Japan 4.0: What to Do in Hokkaido (With a Toddler)

We recently visited Hokkaido, Japan. We’ve been to multiple areas of Japan further south (see previous posts), so we thought we would tackle this area with our extended family this trip. Here are the places we visit during our week-long stay in Hokkaido:

Sapporo TV Tower

As the main landmark of Sapporo, I would say this is a must-see. You can just take photos under it or choose to go up and see the aerial view of the city. At the time we went, they had some construction and scaffolding so the view wasn’t great but it was still a nice quick visit. There is a small gift shop upstairs and my daughter enjoyed the sticker machine. If you’re collecting stamps, don’t forget to get some at the top!

Odori Park

Right next to the TV tower is Odori Park. Think Central Park of New York. In addition to the green space, it is the grounds of a lot of food festivals. When we were there, there was a lilac festival and ramen festival going on. We could not pass up and had some ramen and lavender sweets. They had lots of shaded spots for eating and a large playground for little ones to burn some energy.

Mount Moiwa Ropeway

If you’re into scenic attractions, this is one you don’t want to miss. It was a bit of trek to walk from the streetcar stop so get your walking shoes on. Once there, you can pay to take the gondola and cable car up to the summit to enjoy some beautiful view of the city. I really enjoyed this attraction. The old us would’ve hiked up the mountain but it’s kinda tricky to hike with little ones in tow.

Nijo Market and shopping street

Every city in Japan seems to have their fish market and this is Sapporo’s main one. Don’t forget to enjoy some seafood here. Once you’re doing eating, enjoy some shopping along the shopping street. They have ABC Mart if you’re looking for shoes and they even have Don Quijote, the catch-all mega mart. We got some quite Jinbei’s and the viral stain remover here.

Otaru

If you are up for a quick day trip, take the train (around 40mins) to Otaru. It is a nearby town with many things to see. From the seafood market here where you can buy full snow crabs/king crabs and they cook it on the spot, to the famous desserts place Le Tao, to the quite Music Box Museum where you can make your own music box, or the sake museum for some good sake tasting, there’s plenty to see. For scenic attractions, you will need to take photos of the main canal. 

Maruyama Zoo

We didn’t have this on our initial itinerary since it was more of a trek by train then bus, but it was actually a lovely place to visit with little ones. There were plenty of animals to see, from polar bears to giraffes. There are multiple food spots on site. There are play areas throughout the site and also a large playground for kiddos (which we didn’t even get the chance to visit). 

Sapporo Beer Museum

We couldn’t leave Sapporo without visiting the Sapporo Beer Museum. The actual museum part was unremarkable since I’m not a fan of historical museums but I did enjoy the restaurant on site and all the special Sapporo beer I got to try!

Shiroi Koibito Park

This was actually the one thing I really wanted to visit so I’m glad we sneaked it in on our last day in Sapporo. It was quite far away by transit, so we took advantage of the fact that we had a car the last day to stop by here. I felt like this is a very unique experience and tons of fun for the littles. It was like you were transported to a European country. There is a chocolate factory where you can make your own cookies. There are many Instagramable spots. There is a children’s play area where they can play pretend and run around and ride various things (e.g. bikes, donkey stuffies). There are also multiple restaurants on site once you get hungry.

Rusutsu

We took a road trip over to a ski resort town called Rusutsu before we left Hokkaido. It was the perfect getaway before we embark on our journey towards the busy Tokyo. Since it was low seasons, there weren’t very many guests. We took it easy and enjoyed eating, relaxing, the on site monorail, arcade games, and of course it’s 2-story carousel. I got a nice relaxation massage and my companions also enjoyed the onsen. I initially wanted to visit the amusement park on site but it was raining most of the time we were here so it wouldn’t have been very enjoyable. My only complaint is that as a ski resort, most attractions don’t open until after 1pm so our morning was a bit slow. 

So that’s it for our trip to Hokkaido, Japan! I highly recommend it to those with little ones. It’s relatively less hectic than larger, more touristy cities like Tokyo and Kyoto. If your little one tolerates it, consider renting a car to allow you to visit other nearby towns in the region.

Happy travelling!