Hokkaido · Japan
Where to stay in Sapporo
Sapporo is a city in Hokkaido, Japan, home to about 1,959,000 people. This guide covers 4 hotels in Sapporo.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 4
- Best months
- June
- Nearest airport
- OKD7 km · Sapporo Okadama Airport
- Currency
- JPYyen
- Time zone
- Asia/Tokyo
- Language
- Japanese
About
About Sapporo
Sapporo is a designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River.
Sapporo's population has grown from seven in 1857 to nearly 2 million in 2021. Welcome to Sapporo is the city's official multilingual guide site. Tipping is not customary here. Sapporo has four distinct seasons. Temperatures are generally cool and pleasant during summer, making it a popular place to escape the heat that grips much of the rest of Japan. Summer days here start longer and earlier than the rest of Japan, with sunrise as early as 03:55, and the latest sunsets in June are only around 19:15.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Sapporo
See
- Clock Tower
- Shiroi Koibito Park
- Ōdōri Park
- Sapporo TV Tower
- Sapporo Beer Museum
- Hokkaido Pioneer Village
- Moiwayama
- Asahiyama Park
- Hokkaido Shrine
- Jōzankei
- JR Tower
- Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art
Do
- Sapporo Snow Festival
- Mt. Teine
- Skiing
- Hoheikyo Onsen
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Places to stay in Sapporo
4 places to stay from the chains this guide covers, each linked to its own website.
When to go
The best time to visit Sapporo
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Sapporo are June. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 25 °C; August is the wettest, with about 154 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Sapporo: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Sapporo Okadama Airport (OKD), about 6.5 km from the city centre in a straight line; New Chitose Airport (CTS, 42 km) and Asahikawa Airport (AKJ, 111 km) are also within reach.
Getting in
Sapporo is Hokkaido's main transport hub. Sapporo (SPK for all airports) is served by two airports. Most international and inter-island flights to go the larger but further away New Chitose Airport, while most intra-island flights go to the smaller but closer Okadama Airport.
Getting around
Most unusually for a Japanese city, Sapporo is logically organized thanks to its strict grid system. The main thoroughfare, the leafy Ō-Dōri (大通り, literally "Big Street"), runs east-west across the city and divides the city into North and South, while Sōsei-Gawa (創成川, literally "Creation River") divides the city into West and East, running under the main street Eki-Mae-Dōri (駅前通, literally "In Front of the Train Station Road"). The address of every block in the center is thus of the type "North X West Y" (prominently signposted at all intersections), making navigation a snap.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
OKD · Sapporo Okadama Airport
CTS · New Chitose Airport
AKJ · Asahikawa Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Sapporo
Eat
Sapporo is famous for hairy crab (毛蟹 kegani), an expensive treat available at any seafood restaurant, and miso ramen (味噌ラーメン), a local variation of the ubiquitous noodle dish with miso paste added to the stock, and one of Japan's top three ramen. The ramen in particular will warm you up nicely on a chilly winter day. Sapporo soup curry (just what it sounds like) is also increasingly famous. As elsewhere in Hokkaido, you can also enjoy dairy products (milk, cheese, butter, chocolate and ice cream), seafood (especially as sushi), fruits (honeydew melon, strawberries) and meat (sausages, ham, bacon and beef). Kuwanomi (桑の実) is a popular mulberry. It is red or black in color and sweet.
Drink
The drink of choice when in Sapporo is obviously Sapporo Beer, and a good option for this is the Beer Museum (see See). Susukino (すすきの), to the south of the center, is one of Japan's largest nightlife (and red-light) districts, which was created to keep labourers in Hokkaido. It has a somewhat unsavory reputation due to heavy yakuza involvement in the business, but is safe for travelers not looking for trouble. Get there on the subway Namboku line, Susukino station.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Sapporo: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Sapporo?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Sapporo are June. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 25 °C; August is the wettest, with about 154 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Sapporo?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Sapporo Okadama Airport (OKD), about 6.5 km from the city centre in a straight line; New Chitose Airport (CTS, 42 km) and Asahikawa Airport (AKJ, 111 km) are also within reach.
What currency is used in Sapporo?
yen (JPY).
Nearby
Destinations near Sapporo
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.