7 nights accommodation on a twin share basis
7 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 7 dinners
2 guided marine wildlife watching cruises in Rausu Shiretoko
All transport as described in the itinerary
Professional Japanese photographer guide
English speaking Adventure Hokkaido representative
Cameras, tripods, lenses, lens filters (please bring your own gear!)
Airfare
Travel insurance
Personal expenses
Drinks with included meals
There is no avoiding the fact that winter in Hokkaido is cold. However, with good windproof and insulated jackets, it’s still possible to be nice and warm while photographing. Check out our blog all about how to dress for Hokkaido's winter for more tips.
Hard shell jacket and pants
Waterproof winter boots or insulated hiking boots with a pair of gaiters
Thick socks
Thick fleece or down jacket
Top & bottom thermal base layers
Ski gloves, beanie, and other items to keep you warm (e.g. neck warmer)
Sunscreen & sunglasses
UV rays are even more powerful when reflected off of snow. You will need to apply stronger SPF and protect your eyes in winter even more than you would do in summer!
Insulated drink bottle
Backpack or bag for personal belongings (wallet, smartphone etc)
Camera
1~2 spare camera batteries. Hokkaido’s cold saps lithium battery life fast!
Camera battery charger
Tripod
There will be some low-light conditions where a tripod will be useful. However, there are also some situations, such as on board wildlife cruises, where tripods are not permitted.
Lenses
On this tour, you will be in close proximity to much of the wildlife so a focal length of at least 300mm (zoom, prime or teleconverter) will suffice. However, for the best shots, we recommend bringing a lens with a focal length of at least 400m . If you’re not sure what other lenses to bring, please feel free to ask us for any tips!
SD Cards
Camera Bag
Toiletries
Personal medications
Eco-friendly shopping bag and other reusable items to reduce single-use plastic waste
Travel insurance
Passport
It is a requirement for accommodation providers to take a photocopy of the passport of international visitors.
Cash in Japanese yen
Small restaurants and shops in rural parts of Japan do not accept credit cards. Lunch in general costs 1,000-1,500 yen and dinner 2,000-3,000 yen. You can withdraw cash from ATMs at post offices and 7-eleven convenience stores.
Cellphone power bank
Bring a cable that is compatible with your camera to charge its battery in an emergency!
Lens cleaning devices (lens cloth, blower)
Lens filters (CPL, GND, diffusion etc)
Laptop computer or smart device (for editing on the go)
Travel SIM
Familiar snacks to eat on the go
Sachets for your favourite warm drink (hot chocolate, hot lemon etc)
First aid kit
Safety equipment
Lens cloth
We estimate that a medium-sized suitcase should be sufficient to hold everything on the packing list and still leave you with some space for souvenirs!
Large or oversized suitcases are not recommended on our tours. There are many reasons for this - first, we often change accommodation every night and It can be tricky to pack and unpack large suitcases everyday. Large luggage can also have trouble fitting into tour vehicles and you may struggle to get them on board Japan’s compact public transport. Additionally, some accommodations that we use do not have elevators.
If you are looking for ways to reduce your luggage load, we would suggest sticking to the packing list we provide and leaving anything not listed at home. Many of the accommodations we stay at have laundry facilities, so you can wash and re-use the same clothes on tour. If a large amount of luggage is unavoidable for whatever reason, let us know at the time of booking. We can advise you on luggage-holding services or how to use Japan’s luggage-forwarding system.
We will send you a link to our online sign up form, where we ask for the travel information of all the members travelling with you.
Once we receive this, we will send you an invoice for your tour deposit, which is JPY 50,000 per person. We will confirm your booking upon receipt of your deposit payment.
The deposit is treated as a part of the tour price. Payment of the balance will be reminded by email, which is generally 5 weeks prior to the tour departure date.
We can accept payment via wire-transfer from local banks in a number of countries including but not limited to the US, UK, Australia, and Singapore. Payment will be made in your own currency via Wise (Wise’s transaction fees will apply).
