaido, a private tour of Hakodate, Noboribetsu, Otaru and Sapporo

Dusk on the Otaru canal. The gas lamps come on one by one along the towpath, the stone warehouses of the herring years darken on the far bank, and the water carries what is left of a pink sky. Up in the forested hills at Asarigawa Onsen, every room at Kuramure keeps an onsen of its own, and dinner is served at the ryokan.

Evenings like that one close most days of Pure Hokkaido, a nine-day private journey across the northern island through Hakodate, Noboribetsu, Otaru and Sapporo, taken on the dates you choose. Six of its eight nights are spent at ryokan with their own hot springs, and the island's food runs through all of it. A Tour Director is beside you every day, every day is planned in full before you land, and the price covers everything on the plan: eight nights, the tables, the private car, the entrances and the transfers.

how long
Nine days, eight nights
where
Hakodate, Noboribetsu, Otaru and Sapporo
who
One to four, in one or two rooms
when
On the dates you choose
with you
A Tour Director, every day
price per person
$21,600, twin share, one inclusive price: all breakfasts, and all other meals as detailed in the itinerary

for you

Is Pure Hokkaido the journey for you?

Pure Hokkaido is made for guests who want the north at its own pace: onsen at the end of the day, the island's seafood and whisky, and long drives along the coast with nothing to arrange. It suits a second journey to Japan as well as a first, and anyone who would rather spend most nights at a ryokan than in a city hotel. Every move is by private car and driver, with time in each town for the onsen.

It is the one journey of the four on Hokkaido; Essential, Classic and Definitive Japan cross Honshu between Tokyo and Osaka. The journey runs from Hakodate to Sapporo, and as well in the other direction, whichever your flights prefer. If you would like a journey shaped around you, on a route of your own, that is the Custom Tour of Japan.

highlights

Five moments of Pure Hokkaido

  1. Six nights at onsen ryokan

    Two nights each at three ryokan, Takinoya with its open-air onsen in the garden and Kuramure with an onsen in every room among them.

  2. Lunch at an Otaru sushi counter twice awarded a Michelin star

    The chef sets each piece before you in turn, at a counter the guide starred in both of its Hokkaido editions, the last in 2017.

  3. Whisky at Yoichi

    The Nikka distillery that Masataka Taketsuru built in 1934, its pot stills still fired with coal, pours its whisky for you after the visit.

  4. The night view from Mount Hakodate

    At dusk the ropeway lifts you above the lights of the city, laid along the narrow neck of land between the bay and the strait.

  5. Upopoy, the National Ainu Museum

    The embroidery, carving and song of the island's first people, on the shore of Lake Poroto, with lunch there.

the difference

Your Tour Director, every day

The same Tour Director in every town, from the first evening to the last.

The same Tour Director is with you in every town, from the first evening to the last, in charge of every ryokan, table and drive along the way.

At dinner on the first evening at Yunokawa the days ahead are laid out at the table, and every question is answered in person. At the Hakodate morning market your Tour Director leads you from stall to stall, eating as you go. At Jigokudani you walk the boardwalks together above the steaming valley; at Yoichi the whisky is poured for you after the visit; and at Nijo Market in Sapporo a sea urchin is opened at the stall for you to eat where you stand. On the evening left open in Sapporo, your Tour Director's recommendations are booked on request.

Every room, every table and every car is ready before you arrive. On Pure Hokkaido, that means one person beside you from the first evening to the last, who knows the plan, the places and you.

taken care of

Taken care of, from arrivals to departures

A private chauffeur meets you at the airport and takes every bag: at Hakodate, ten minutes along the shore to Yunokawa, or at New Chitose if you take the journey from Sapporo. On the last morning another drives you to your flight.

Between the towns a private car and driver takes you, your luggage is sent ahead to the next ryokan or hotel, so you travel light, and every check-in and check-out is taken care of.

Every entrance on the plan is included. Because you choose your dates, the order of the days is set around them, so that each museum, market and distillery is open on the day you visit. You book your own flight to Hakodate or to Sapporo, and we advise on the choice for your dates.

北海道ShiraoiYoichi1 HAKODATE2 NOBORIBETSU3 OTARU4 SAPPORO
The route by night, from Hakodate to Sapporo

contents

The route, by night

  1. Hakodatetwo nights, days 1 to 2An onsen ryokan at Yunokawa
  2. Noboribetsutwo nights, days 3 to 4Takinoya
  3. Otarutwo nights, days 5 to 6Kuramure
  4. Sapporotwo nights, days 7 to 9Sapporo Grand Hotel

The journey runs in either direction, at your choice.

