Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Top 10 Insanely Fun Things to do in Sapporo | Sapporo Travel Guide

Situated on Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, Sapporo felt like a smaller, laid back version of Tokyo. But don't let its size deter you. This city is jam packed with plenty of fun activities.

fun things to do in sapporo

Wanting to get an escape from the big city for a few days, myself and a few friends decided to visit Sapporo. I've never been to Hokkaido so I was pretty excited to say the least. Its a small city, with a population less than one tenth the size of Tokyo, so the four days we spent there was an ample amount of time to see everything Sapporo has to offer. The atmosphere was friendly and laid back, and it felt almost like a miniature version of Tokyo. So here is my mini Sapporo travel guide with a list of the top 10 fun things to do in Sapporo!


#01 | CLIMB THE SAPPORO TV TOWER


Situated in the heart of the city centre, the Sapporo TV Tower gives you a 360° panoramic view of the city. Shaped like the Eiffel Tower, the observation deck stands at a mere 90m, but with an entrance fee of ¥700 its a good way to start your Sapporo sightseeing adventure. We opted to go on our second evening in Sapporo just before sunset so we could watch the city skyline transform from day to night.

sapporo tv tower night
sapporo tv tower night view from observation deck
sapporo tv tower night view from observation deck


#02 | ENJOY A LUNCH AT THE SAPPORO CURB MARKET


The Sapporo Curb Market (also known as the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market Curb Market), one of the largest food markets in Sapporo consists of almost 80 shops specialising in fresh seafood and food. If you are looking for the freshest seafood or the best sushi in Sapporo this is the place to be. The restaurants line the whole street giving you a huge selection variety. My Japanese friend Ken and I decided to grab lunch here on our second day. Since I love salmon roe and have always wanted to try Sapporo crab (apparently the crab from Sapporo is the best in Japan) I got a dish with both. Ken wanted more variety so he got a dish with 10 different selections of seafood. As far as picking places to see in Sapporo goes, this one is a solid must do!

sapporo curb market restaurant


#03 | SPEND A FEW HOURS AT THE SAPPORO BEER MUSEUM


Sapporo Beer, arguably one of the most popular brands of beer originates from where else, but Sapporo. The Sapporo Beer Museum (also known as the Sapporo Beer Factory) was opened up in a former brewery and if you walk around the grounds you can still see the old distillery machines. When we visited this museum we thought it looked like an old Soviet building with the red star on the top. The Sapporo Beer Museum features an extensive selection of Sapporo products from old advertisements to bottles to beer caps and an exhibit dedicated to the method of making beer. The museum itself is only 3 levels, but we spent a good 3 hours looking at everything. At the end of the museum is the Sapporo Beer Hall where you can sample the different flavours of beer. My Swedish friend Fredrik got a sampler of 3 beers and beer flavoured crackers. Oh and the best part about this museum- its FREE!

sapporo beer museum


#04 | WALK ALONG THE TANUKIKOJI SHOPPING STREET


When I travel, the last thing I want to do is spend half my trip shopping. But the Tanukikoji shopping street is more than just a shopping arcade. Featuring over 200 shops on a 1 km strip of road in central Sapporo, Tanukikoji has everything from some of the best food in Sapporo to souvenir shops to karaoke bars - its a real must do in Sapporo. But one of my favourite features of this street is at night after many of the shops close it turns into a busking paradise. I saw buskers doing crazy dances in robot masks, and another doing portraits of people in anime style. Further down we came across a group of girls huddled together with a sign in front of them that said if you are feeling depressed you can talk to the girls and they will pay you a compliment. The street also featured lots of graffiti art. It gave the entire Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade a youthful and urban feel.

