Hokkaido's Winter Festivals 2020
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Hokkaido’s Winter Festivals 2020- TOUR #1 January 30th -February 7th, 2020 non-stop via 7nights/9days from: $3495 double/triple $4095 single For seven days, every February Sapporo is turned into a winter dreamland of crystal-like ice and white snow. The Sapporo Snow Festival, one of Japan’s largest winter events attracts nearly two million visitors who come to see the many snow and ice sculptures along Odori Park and the main street in Susukino. They include an array of intricate ice carvings as well as massive snow sculptures that are bigger than some of the city buildings. On this Hokkaido Winter Festivals Tour #1, we welcome in the 71st Sapporo Snow Festival, but this is only the beginning as we will be visiting a total of 5 festivals. In additional to the Sapporo Snow Festival, we have the Susukino Ice Sculptures, The Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival, The Sounkyo Ice Light Up Festival, and the Asahikawa Snow Festival. And yet there is more, much more, 2 onsen stays, a day visiting the historic harbor city of Otaru, 2 sake brewery visits, Asahikakwa Zoo to witness the Penguin Walk, Sunagawa Highway Oasis for the very best omiyage shopping under one roof, 2 fish markets, Jogai Fish Market and Sapporo’s Nijo Fish Market, shopping and eating. If this wasn’t enough, how about 3 nights at Sapporo’s finest hotel, Century Royal Hotel Sapporo. Itinerary/Details Day 1 – January 30th, 2020 Thursday – Depart from Honolulu Hawaiian Airlines #441 Departs Honolulu 11:50 am – Arrive Chitose 5:00 pm +1 Meet up with your Panda Travel representative at the Hawaiian Airlines International check-in counters, located in Terminal 2, Lobby 4 a minimum of 3 hours prior to the flight departure time. Day 2 – January 31th, 2019 Friday– Arrival Chitose On arrival in Chitose, please make your way to the baggage claim area as we need to clear immigration and customs. Free luggage carts are available. We suggest that you use one as there is a short walk to our bus. Our local English speaking Japanese guide will be there to meet us. Accommodations on this first night is at the Air Terminal Hotel, right on the airport grounds, just a short walk away. Airports are usually boring, sterile places, but not the New Chitose Airport. Here, it is a destination all on its own. It’s more like a giant shopping mall with planes outside. How many airports in the world can boast a proper movie theater? After check-in, your guide will be available to take you on tour so that you can easily find the many shopping and dining options available. A 24-hour convenience store is also located on the ground floor. Accommodations: Air Terminal Hotel free Day 3 – February 1st, 2020 Saturday– Chitose-Nibutani-Noboribetsu (B/L/D) We have a full day of touring ahead. After breakfast at our hotel, please meet in the lobby area by 8:00 am as we journey off for the day. The morning begins with a visit to the Nibutani AINU Culture Museum and the opportunity to participate in an Ainu dance. The drive time is approximately 1.5 hours. Opened in 1992, the museum is devoted to the history and cultural assets of the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido. It is said that this museum may be the best exhibition of Ainu culture in Hokkaido. Besides the exceptional examples of Ainu craftwork here, the collection includes 919 items relating to the daily way of life of the local Ainu people. Enjoy free time to explore and for serious shoppers, the gift shop is a must stop, offering works from contemporary Ainu artisans. Lastly, experience firsthand the opportunity to participate in a Ainu dance. Next, off to enjoy a Japanese style lunch at a local restaurant. From here we make our way to Noboribetsu, Hokkaido’s most famous hot spring resort. A large amount of Noboribetsu's many types of hot spring water surfaces in the spectacular Jigokudani or "Hell Valley" just above the resort town. The hot spring offers 9 different kinds of water, including acidic iron, alkaline, salt, radium and melanterite springs. Balneologists even prescribe some to heal various medical conditions including bronchitis, neuralgia, and eczema. The quality of these minerals results in the spa being ranked among the world's most exceptional hot springs. Before arriving at our hotel, a stop at the Noboribetsu Date Jidaimura Village, a history theme park highlighting the Edo Period, one of the most attractive era in Japanese history. Step back in time to enjoy traditional games, activities, theaters, street performances and more. The charm of ancient Japan is abundant as you mingle with the Ninja and Oiran courtesans so symbolic of the Edo Period. Now, off to our