It's been a while since I updated this blog! My latest #wanderlust moment was to Hokkaido! Rarely do people think of visiting Hokkaido during its Summer season. The first thing that comes to your mind when I mention Hokkaido is probably about its very long and cold Winter season. Summer in Hokkaido is really beautiful, when it isn’t raining. It rained on 8 out of the 10 days that we were there and it was still breath-taking.

I strongly recommend that you rent a car and drive yourself around! The speed limit is 50km/h on most single-lane highways and it’s horribly slow. Just keep a lookout for the speed cameras when you are bored of driving at 50 ;) Most of the road signs are in Japanese only, but it isn’t that terribly difficult to navigate around with a GPS. Another tip is not rent a huge car as some of the carparks have size limits and those huge SUVs are unable to park in those; I drove a Nissan Note.

Listed down all the locations that I visited this holiday in the Google Maps below. Hope it is of help to you when you travel to Hokkaido! :) The blue line is a driving route that I recommend for a sunset drive. It’s approximately a 2hrs long drive if you are driving at around 80km/h.

 

 

Asahikawa | Furano | Biei

Our itinerary was basically split into two parts. Outskirt and Sapporo. This is the ‘Outskirt’ portion of the itinerary. We spent 5 nights at Asahikawa and travelled out daily from here. The smarter plan will be to stay in a different city every night instead of travelling back to Asahikawa like we did as it will be less tiring.

 
Shirogane Blue Pond

Shirogane Blue Pond

Shikisai No Oka

Shikisai No Oka

Front of Shirahige Waterfall

Front of Shirahige Waterfall

Lake Shikaribetsu

Lake Shikaribetsu

 

Daisetsuzan National Park | Mt. Asahi-dake

What’s the stupidest thing a guy in jeans can do on a mountain in 14 degrees weather? I went to climb Mt. Asahi-dake. I’m actually not sure why I did it since the weather was cloudy the entire day and I knew I couldn’t get a view from the summit, but I still did it anyway. Oh well…

Anyway we drove past a dam along the way and decided to stop for a short break for me to take photos.

 
Mt. Asahi-dake

Mt. Asahi-dake

Mt. Asahi-dake

Mt. Asahi-dake

 

Wakkanai | Cape Soya

Come here on a day with good weather! Don’t be like me. I promise the view will be amazing, even though I didn’t get to see it myself. Follow the blue line on the Google Map for a sunset drive!

 
Wakkanai North Breakwater Dome

Wakkanai North Breakwater Dome

 

Hell Valley

 
Hell Valley

Hell Valley

 

Moerenuma Park

Moerenuma Park is a must visit park when you are in Sapporo. It’s pretty far away from the city centre, but the view will be worth it. Trust me, it is worth visiting.

 
 

Mt. Moiwa

 
View from Mt. Moiwa

View from Mt. Moiwa



 

All photos taken with iPhone X and drone footage with DJI Mavic Pro.