The Best of Sapporo
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Port
Otaru, Japan
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Activity Level
Moderate
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Excursion Type
City Tour,Local Sightseeing,All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At
$224.95
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
7½ Hours
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Meals Included
Meals included
Visit Sapporo’s Nijo Ichiba Market -- famous supplier to the restaurants and kitchens of Sapporo. Freshly-caught seafood and fresh vegetables are displayed in rows, and buyers and sellers haggle energetically. This market offers an authentic glimpse of local lifestyle and business.
Continue to Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill on Sapporo’s outskirts, affording a beautiful view of pastureland with grazing sheep. The hill is part of the Hokkaido Agricultural Experimental Station and opened to visitors in 1959. A statue of Dr William Clark stands on the hill. An American, Clark taught English and Botany at Sapporo Agricultural College in the late 1800s. The college was the forerunner of Hokkaido University. Although he was only briefly a faculty member, he is remembered for his parting words, "Boys, be ambitious!" The nearby Historical Village preserves the lifestyle of 19th-century and early 20th-century Japan. The 60 structures, painstakingly reproduced from traditional models, reflect life in a typical small town, fishing village, farming village and mountain hamlet. Your tour includes folk art demonstrations and folkloric performances.
You will drive by Sapporo Odori Park as you head east-west through downtown Sapporo. This pretty park includes flowerbeds, fountains, a shallow waterplay zone for children, and various monuments and statues, including Black Slide Mantra by sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988). Constructed in 1871 as a firebreak, Odori Park is especially renowned for hosting the Sapporo Snow Festival in February. The park is always home to numerous food vendors who fill the air with the aromas of roasting chestnuts, corn and other delicacies. At the eastern end of the park stands the 482-foot-tall Sapporo TV Tower, which offers a dynamic view of the city.
Notes:
Wear comfortable walking shoes.