Are you planning for a Free and Easy trip to Hokkaido? Here are 5 reasons why you should make Chitose as your base.

(1) Main Hokkaido airport is in Chitose
Most of us would think of Sapporo when travelling to Hokkaido. However, like most cities, the airport is usually located some distance off. The main airport is in Chitose, located south of Sapporo. As the main airport and an international airport, it offers the most connections into Hokkaido.

Although Chitose is an international airport, there are limited international flights that would fly direct into Chitose. In most cases, you would probably be transiting through Tokyo/Narita (NRT), Tokyo/Haneda (HND) or Osaka/Kansai (KIX).

My personal preference is Kansai since none of my preferred airlines fly direct to Chitose. Why Kansai you might ask? There are limited flights from Narita to Chitose. And while Haneda now does support international flights, there are limited international flights into Haneda. Kansai is an international airport and there are regular flights to Chitose. Which means I can land in Kansai, walk over to the domestic terminal to get my connecting flight to Chitose. You could of course take the train or other transport to get from Narita to Haneda, but with kids in tow, it wasn’t a good option for me.

 

(2) Collect rental car, local brochures and maps leisurely
After clearing immigration and customs, you would want to pick up your rental car. Make your way to the car rental counters at the airport and bring your bags with you as the car rental centres are located off the main airport terminal. Each of the car rental companies will have their own shuttle buses to bring you to their rental centres. (More info from Toyota Rent a Car here.)

 

For info on renting from Toyota Rent a Car, please see my earlier post on Helpful tips for self drive and car rental in Japan.

The Toyota Rent a Car rental centre is full of brochures. Take your time to browse around and collect maps and travel brochures from the shelves. Toyota Rent a Car provides an excellent booklet which has a big map of Hokkaido, and smaller maps of key cities in Hokkaido. You should also be able to pick up hardcopy versions of the maps that I have mentioned in my next post on Quick guide on driving in Hokkaido (Part 1).

 

(3) Visit the supermart to stock up on supplies
No need to pack your bursting bags with too much supplies from home. You can get snacks, fruits, biscuits, sweets, drinks, water, instant noodles, soap and detergent for the trip locally.

Your first stop would be to the supermarket (like Aeon) to get supplies. The Chitose Aeon store is near to the JR Chitose Station.

 

It would be cheaper than getting some of these at the convenience stores later. Do ask for some cardboard boxes to pack these so you can load them up easier into the car.

For those with young kids, you can get diapers here too. And if they need porridge, there are ready to eat porridge packs which you can warm up with hot water.

 

(4) Short stress free drives to get familiar with the GPS
After the supermarket trip, it’s time to head for dinner. The trip to the supermart was your first short drive within Chitose. No stress as this is a small town and the traffic is light; so you can drive around rather leisurely. You need to get a better feel of the GPS voice guidance system to figure out exactly what distance it means when you get a prompt like turn right in 300m and turn left in 30m.

So take another short drive to a dining spot. My favourite is this small cozy Japanese restaurant, 海鮮市場 (Kaisen-Ichiba, 0123-23-7373, 4.30pm~11pm).

 

Or, you could try out this Soba restaurant, 駒そば亭 (0123-40-8816, 11am~8pm), which is near to the Rera Outlet Mall.

 

(5) Cheap lodging for the night
Following dinner, you would want to get to your hotel room and wind down. Unless you were on a red eye international flight, it would be quite late by the time you got into Chitose. There are quite a few business hotels within Chitose. These offer low cost accommodation and free parking for the night.

Chitose Airport Hotel (Image from Chitose Airport Hotel website)

 

I have stayed at Chitose Airport Hotel, Wing Hotel and Hotel Kameya. Chitose Airport Hotel is walking distance to the JR Chitose Station. Wing Hotel has newer furnishings but is further away from the JR Chitose Station.

Now would be a good time to look at the maps and brochures that you had collect at the rental car centre and confirm what you want to do for the next day or next few days. Some of these brochures also come with tourist discount coupons for the attractions.

Usually I do not have a complete itinerary for the trip. I would just have a rough driving route in mind and some key places to visit. There’s fun in discovering new things along the way and not having too rigid an itinerary.

Now, it does not mean that I am not prepared at all. I would reserve the rental car and book the first night or first two night’s accommodation and take care of the rest along the way. I will also look at some possible accommodation options for other nights. So as I confirm the itinerary for the next day or next 2 days as I progress, I can decide which accommodation option would be better. And along the way, if the accommodation options are along the route, I will check them out.

Once your itinerary for the next day is done, time to get some rest. Hokkaido is big enough that you will be driving long distances. So get well rested for the drive the next day.

Sleep tight!

Ja
KL