The days below are told from Hakodate; from Sapporo, they run in the reverse order.

Because you choose the dates, the order of the days is set around them, so that each of these places is open on the day you visit.

days 1 to 2

Hakodate

Yunokawa, the hot-spring quarter on the Tsugaru Strait

Hakodate, the place
Whole red kinmedai and other fresh fish laid out on ice at a market
Kinmedai and the morning catch on ice

where you sleep, two nights

An onsen ryokan at Yunokawa

You stay in one of the ryokan's rooms, with dinner and breakfast at the ryokan.

The two nights in Hakodate are spent at an onsen ryokan at Yunokawa, the hot-spring quarter on the shore of the Tsugaru Strait, ten minutes from the airport and a short drive from the morning market and Mount Hakodate.

  1. Hot spring water flowing from a bamboo spout into a stone onsen bath
    Hot spring water falling into an onsen bath

    day 1

    Arrival at Hakodate, the onsen of Yunokawa, and dinner at the ryokan

    A private chauffeur meets you at Hakodate Airport and drives you ten minutes along the shore to Yunokawa, and the luggage is never yours to carry. Your first evening in Hokkaido is spent at an onsen ryokan on the shore of the Tsugaru Strait: the afternoon in its hot-spring water, and dinner at the ryokan with your Tour Director, the days ahead laid out at the table and every question answered in person.

  2. A single piece of squid nigiri, the white flesh finely scored and topped with a bead of salmon roe, on a dark lacquer counter
    Squid at the counter, finely scored

    day 2

    The morning market, Goryokaku, and the night view from Mount Hakodate

    Lunch is among the crab and sea urchin of the morning market, where the squid caught overnight is served at the counter still translucent. Goryokaku, the five-pointed fortress finished in 1864 in the last years of the shogunate, is seen whole from the tower beside it, and Motomachi, the old port quarter, keeps the churches and consulates of the treaty years on its slope.

    Read the full dayClose the day: The morning market, Goryokaku, and the night view from Mount Hakodate

    At dusk the ropeway lifts you up Mount Hakodate for the night view, the lights of the city laid along the narrow neck of land between Hakodate Bay and the Tsugaru Strait. Dinner is at the ryokan.

days 3 to 4

Noboribetsu

The hot-spring town below Jigokudani

Noboribetsu, the place
A wooden boardwalk with dark railings and a lit lantern leading down into the steaming valley of Jigokudani, Noboribetsu
The boardwalk into Jigokudani, above Noboribetsu

where you sleep, two nights

Takinoya

You stay in one of the ryokan's Japanese or Japanese and Western rooms with a bath of its own, and its tables are served in private dining rooms over the garden.

Takinoya is a ryokan at the centre of Noboribetsu Onsen whose onsen draw on the springs of the valley above it, with an open-air onsen set in the green of its Japanese garden.

or choose, in Noboribetsu

  • A room with an open-air onsen at Takinoya

    Rooms with an open-air onsen fed from the source.

    Quoted with your dates

  1. Steam rising from the pale rock of Jigokudani, the valley above Noboribetsu, a fenced path running along its rim
    Jigokudani, above Noboribetsu

    day 3

    Along Uchiura Bay to Noboribetsu, Jigokudani, and Takinoya

    A private car follows the shore of Uchiura Bay to Noboribetsu, about three hours. In the afternoon you walk Jigokudani, Hell Valley, on its boardwalks: a crater of steaming vents and pale mineral rock above the town, which sends some ten thousand tonnes of hot water a day down to the onsen below, in nine different kinds.

    Read the full dayClose the day: Along Uchiura Bay to Noboribetsu, Jigokudani, and Takinoya

    Takinoya receives you at the centre of Noboribetsu Onsen, its open-air onsen set in the green of its Japanese garden and fed by the springs of the valley above, and dinner is at the ryokan.

  2. A hand resting on an Ainu robe, its curving appliqué embroidered in blue and black
    Ainu embroidery

    day 4

    Upopoy, the National Ainu Museum, and an afternoon in the onsen

    Upopoy, the National Ainu Museum and Park, lies half an hour from Noboribetsu on the shore of Lake Poroto at Shiraoi. Opened in 2020 as the national home of Ainu culture, it keeps the embroidery, carving and song of the island's first people, and lunch is taken there.

