Attractions · Sapporo

Things to do in Sapporo.

Half the list is the city itself, half is the day tours out of it: lavender fields, hell valleys and canal towns.

The chocolate-maker's palace: factory viewing, cookie decorating and a great deal of white chocolate.

How to book: Tickets online or at the door; the paid zone is the factory tour.

The city aquarium in Tanukikoji: penguins in the middle of downtown, open late into the evening.

How to book: Tickets online or at the door.

Ropeway and mini cable car to the summit over the city's grid of lights: one of Japan's great night views.

How to book: Tickets online or at the door; winter evenings queue.

The 1957 tower at the east end of Odori Park, and the Snow Festival's best viewing platform.

How to book: Tickets online or at the door.

The green spine of the city: the Snow Festival in February, beer gardens in summer, lilacs in May.

How to book: Free. The park itself needs no ticket in festival weeks.

Japan's oldest beer brand's museum in the old red-brick brewery, with tastings and a beer hall next door.

How to book: The museum is free; guided tours and tastings book online.

The island's main shrine, in Maruyama's forest five minutes from the centre.

How to book: Free.

The hot spring valley in the mountains south of the city: day baths, gorge walks and autumn colour.

How to book: Bus tours and day-bath tickets; about an hour from the centre.

Lavender at Farm Tomita, the Blue Pond and the patchwork hills of Biei: the defining Hokkaido summer day.

How to book: Full-day coach tours from Sapporo; lavender season runs roughly June to September.

Hell Valley's steaming vents, the bear park and the caldera lake, as one long day south of the city.

How to book: Full-day coach tours from Sapporo.

The canal town of glassworks and sushi streets, thirty minutes by train, often packaged with Cape Kamui or the Blue Cave boats.

How to book: Trains are easy on your own; tours bundle the cape and the coast.

The zoo that reinvented how animals are shown in Japan, famous for the penguins' winter walk through the snow.

How to book: Tickets at the door. The penguin walk runs while the snow does, roughly late December to mid March.

Planning the stay itself: the city guides cover what is on, and the hotels page covers where to sleep near it.