late june or mid-july 2027 · japan
The Summer Tour of Hokkaido
twelve days · a maximum of eight guests · USD $18,500 per person, twin share
While the rest of Japan turns hot and heavy in July, the far north does the opposite. Hokkaido in high summer sits at a clear twenty-two degrees, the air dry, the light long into the evening, the lavender running down the hills of Furano and the sea urchin at its cold-water best on the Shakotan coast. This is the one Japanese summer worth crossing the world for, met on the island of forests and clear lakes and living volcanoes, and being in each place in the days it is at its height is the whole art of this journey. We plan it, we arrange it, and we travel every mile of it beside you, so that across twelve days nothing is asked of you but to be there.
signature experiences
noryo
The art of coolness
Japan has a word, and a whole aesthetic, for the pleasure of coolness in high summer. Noryo is the seeking-out and savouring of it: the evening breeze on a veranda, a wind chime, cold noodles, fireworks opening over dark water. For centuries, when the lowland cities grew unbearable, those who could would go up to the cool of the highlands and the coast to find it, and the art was in the finding, the deliberate turning of summer's heat into summer's pleasure. This tour is noryo carried the length of the country: north to the one part of Japan where summer is a gift rather than a trial, to the cold lakes and the sea air and the fireworks that go up over a caldera every night of the season. It is summer as the Japanese have always known it should be, in the company of people who have spent their lives learning where the north is at its best.
signature moments
The heart of the journey
furano
The lavender at its height
The hills of Furano running in bands of purple, at the one peak of their year, and the scent of it on the warm air.
lake shikotsu
The all-suite house on the shore
A suite of over a hundred square metres with a private bath on the shore of Japan's clearest lake, and a whole day to do nothing.
shakotan coast
The bluest sea, and the cold of summer
Cold sea urchin lifted from the Japan Sea that morning, at a fisherman's counter above the Shakotan Blue.
summer nights
Fireworks over the water, every night
Fireworks opening over a caldera lake, every night of the summer, watched from the bath on your own terrace.
The one Japanese summer worth having
While Honshu turns hot and humid, Hokkaido stays cool and dry and long in the light. The lavender peaks in July, the sea urchin is at its cold-water best, and the route is built so summer's colour is with you the whole way.
the itinerary
the itinerary
The shape of the journey
The tour opens in the forest at Biei, among the lavender hills of Furano at their July peak, then drops down to Japan's clearest lake for a suite with a bath on the water and a full day of relaxation. It moves through the volcanic springs of Noboribetsu and a caldera lake at Toya where fireworks go up over the water every night, out to the port town of Otaru and the astonishing blue of the Shakotan coast with its cold summer sea urchin, and closes in Sapporo among the great counters of the island. Running quietly through it, from a sake brewery in Asahikawa to the national Ainu museum at Upopoy, is the culture of the north itself. Twelve days of the one Japanese summer worth having.
the journey begins at home
Before you depart
The journey begins weeks before Japan. Your Tour Director meets you in a private video call: introductions, the shape of the twelve days, and your preferences gathered quietly, so every kitchen knows your table before you land. A pre-journey welcome pack follows: packing guidance for the season, arrival instructions, and reading worth the flight. By the time you clear arrivals at New Chitose, you are already known, and already expected.
1 · two nights
Biei
2 · two nights
Lake Shikotsu
3 · two nights
Noboribetsu Onsen
4 · one night
Lake Toya
5 · two nights
Otaru
6 · two nights
Sapporo
the extension
continue east · 3 days · july departure only
The Eastern Hokkaido extension
For those who want the wildest, quietest part of the island, the journey carries on east from Sapporo into the deep interior, toward Lake Akan and the marshes of Kushiro. This extension is offered on the July departure only, and is not available to guests travelling in late June. At Lake Akan you stay in a ryokan of twenty-five rooms on the shore, each with its own open-air bath; a boat goes out to see the rare marimo, the green algae that form into velvet spheres found in only a handful of lakes on earth; and a living Ainu community of carvers and weavers keeps the lakeshore, closing the thread the main tour opened at Upopoy.
A day is given to the great marshes of Kushiro, the largest in Japan and the home of the red-crowned crane, and an evening to a harbourside charcoal counter. It is the quietest corner of the whole journey, and the natural close to it. The extension ends at Kushiro, either home or back to New Chitose as your onward flights require.
duration
3 further days
offered on
July departure only
price, per person
USD $4,800
ends
Kushiro
accommodation
accommodation
Where you stay
biei · nights 1 to 2
Mori no Ryotei Biei or similar
A forest ryokan of seventeen rooms in the Shirogane hot-spring district, each with its own open-air onsen.
lake shikotsu · nights 3 to 4
Ao no Za or similar
Suites of over a hundred square metres on the shore of Japan's clearest lake, each with a private open-air bath at the water's edge.
noboribetsu · nights 5 to 6
Takinoya or similar
A ryokan in the onsen town at the head of Hell Valley, with private kaiseki dining rooms and its own hot springs.
lake toya · night 7
Konosumika or similar
A lake-facing suite with its own open-air bath on the terrace, fireworks over the caldera every night of the summer.
otaru · nights 8 to 9
Kuramure or similar
An antique-furnished ryotei above the port town, private and hushed, its bar part of the all-inclusive stay.
sapporo · nights 10 to 11
Sapporo Grand Hotel or similar
An executive floor and club lounge at the centre of the northern capital, Odori Park a few minutes on foot.