    Back at Takinoya the afternoon belongs to the onsen, and the ryokan serves dinner.

days 5 to 6

Otaru

Asarigawa Onsen, in the hills above the port

Otaru, the place
Two chairs and a round table before a wide window onto snow-covered trees, in a room at Kuramure
Kuramure, Asarigawa Onsen, in winter

where you sleep, two nights

Kuramure

You stay in one of its nineteen rooms, every one of them with its own onsen.

Kuramure stands by the river in the forested hills at Asarigawa Onsen above Otaru: nineteen rooms of dark timber, stone and tall windows onto the trees, a quarter of an hour by car from the canal.

  1. day 5

    North to Kuramure, an onsen in every room, and the canal at dusk

    A private car brings you north, about two hours, up into the forested hills at Asarigawa Onsen above Otaru. Kuramure is nineteen rooms of dark timber and stone, every one of them with its own onsen.

    Read the full dayClose the day: North to Kuramure, an onsen in every room, and the canal at dusk

    In the late afternoon you walk the canal, where the stone warehouses built for the herring trade that made the town rich stand along the water, and the gas lamps are lit at dusk. Dinner is at the ryokan.

  2. The red-brick pagoda-roofed kiln of the Nikka distillery at Yoichi
    The kiln of the Nikka distillery, Yoichi

    day 6

    Whisky at Yoichi, sushi in Otaru, and a glass studio

    Late in the morning the Nikka distillery at Yoichi, half an hour along the coast, pours its whisky for you after the visit: Masataka Taketsuru built it in 1934, choosing the site for its likeness to the Scottish coast where he had learned to distil, and its pot stills are still fired with coal.

    Read the full dayClose the day: Whisky at Yoichi, sushi in Otaru, and a glass studio

    Lunch is at a sushi counter in Otaru awarded a Michelin star in both of the guide's Hokkaido editions, the chef setting each piece before you in turn.

    Back in Otaru you visit a glass studio, a craft the town grew from the oil lamps and fishing floats of the herring years, and dinner is at Kuramure.

days 7 to 9

Sapporo

The centre of the city, a short walk from Odori Park

Sapporo, the place
The fountain in Odori Park lit at night, the Sapporo TV Tower rising behind it
Odori Park at night, Sapporo
A room at the Sapporo Grand Hotel, a wide bed with a grey and red runner, an armchair and a writing desk by the window61
Sapporo Grand Hotel

where you sleep, two nights

Sapporo Grand Hotel

You stay in one of the hotel's rooms, with the whole of the city at the door.

The Sapporo Grand Hotel stands at the centre of the city's grid, a short walk from Odori Park, the clock tower and the old red-brick government office.

  1. The white wooden clock tower of Sapporo, its clock faces under a blue sky, lilac in flower before it
    The clock tower of 1878, Sapporo

    day 7

    Sapporo, Odori Park and an evening of your choosing

    A private car brings you from Otaru to Sapporo in about forty minutes. With your Tour Director you walk Odori Park, the green avenue a kilometre and a half long that divides Sapporo's grid into north and south, with the clock tower of 1878 two blocks away. The evening is yours, with your Tour Director's recommendations booked on request.

  2. Pieces of sea urchin sashimi in a wooden box, chopsticks lifting one
    Sea urchin from its wooden box

    day 8

    Nijo Market, and the farewell dinner

    Late in the morning you walk Nijo Market with your Tour Director, where the city has bought its crab, salmon roe and sea urchin since the Meiji era, and a sea urchin opened at the stall is eaten where you stand. The afternoon is at your leisure, and in the evening the farewell dinner closes the journey.

  3. day 9

    Departure

    After a last breakfast a private chauffeur collects you and your luggage and drives you to New Chitose for your flight.

included

Everything the price includes

Your stays

  • An onsen ryokan at Yunokawa, Hakodate, two nights.
  • Takinoya, Noboribetsu, two nights.
  • Kuramure, Otaru, two nights.
  • Sapporo Grand Hotel, Sapporo, two nights.
  • Every night at the hotels and ryokan named above, in the rooms described for each city.

At the table

  • Breakfast every day.
  • Seven dinners: six kaiseki dinners at the ryokan, and a farewell dinner in Sapporo.
  • Three lunches: at the Hakodate morning market, at Upopoy, and at a sushi counter in Otaru awarded a Michelin star in both of the guide's Hokkaido editions.
  • One evening in Sapporo left open, with your Tour Director's recommendations booked on request.

