Step into a Hokkaido summer painted in lavender, cobalt, and forest green on this two-day small-group tour from Sapporo. Designed for the warm season only, the route weaves the region's most photographed natural sights into one unhurried itinerary, with a real onsen-hotel overnight breaking the journey midway.
Day one heads inland through the chocolate-scented production halls of the ROYCE' Cacao & Chocolate Town, then climbs to Asahikawa for an English-style cottage garden at Ueno Farm — a former rice-storage estate now bursting with over a thousand varieties of perennials, herbs, and roses. Travelers who wish may also step into Asahiyama Zoo for a self-paced visit, or skip the stop and wait at the coach. As the afternoon ends, the coach pushes east into the Sounkyo Gorge, where you check into a hot-spring hotel for the night and unwind in the open-air baths.
Day two opens with a quick photo break at Ryusei and Ginga Falls before rolling out into the sculpted patchwork farmland of Biei. Pose beside the lone Seven Stars Tree and the Ken & Mary Tree, then continue to Shirogane Blue Pond, the surreally turquoise pool whose Apple-wallpaper fame draws photographers worldwide, and the nearby Shirahige Waterfall, where cobalt meltwater seeps straight from a cliff face.
The summer floral finale comes at Farm Tomita, Hokkaido's most iconic lavender estate — its purple, pink, and white flower terraces glow against the Tokachi mountains. (After 15 August, when lavender season ends, the tour visits Shikisai-no-oka instead, a panoramic 15-hectare patchwork of seasonal blooms.) The day winds down with an unhurried hour at Ningle Terrace and the Forest Clock Cafe, a cluster of artisan cabins lit by lanterns as the sun sets over the Furano woods, before the coach returns to Sapporo by evening.
Round-trip transport, an overnight onsen stay, breakfast and dinner buffets, attraction admissions, and a bilingual English/Japanese guide are all bundled — leaving you free to focus on the colors of the season.