For credit card payment, we use Flywire, which will incur an additional transaction fee of 1.5%.
By paying for a deposit or full amount, you confirm that you have read, understand and agree to these Terms and Conditions .
In the case of tours where the meeting point or end point is different to the first or last night’s accommodation (for example, meeting in Asahikawa but staying in Asahidake Onsen, staying in Tsurui but disbanding in Kushiro), it is best that you make any pre or post-tour night arrangements by yourself. Once booked, please inform us of where you will be staying so that we can pass the information on to your guides.
However, if the tour’s meeting point or disbanding point is the same as the first or last night’s accommodation, we can simply extend your stay so please let us know in this instance!
If you are struggling to make a pre or post-tour hotel booking, please let us know and we will see what we can do to help.
When confirming your booking, we will ask you to make payment via Flywire or Wise. We use Flywire to accept credit card and local bank transfer payments, and we also use Wise to accept local bank transfer payments. Wise will convert the JPY price of the tour into AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, NZD, SEK, SGD, and USD (if you wish to pay us in JPY, please jump to “Can I make a wire transfer to your bank account in Japan?”) For Wise transactions, the fee will be converted into JPY using the exchange rate of the day. Once converted, however, the fee will be locked under that exchange rate for five days to give you time to make payment. So, you don’t need to worry about daily fluctuations in exchange rates! Please note that for either payment method, additional service charges will apply (1.5% in the case of Flywire and 200 JPY in the case of Wise).
Unfortunately we do not accept payment via other online transfers such as YouTrip or PayPal.
Japan remains a popular travel destination and it is not unusual for accommodation in peak seasons to be booked out up to a year in advance. So, the sooner the better! Generally speaking, we ask for you to book 10 - 12 months in advance if you are looking at a custom departure. For scheduled departures, we make our dates available from up to a year in advance. If we feel that your date is too close for us to realistically put a trip together to the standard we pride ourselves on, we will let you know at the time of enquiry and will do our best to suggest alternative travel dates.
Our tours are priced on a twin share basis. Those travelling by themselves will need to pay an additional supplement for use of a single room. If you enter the number of guests in your group and rooms you need, the dates and prices form will calculate the price for your group.
Our tours are priced on a twin share basis and those travelling by themselves will need to pay an additional supplement for use of a single room. If you are happy to share a room with another guest - of the same gender - then let us know at the time of booking. If we match you with another solo traveller then we can discount the single supplement for both of you.
Custom departures based on one of our pre-arranged scheduled tours is something that we can arrange, provided that we have guides available for your travel dates. The earlier it's planned the higher chance we can secure guides and our favourite accommodations for you. Requests made at least 10-12 months prior have a good chance of being accepted successfully, while 6 months prior is too late for peak seasons like August or February.
Our general cancellation policy is shown as below.
Cancelled more than 21 days prior to departure: Zero fees
Cancelled between 20 days and 8 days prior to departure: 20% of the Tour Price
Cancelled between 7 days and 2 days prior to departure: 30% of the Tour Price
Cancelled 1 day prior to departure: 40% of the Tour Price
Cancelled on the day of departure: 50% of the Tour Price
No refunds will be given after the tour has commenced
In addition, refunds will be given if travel becomes impossible due to government-imposed restriction of movement.
For further details, we recommend you read our refund and cancellation policy in more detail on our Terms and Conditions page . Feel free to contact us at info@adventure-hokkaido.com if you have any additional questions.
We will meet at 6:00 pm at our hotel in Central Abashiri. The closest airport is Abashiri Memanbetsu (MMB) and you can fly directly there from Tokyo Haneda (HND), Tokyo Narita (NRT), Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) and Sapporo Okadama (OKD).
From Abashiri Memanbetsu Airport, airport shuttles depart for central Abashiri with the arrival of every domestic flight. The shuttle takes 26 mins from the Airport to JR Abashiri Station, and costs ¥920 per person. Our hotel is within walking distance of the station.