Travel

  • A private chauffeur at the airport on the day you arrive and on the day you leave.
  • A private car and driver between the four towns and on every day out.
  • Your luggage sent ahead between hotels, so you travel light from town to town.

Every day

  • A whisky tasting at the Nikka distillery in Yoichi, a glass studio visit in Otaru, and the market walks at Hakodate and Nijo.
  • The Goryokaku Tower, the ropeway up Mount Hakodate, Jigokudani and Upopoy.
  • Every entrance on the plan.
  • The same Tour Director with you in every city, from the first evening to the last, with every room, table and car ready before you arrive.

the price

$21,600

per person, twin share, nine days. One inclusive price: all breakfasts, and all other meals as detailed in the itinerary.

All prices are in US dollars.

summer in Hokkaido was very special

Judy C.

the itinerary

Pure Hokkaido, to read and to keep

The cover, the route by night, each chapter and each day, the hotels and ryokan where you sleep, everything included and the price, in one document to print or to share.

Download the itinerary

One price, settled before you travel. A deposit of $3,500 per person confirms your dates; the balance is due 95 days before you travel. Safe, secure, encrypted payment, by card or bank transfer.

Prices are per person. Two couples, or four friends, take it together in two rooms. Each journey is available across the year, on the dates you choose. You book your own flight to Hakodate or to Sapporo, and we advise on the choice for your dates.

Tell us the dates you have in mind and we reply in person. Each journey of The Private Collection is taken as it is designed here; if you would rather have a journey shaped around you, begin with the Custom Tour of Japan.

questions

Pure Hokkaido, your questions answered

How much does Pure Hokkaido cost?

Pure Hokkaido is $21,600 per person, twin share, for nine days, one inclusive price: all breakfasts, and all other meals as detailed in the itinerary. A deposit of $3,500 per person confirms your dates; the balance is due 95 days before you travel.

What does the price include?

Eight nights at the hotels and ryokan named on this page, at the room level shown, breakfast every day, seven dinners and three lunches, a private chauffeur at the airport on the day you arrive and the day you leave, a private car and driver between the four towns and on every day out, your luggage sent ahead between hotels, every entrance on the plan, and the same Tour Director with you in every town.

Is it the same Tour Director throughout?

Yes. A private chauffeur meets your flight, and your Tour Director joins you that first evening. The same Tour Director is with you in every town, from the first evening to the last, and every room, table and car is ready before you arrive.

Can we take a different room?

Yes. The price includes the hotels and ryokan named on this page, at the room level shown. In Noboribetsu you may take a room with an open-air onsen at Takinoya instead, and we quote it with your dates.

We have never stayed at a ryokan. Will we know what to do?

Your Tour Director is with you at each ryokan, shows you how the yukata is worn and how dinner is served, and the way of the onsen. At Kuramure every room has its own onsen, so you may bathe whenever you wish.

How much walking is there?

The pace is gentle, with time on your feet in markets, gardens and the boardwalks of Jigokudani, and a private car and driver for every move. If you have any question about the pace, tell us when you enquire and we will advise you honestly.

Can we choose our own dates?

Yes. Each journey is available across the year, on the dates you choose. Tell us when you would like to travel and we confirm your dates with you; because you choose them, we set the order of the days so that every place on the plan is open on the day you visit.

Who is the journey for?

One guest, a couple, or a party of up to four in two rooms. Two guests travelling together share one room, twin or double, and four guests in two rooms pay the twin-share price each.

Do you book our flights?

You book your own flight to Hakodate or to Sapporo, and we advise on the choice for your dates.

Is there anything to add to the price?

Tipping is not customary in Japan. In restaurants and hotels the service is in the bill. A gratuity for your Tour Director at the end is standard practice and welcomed.

Can the journey be changed?

Each journey of The Private Collection is taken as it is designed here. A guest who would like a journey shaped around them is welcome on the Custom Tour of Japan.

How do we book?

Begin with an enquiry and the dates you have in mind, and we reply in person with the itinerary and the next step. A deposit of $3,500 per person confirms your dates; the balance is due 95 days before you travel. Safe, secure, encrypted payment, by card or bank transfer.

Choose your dates, and we plan every day of Pure Hokkaido before you land.

the private collection

The other three journeys

further reading

and