Sapporo travel guide

Sapporo and Otaru: what to see and when to go

In the city centre, the Clock Tower's 1881 clock still strikes every hour, and a few blocks south, Susukino's night ends in miso ramen or a parfait. Otaru is 32 minutes from Sapporo Station by rapid train at the fastest, and its canal is at its best just after sunset. The Sapporo Beer Museum is walked on your own in English. Jozankei, a hot-spring town inside the city, is 60 to 70 minutes away on the Kappa Liner bus.

We have not visited these places in person. Everything here comes from official and tourism-association pages, and each card says when we checked them.

The red-brick Former Hokkaido Government Office Building in Sapporo, with snow covering the grounds in frontPhoto: MiNe / CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons), cropped

What to see in Sapporo

  • A small wooden hall with a red roof and a clock tower among trees, office blocks rising behind it and a city bus passing

    Sapporo Clock Tower札幌市時計台

    For the 1881 clock that still strikes the hour, heard from the free terrace across the street, then a walk south to Tanukikoji

    • History
    • Walk
    Opens8:45–17:10, last entry 17:00. Lit up after sunset until 21:30.
    CostsAdults ¥350; the photo terrace opposite is free.
    ClosedClosed 1–3 January.

    Checked 27 September 2026

    Read the guide
  • A wet intersection in Susukino at night, walls of lit signs on every building, a taxi passing below

    Susukinoすすきの

    For a night of lamb at a fourteen-seat counter, then Sapporo miso ramen in the old alley or a parfait after midnight

    • Food
    • Night
    OpensDaruma 17:00–5:00; parfait shops until midnight to 3:00.
    CostsHostess bars about ¥6,000–20,000 per person (tourism association list).
    ClosedRamen alley shops set their own days off.

    Checked 27 September 2026

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  • Stone warehouses lit at dusk along a calm canal under a deep blue sky, with people walking on the lamp-lit path

    Otaru Canal小樽運河

    For the blue sky over the warehouses just after sunset, and a cruise by day or by night

    • Night
    • Walk
    OpensWarehouse lights sunset to 22:30. Walkway gas lamps sunset to midnight (18:00 from June to August).
    CostsCanal cruise ¥1,800 by day, ¥2,000 at night.
    ClosedCruises can be cancelled in bad weather.

    Checked 27 September 2026

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  • The gabled red-brick front of the Sapporo Beer Museum, with a tall brick chimney marked with a red star

    Sapporo Beer Museumサッポロビール博物館

    For the red star on the chimney, followed in English from the top floor down to the tasting hall

    • Museum
    • Beer
    Opens11:00–18:00, last entry 17:30.
    CostsSelf-guided ¥1,000; guided tour ¥2,000 (Japanese only).
    ClosedClosed 31 December.

    Checked 27 September 2026

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  • A red suspension bridge over a clear river in a wooded gorge, the leaves just starting to turn

    Jozankei Onsen定山渓温泉

    For free hot water on the street: a kappa hand bath, foot baths and a spring that cooks eggs

    • Hot spring
    • Walk
    OpensJozan Gensen Park 7:00–21:00. Kappa hand bath 24 hours.
    CostsFoot baths and hand bath free; Kappa Liner ¥1,700 one way.
    ClosedThe path to the Futami bridge closes in winter.

    Checked 27 September 2026

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  • A traveler in a knit hat and red scarf smiling and warming her hands outside a steamy ramen shop on a snowy side street at night, a vending machine and bicycles buried in snow beside her

    Where to Stay札幌の宿

    For choosing where to sleep by where your night ends: Susukino after the last bowl, the station for early trains, one night in Jozankei

    • Stay
    • Night
    OpensWalkway 5:45–24:30; last subway from Susukino 0:14.
    CostsNo room rates listed; they change by the night.
    ClosedLast Kappa Liner back 17:06; last regular bus 20:48 on weekdays, 20:40 at weekends.

    Checked 28 September 2026

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Stone warehouses lit at dusk along a calm canal under a deep blue sky, with people walking on the lamp-lit path

One thing that could change your plan

If you have one evening in Otaru, reach the canal before sunset

The Otaru Tourism Association names a "twilight time" 15 to 20 minutes after the sun goes down, when the sky over the warehouses turns a deep royal blue. The lights on those warehouses switch off at 22:30. Walk down from the station in daylight, and leave dinner for later.

Read the Otaru Canal guide

How the day changes

From 7:00

Jozankei's foot baths open

Jozan Gensen Park opens at 7:00 every day, with a foot bath and a spring above 80°C for cooking onsen eggs. The Taro-no-yu foot bath also opens at 7:00. The kappa hand bath on Route 230 never closes.

From 8:45

The Clock Tower opens

The Clock Tower opens at 8:45. On days announced each week on its official site, the staff give a winding demonstration at 10:30. The bell strikes every hour, day and night.

From 11:00

The beer museum opens

The Sapporo Beer Museum opens at 11:00. Walk it on your own with English audio on your phone, from the third floor down. The last visitors go in at 17:30.

Before 21:00

The last bus back from Jozankei

The Kappa Liner's last run back leaves Jozankei a little after 17:00, and regular buses run until just before 21:00. If you want the hand bath at any hour, stay the night.

Just after sunset

Otaru's twilight time

The Otaru Tourism Association names a twilight time 15 to 20 minutes after sunset, when the sky over the warehouses turns royal blue. Walk from the station in daylight, then take the first night cruise after sunset if you want to see the lamps from the water.

From 17:00

Susukino's night begins

Daruma's fourteen-seat lamb counter opens at 17:00; the shop says 7 to 8 can mean a wait and around 9 is usually shorter. Aji no Sanpei, said to be where miso ramen began, closes at 18:20.

21:00 to 22:30

Last lights

The Sapporo Beer Garden, next to the museum, is open until 21:00, and Jozan Gensen Park closes at 21:00. The Clock Tower's lights go off at 21:30, and the Otaru warehouse lights at 22:30.

After midnight

Ramen or a parfait

Tenhō in the ramen alley serves until 2:00 (Sunday until midnight). Shiawase no Recipe Sweet Plus serves parfaits until 3:00, and Daruma grills lamb until 5:00.

Before you go

  • Hear the Clock Tower from the terrace across the street, a few minutes before the hour. The 1881 clock strikes once for each hour, twelve at noon. The terrace on the second floor of the building opposite is free.
  • Choose your hotel by where your night ends. The last subway from Susukino toward Sapporo Station leaves at 0:14, and the underground walkway closes at 24:30.
  • In Susukino, choose the bar yourself; never follow a tout. A Sapporo city ordinance bans touting in a central area that includes Susukino, and shops may not let in customers a tout brought.
  • Be at Otaru Canal before sunset. The blue sky comes 15 to 20 minutes after the sun goes down, and the warehouse lights go off at 22:30.
  • Skip the beer museum's guided tour unless you understand Japanese. The tour is in Japanese only. The self-guided route has English audio, costs 1,000 yen and needs no booking.
  • Book the Kappa Liner by 17:00 the day before. Without a booking you can ride only if seats are free on the day, and regular buses back to Sapporo run until just before 21:00.
  • In winter, plan Jozankei around the hot water, not the bridge. Snow keeps you from reaching the red Futami Suspension Bridge. The kappa hand bath is open 24 hours and free.

Each card shows the date its official pages were checked.