Alternatively, you can take a JR train from Sapporo to Abashiri if you prefer. It takes 5.5 hours and costs just over ¥10,000 for a non-reserved seat.
You can search train timetables in English on Japan Transit Planner website .
We provide a variety of local accommodation from traditional Japanese inns called ryokan and guest houses to hotels. Depending on the location of the tours and itinerary, we do our best to choose accommodation that suits the tour’s travel style. You can read some more detailed information about types of accommodation here , but the basics are below.
It is also important to be aware that Japan does not have a “star” grading system as hotels in Western countries do. Do keep this in mind when it comes to ryokan and minshuku (see below), as they cannot really be compared with Western-style hotels or equated with anything in the “star” system.
A ryokan (旅館) is a traditional Japanese inn and it is the epitome of Japanese hospitality and cuisine. They are often located in natural surroundings and feature Japanese style rooms with tatami mats with paper partitions and futons. Each ryokan prides itself on its cuisine, featuring seasonal local ingredients. We usually enjoy these meals together as a group and they consist of a number of different courses, with a great variety of dishes. Many ryokan also have on-site natural hot springs for their guests to enjoy during their stay. If you’re after an authentic experience in Japan, we recommend staying at a ryokan for a night or two!
A minshuku (民宿) is another type of accommodation we often use on our tours. Frequently translated as a guesthouse, in many cases, a minshuku is a house of the owners who operate an accommodation business on a smaller scale. In Hokkaido, many minshuku have natural hot springs, and provide guests with bathrooms for communal use. Since the minshuku facilities are smaller and the service is all delivered by the friendly owners themselves, they make for the perfect opportunity to interact with the local people and travellers staying overnight.
Since the majority of our adventures take place in rural regions of Hokkaido, we cannot offer en-suites every night throughout our tours. There will be times when we will stay in accommodation that has a shared shower or toilet as described above. In such cases we will make a clear note of it in our trip notes to you.
While we try to organise everything, mother nature is out of our control. If the weather is too bad to safely hike or snowshoe (such as during a snowstorm) we will travel to the next inn in our support vehicle. Along the way we will still stop at local restaurants and visit indoor facilities, so you can still experience the charm of the area while travelling safely and comfortably.
Absolutely! This is a must for all travellers joining our tours. Please make sure you have valid travel insurance, covering the kind of activities you are undertaking during our tour, cancellations, loss of personal belongings, and any unforeseen circumstances while travelling. We will require the details of your travel insurance provider such as the name, policy number and phone number prior to the commencement of the tour.
If you're a Japanese citizen and on Japan's national health insurance scheme, we can mitigate our insurance requirement, although we still strongly recommend that you have flight cancellations and related expenses covered by some kind of insurance. Often your credit card provider can offer this coverage.
“Onsen” is the Japanese word for “hot spring”-- natural hot springs in particular. As a land dotted with countless active and inactive volcanoes, Hokkaido has no shortage of them! It is very likely that you will be able to experience this wonderful aspect of Japanese culture during your trip, either at a ryokan, a minshuku or possibly out in the wild! The big thing to remember is that onsens do require nude, communal bathing. This might seem nerve-wracking at first, but once you get used to it, you’ll be bathing like a local in no time. For more onsen tips, check out our guide to onsen culture here.
Some cultural background– tattoos have historically been associated with criminals in Japan. This has led to a culture where bathers sporting tattoos are sometimes turned away from onsen.
However, the truth is that most Japanese only really apply this rule to other Japanese people. Thanks to Japan’s growing popularity as a tourism destination, most Japanese understand that tattoos have different meanings in foreign cultures and will often apply exceptions for foreigners who wish to use an onsen. Above all else, if you are a paying guest at an onsen’s accommodation facilities, staff are very unlikely to deny you entry to the baths! Still, if you have tattoos, the best thing to do is let us know as soon as you can, especially if your tattoos are large or cover a lot of your body (particularly the chest, back, neck and arms). We can check the “unofficial policy” on tattoos with your accommodation in advance.