tanukikoji shopping arcade
tanukikoji shopping street arcade


#05 | VISIT SAPPORO FACTORY AND ENJOY CRAFTING


The Sapporo Factory was where Japan's first beer brewery was located, until it moved premises, and turned into a shopping mall. Part of the original brewery still exists and can be seen in the beer hall. But the reason I like the Sapporo Factory shopping mall so much is because one whole part of the building is dedicated to local handicraft shops with lessons you can book in advance. Looking over various brochures we saw lessons for leatherwork to make your own wallet, glasswork, clay work, wine tasting and photography classes. We thought it would be fun to spend an hour or two making our own clay sculpture souvenir. It was the first time I ever made something with clay so I was so proud of my creation. For this reason the Sapporo Factory shopping mall is one of my top rated Sapporo tourist attractions (making your OWN souvenir is a fantastic idea!).

sapporo factory shopping mall
sapporo factory shopping mall
sapporo factory shopping mall


#06 | TAKE THE MT MOIWA ROPEWAY AND SEE SAPPORO FROM ABOVE


Sixth on my list of fun things to do in Sapporo is a little journey outside of the city centre, but not so far. To get to the top of Mt Moiwa, you must take 2 ropeways. The first one takes you to a transfer station with a large souvenir shop where you can buy souvenirs of the Sapporo specialty. Then you take a second rope car all the way to the top to get a spectacular panorama of the whole city from the Mount Moiwa Observation Deck. At the top there is also a restaurant, theatre and planetarium. The round trip is a bit pricey at ¥1700 per ticket, but in Sapporo, I think this attraction is a must do.

mount moiwa night view
mount moiwa observation deck


#07 | ENTER THE MAGICAL LAND OF SHIROI KOIBITO


Shiroi Koibito is a biscuit loved all over Japan, native to Sapporo, made right here in the Ishiya Chocolate Factory. The Shiroi Koibito Park takes you to a wonderland that is as sweet as the biscuit itself. There is both a free part and a paid part of the park. We decided to only visit the free part since we were already having a lot of fun. There are many cute and wonderful exhibits like the one below that take you back to a place in your childhood. It reminded me of a Willy Wonka movie set. In the main part of the Shiroi Koibito Chocolate Factory there is a toy museum, cafe, shop and restaurant. If you decide to pay ¥600 you can also see a few other chocolate themed exhibits and the cookie making process. We decided to visit the free part of the park only, which landed it on my list of the best things to do in Sapporo.

shiroi koibito park sapporo


#08 | CULTURE YOURSELF IN THE FORMER HOKKAIDO GOVERNMENT BUILDING


The Former Hokkaido Government Office Building is a beautiful red brick building made in the 1800's. Inside there is a free museum featuring many historical exhibitions about Hokkaido. My favourite part of this property was walking along the meticulously kept gardens in front of the building. Since it's situated right in central Sapporo visiting this building is a good way to spend an hour or two stroll in the city for an easy to access Sapporo toursit attraction.

former hokkaido government building


#09 | IMMERSE YOURSELF IN KAITAKU NO MURA, THE HISTORIC VILLAGE OF HOKKAIDO


This place is pretty freakin' amazing and probably warrants a blog post all to itself - definitely the most unique Sapporo tourist spot. It is a huge open air museum featuring over 60 real size buildings from all over Hokkaido. The village is partitioned into four sections- a town, a fishing village, a mountain village and a farm village. Similar to a small village there are streets, functioning shops, houses, factories and restaurants. Inside each building we see a recreation of what Japan looked like during that time period. It even features a fully functional horse carriage which goes from one end of the village to the other. We spent over 3 hours here and still didn't see everything because they were closing.

kaitaku no mura sapporo
kaitaku no mura sapporo


#10 | TAKE SOME FUNKY PHOTOS AT THE SOUSEI RIVER PARK


We woke up bright and early on our third day and decided to take a walk down Souseigawa street which divides Sapporo into the eastern and western halves. This park is full of funky cool sculptures like the ones below. There are stairs down to the river below so you can walk along the river. This street is one of the main avenues of Japan so its not hard to miss. Probably one of the more unusual things to do in Sapporo, you could probably spend an hour here as an evening stroll after dinner watching the city transform from day to night.

central sapporo sousei river park
central sapporo sousei river park

No comments:

Post a Comment