*or similar
tour experiences
tour experiences
Moments along the way
The patchwork fields of Kamifurano
A private bath on Japan's clearest lake
The flower fields of Farm Tomita
Cold sea urchin, straight off the Shakotan boats
The great counters of the island
Hot spring water running into the bath
The canal district of Otaru, at dusk
what is included
Looked after, entirely
From the moment you land, everything is anticipated. This is omotenashi, the Japanese art of caring for a guest before they think to ask, and for twelve days it is the texture of the whole tour. Your Tour Director meets you in the arrivals hall at New Chitose, and two of us travel with the group throughout, by private van, so you never navigate a timetable or wait on one person. Every reservation is made and every arrangement is settled long before you arrive; at the ryotei in Otaru, all-inclusive, even the bar is part of the stay. Your only task is to give the island your whole attention, while someone who knows it completely carries the rest.
One price, settled before you travel
USD $18,500
per person, twin share. Guests travel two to a room
Part of your journey
included, always
Every night of the journey, at the properties named above
Your Tour Directors, from the arrivals hall to the final departure
Private vehicles throughout, the length of the route
Every entrance, and every arrangement in between
the days
The lavender hills of Furano, and the patchwork fields and blue pond of Biei
Two nights and a full day of relaxation on Lake Shikotsu, Japan's clearest lake
The volcanic valley of Noboribetsu, and the national Ainu museum at Upopoy
Fireworks over the caldera at Lake Toya, every night of the summer
The Shakotan coast, Cape Kamui, and the bluest sea in Japan
A Noguchi landscape and its summer fountain in Sapporo
at the table
Kaiseki at the ryokan of Biei, Shikotsu, Noboribetsu, and Toya
A sake tasting at Asahikawa, and a whisky tasting at Yoichi
The cold Shakotan sea urchin, at a fisherman's counter, in its one season
An antique ryotei in Otaru whose bar is part of the stay
A farewell at one of Sapporo's great counters
More than twenty-five meals in all, every one included
Every night, more than twenty-five meals, and every arrangement in between: one price covers everything from New Chitose to the last dinner in Sapporo.
how we work
We plan it, we run it, and we time it ourselves
We plan, organise, and run every tour ourselves, and your Tour Director travels every mile with you, in a group that never exceeds eight, a small number of couples and no more. That scale is what lets us follow the season closely. The route is built so that each place is met in the days it is at its height: the lavender in its July fullness, the sea urchin in its cold-water season. It is why we keep the group small, and why we secure the year's most sought-after rooms and the one fisherman's counter that matters long before the summer opens.
how it works
How it works, and the terms
The process
Enquire through the form and we reply personally. If you would like to talk the journey through, a call with your Tour Director is available, though many guests are happy to book on the strength of the itinerary itself. A deposit of USD $3,500 per person secures your place, and the balance falls due 95 days before departure. Nearer the time, your Tour Director calls you again, to prepare you for the days ahead.
Payment
One price, paid once, quoted in US dollars, tax included. It covers every night, every train, every transfer, every reservation, and every meal set out in this itinerary. Payment is by card or bank transfer.
The terms
Your booking is governed by our Booking Conditions, which set out what is included and excluded, and our cancellation terms in full.
Good to know
International flights to and from New Chitose Airport are not included. Comprehensive travel insurance is a condition of booking.
questions
frequently asked
Questions before you enquire
If your question is not answered here, ask us; it is what the enquiry is for.
How many guests are on the tour?
Is the pace demanding?
What is included in the price?
Can you accommodate dietary requirements?
Where does the tour finish?
When does the tour run, and when should I enquire?
from The Japan Edition
Read before you go
when to speak to us
A journey that keeps coming back to you
This is a journey that keeps coming back to you long after you are home: the lavender on the warm air at Furano, the clear blue of Shikotsu from the bath on your terrace, the fireworks over the caldera, the cold urchin at a counter above the Shakotan sea. Months later, on the first hot, close day of a lowland summer, the cool of the north comes back to you, and you find you know an island most travellers never reach in this season.
Considered. Intimate. Perfect.
The next step is a conversation. Begin your enquiry, and we will confirm your departure and your extension before you book a single flight.
25 June to 6 July 2027, or 11 to 22 July 2027eight placesUSD $18,500 per person, twin share