Hokkaido One-Day Tour: Asahiyama Zoo & Shikisai no Oka & Biei Christmas Tree & Ningle Terrace (Departing from Sapporo, optional snowmobile)

What to expect

[Asahiyama Zoo]

Asahiyama Zoo, located in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, is the northernmost zoo in Japan and has become one of the most visited zoos in Japan. Who says most animals close their doors and hibernate in groups when you go to the zoo in winter? Visiting Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido on a snowy day is also a lot of fun! Cute penguins collectively stroll in the snow, clumsy raccoons climb and make faces overhead, curious seals swim and play up and down in glass columns, and monkey groups huddle together for warmth. The biggest feature here is that it ensures animals are in a relatively free breeding state to the greatest extent possible, and allows visitors to observe animals at close range through clever displays (this itinerary includes watching the penguin walk at 11:00 AM in winter). (The penguin walk is usually from mid-December to mid-March of the following year, subject to official announcements).

[Shikisai no Oka]

Shikisai no Oka boasts a vast and beautiful flower field covering an area of 15 hectares, like a seven-color rainbow carpet, with different flowers blooming in different seasons. From late May to late October each year, more than 30 kinds of flowers, such as tulips, lavender, and sunflowers, bloom competitively on the rolling hills. From a distance, they are colorful, like a painter's palette. There are also giant scarecrows standing in the flower fields, which are very cute. In addition, there are several alpacas here for visitors to see and feed (you can choose to visit the alpaca ranch in the park, admission fee is 500 yen, please pay for yourself).

[Ningle Terrace]

Ningle Terrace in Furano is a forest handicraft experience workshop built inspired by a character (to be precise, a 15cm-tall fairy living in a big forest) from a novel by Japanese writer Satoshi Kuramoto. The small wooden houses here are individual small shops selling unique small commodities, mostly handmade, such as glass crafts, paper crafts, as well as hand-painted works and crafts made from dried lavender from Furano. Each small shop is small and exquisite, and all items are only sold here and nowhere else.