hotel, Iwainoyado Noboribetsu Grand Hotel, perfectly situated in the center of this small resort town. If you get out to explore, find a few shops and convenience stores. Our arrival will be by 4:15pm and after time to relax and maybe take in the onsen, please meet your guide in the lobby by 6:00pm for dinner. After dinner, a perfect opportunity to enjoy the hot spring baths. Three of the nine different waters from the hot spring are available here. Both indoor and outdoor baths are available. Accommodations: Iwainoyado Noboribetsu Grand Hotel free Day 4 – February 2nd, 2020 Sunday – Noboribetsu-Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival-Sapporo (B) After breakfast, please meet your guide by 8:30am as we are off for another full day of touring and fun one at that. The morning begins with a visit to Noboribetsu Jigokudani or "Hell Valley", a volcanic caldera created by the eruption of Mt. Hiyoriyama, and is the largest hot spring source in Noboribetsu Onsen. Jigokudani is a suitable name for a place where scalding hot water and powerful jets of stream burst from numerous hot spring vents and holes, all with a strong, sulfur smell. From here we are off to Lake Shikotsu, the northernmost ice-free lake which is 363 meters deep. Every year, Lake Shikotsu turns into a colored ice playground as part of the Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival The drive is approximately 1.5 hours. The festival, one of the most popular winter events in Sapporo, takes place for approximately two weeks from late January. The sculptures, created by sprinkling and congealing water from neighboring Lake Shikotsu, gleam in natural blue in the daytime, and are beautifully illuminated with different colors of lights at night. The scrupulously finished iced objects are like lime stones which were formed over millions of years. However, according to the nature of ice, it will eventually melt away, but for this moment you can enjoy an experience like nowhere else. The illusory sight of this festival is reminiscent of "the beauty in fragility". Illuminated with the colorful lights, most of the ice sculptures have enough space inside to enter. It is like a shelter made of snow, the sense of being enveloped by something large and strong. Faced with the random patterns and translucent blue, it will leave you in a state of awe. Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival We now make our way to Sapporo, Hokkaido’s capital, and Japan’s fifth largest city. Sapporo is a dynamic urban center that offers everything you'd want from a Japanese city: a thriving food scene, stylish cafes, neon-lit nightlife, shopping galore – and then some. Once here, a stop at Sapporo’s Tanukikoji Shopping Street, a shopping arcade that has been in operation since the frontier period. It’s a great place to buy Hokkaido souvenirs! Enjoy free time here for lunch on your own and shopping. With approximately 200 shops, the arcade features both old and new shops, souvenir shops, and a variety of food options. Close by and another lunch option is Nijo Fish Market, Sapporo’s version of Tsukiji. While much smaller, only one block, you can still find many of the same items as in Tsukiji. Several restaurants are located here. Arrival at our hotel, Century Royal Sapporo will be approximately 4:00pm and the remainder of the afternoon and evening is free. Being that our hotel has direct access to the JR Sapporo Station and a complete underground city just waiting on you with endless dining and shopping options. It really does hit that “wow” button! After checking in, our guide will be available to show you all that is available within steps of the hotel. Accommodations: Century Royal Hotel Sapporo free Day 5 – Feb. 3rd, 2020 Monday – Sapporo-Otaru-Sapporo (B) After breakfast, please meet your guide by 9:00am as we are off on a tour of historic Otaru. Here you will find the old remnant of the city’s major industry, glassware shops. Glass buoys were used to light up fishing boats at night to attract herrings. The glass industry flourished to support the herring trade. When the herring fishing industry declined in the 1950s, the makers of glass buoys diverted their business to produce refined glassware, as the demand for buoys plunged. The result today are numerous glass shops, which now carter mainly to souvenir hungry tourists. If you think that blown glassware is only made in Venice, then you are wrong. Glassworks, music boxes, and sweet shops that can be found lining Sakaimachi Street. As you near the end of Sakaimachi Street, look and listen when you come to the vintage steam clock at the front of the charming Music Box Museum. The nostalgic atmosphere inside the main building of the museum takes you back in time.