Essential Hokkaido Travel Guide: Best Tips for Visiting from February to May 2025

Babies planning to visit Hokkaido between February and May, come check out this guide 💯! It fulfills all your fantasies of a snowy northern paradise. The colorful snow-capped cottages in Hokkaido are absolutely adorable. Biei is one of the most beautiful towns in Hokkaido—once you step in, you’ll be mesmerized by the scenery and colors before your eyes…

🚗 **Transportation in Hokkaido**
Flights usually land at New Chitose Airport, from where you can take the train 🚋 to Sapporo Station. JR (Japan Railways) is Japan’s national railway system. Traveling between cities in Hokkaido is mostly convenient via JR.
Routes like Sapporo → Noboribetsu → Otaru → Hakodate can all be reached by JR.

🌲 **Things to Do in Hokkaido**
🧊 **Sapporo**: Snow Festival, snow sculptures, skiing, snowmobiling, DIY cookie-making at the Shiroi Koibito Factory 🍪
🧊 **Otaru**: Visit filming locations from *Love Letter* 📷, Otaru Canal, Funaoka Slope, Tenguyama Ropeway, and the Music Box Museum
🧊 **Lake Toya**: One of Japan’s three unfrozen lakes.

Take a boat ride to the island in the center to see sika deer.
🧊 **Noboribetsu**: Experience hot springs in the snow, stroll through Jigokudani to see volcanic landscapes, and visit the Edo-style Edo Wonderland.
🧊 **Asahiyama Zoo**: Must-see penguin 🐧 parade! Watch them waddle right past you—super cute!

Also spot polar bears 🐻‍❄️, red pandas 🐼, and more.
🧊 **Biei**: Visit the dreamy Blue Pond, where the turquoise water changes hues with the light. Then head to the Instagram-famous lonely Christmas tree 🎄 standing in the snow—perfect for photos. The Shirahige Falls feature unique blue cascades.
🧊 **Furano Ningle Terrace**: A cluster of 10+ wooden cottages 🏡 hidden in the forest, covered in thick snow in winter—like stepping into an elf’s home.

Visit after sunset when the orange lights illuminate the cottages and snow paths for a magical atmosphere and great photos.

🙇🏻‍♀️ **5-Day, 4-Night Itinerary**
**Day 1**: Sapporo TV Tower → Tanukikoji Shopping Street → Hokkaido Shrine → Shiroi Koibito Park
**Day 2**: Asori Station → Minami-Otaru Station → Sakaimachi Station → Funaoka Slope → Otaru Canal → Tenguyama
**Day 3**: Asahiyama Zoo → The Lonely Tree → Shirahige Falls → Forest Ningle Terrace
**Day 4**: Jigokudani → Noboribetsu Hot Spring Street → Bear Ranch → Cape Chikyu → Lake Toya → Lake Toya Cruise
**Day 5**: Hakodate Morning Market → Omori Coast → Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden → Kanemori Red Brick Warehouses → Hachiman Slope → Mount Hakodate