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. Travellers 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.
Return 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 colours of the season.
