Travelling with the Hokkaido X Bus Pass.
This post isn't sponsored by Hokkaido X. I just thought I could kill two birds with one stone by writing my usual vacation updates and the itinerary that the company wants me to share. So, this post will be mainly about the destinations I visited, and I'll include my overall thoughts of the trip in a separate post.
Some things I have to mention, just to be clear:
There are two types of Hokkaido X Bus Pass: the Inter City Bus Pass and the Budget Bus Pass. I believe there better names for the bus passes but I'm no expert in naming bus passes. You can choose to buy three-day passes or five-day passes for both types of bus passes.
The Inter City Bus Pass allows you to visit the areas near the capital city of the Hokkaido Prefecture, which is Sapporo. These areas include Otaru, Asahikawa and Noboribetsu. If you have no plans to visit cities way outside Sapporo, this bus pass is more than enough.
However, if you would like to travel around the city AND venture further out to places like Obihiro, Kushiro and Abashiri, the Budget Bus Pass is the one for you. However, I think the company only provides bus schedules for Hakodate on their website, so if you're planning to visit the Abashiri, I'm not sure if they have the information to help you.
Not only does the bus passes let you travel from cities to cities and to well-known tourist locations, but it also lets you take most of the local buses. Basically, you are riding local buses that the average Japanese takes, which means you are following the schedules of their every day buses, stopping by streets and corners you would have never heard about.
These bus pass are valid for local buses such as Chuo Bus, Donan Bus and JR Hokkaido.
Hakodate was the first part of our itinerary, so we had to get another long-distance bus ride from Sapporo Station to Hakodate Station. It took about five hours, but the bus ride was pretty comfortable.
I would like to mention that long-distance bus rides require seat reservations. So for our instance, we had to book our seats from Sapporo to Hakodate, and vice-versa. If you don't, you can't get on the bus. You can reserve seats on Hokkaido X's ticketing website.
I recommend trying the unidon, which is sea urchin's gonads on rice.
Then, we took the Hakodate-Goryokaku bus from the Hakodate station to the Goryokaku Tower. This tower lets you have a bird's-eye view of the star-shaped Goryokaku Fort for the price of 900 yen.
Our third destination was the Yukura Shrine, a Shinto shrine. I stopped there because it was along the bus route to our fourth destination, the Trappistine Convent.
Trappistine Convent is a Catholic convent or some websites would say, a monastery. Unfortunately, I think the place was closed (I assume) in preparations for Christmas celebrations. But according to websites, you can see majestic architecture and beautiful Catholic icons and statues here.
We took a bus ride back to Hakodate station, and immediately jumped on the Motomachi Bay Area Loop Bus. This loop bus brings you to the west side of Hakodate where the Red Brick Warehouses and guess what, more churches are!
For our case, we stopped at the Hakodate Beer restaurant and walked to Meijikan and the warehouses. They're all within walking distances but we struggled with the heavy snow and strong wind. So my advice is to take the bus, if it's convenient for you.
In the evening, we went up to Mount Hakodate to experience the night view of the city. The loop bus' schedule ends as early as 5PM, so you have to take a local bus that brings you all the way to the rope-way station from the station. The bus pass covers this, so you don't have to pay a single cent. We only got this information* about this particular bus after we asked the Hokkaido X staff.
*It seemed like they updated the website with this night bus schedule, so yay!
Don't be an idiot like me who took the tram and presented the bus pass (something was wrong with my head that night). The tram doesn't bring you all the way to the top so me and my mom had to walk up a steep icy slope. We didn't make the same mistake on our way back and took the bus.
It was also that night that we took an overnight bus from Hakodate to Sapporo. You can choose to do this to save travelling time and perhaps, save accommodation fees. Heh.
We did take this bus to Nakajima Park, though. If you continued along this bus route, you can also get to the Hitsuji-ga-oka Observatory Hill.
But while others are heading to the spas, I actually wanted to stop by Koganeyu to visit the AINU Cultural Promotion Center “Sapporo Pirka Kotan.” We were the only two people that stopped by Koganeyu, lmao.
I don't have pictures of Jozankei, but I saw that Hoheikyo has a beautiful outdoor hot spring bathhouse.
After an educational experience at the cultural center, we travelled back to Sapporo where we took the Sapporo-Furano bus to get to Furano.
We didn't stop by the Blue Pond because of the wide time gap between the two stops, so we only visited the Shirahige Waterfall for about 20 minutes before we take the bus back to Biei station.
We took the earliest Sapporo-Asahikawa bus at 8AM. However, the 40-minute bus ride from Asahikawa station to the zoo itself isn't covered by the Hokkaido X Bus Pass. The price for that bus ride to the zoo is 450 yen (one way). You can buy also buy the return trip ticket at the bus terminal at the Asahikawa station with a machine.
Asahiyama Zoo isn't the only zoo in Hokkaido to feature the penguin walks, but they are one of the first zoos to do so. But besides the adorable king penguins waddling in the snow, I highly recommend this zoo as they feature other wonderful animals such as the polar bear, wolves and even a hippopotamus.
The zoo closes in the winter at 3:30PM, and I suggest leaving on time so you can catch a bus back to Asahikawa station as many people take the buses too. We then took a bus back to Sapporo station from Asahikawa.
The Noboribetsu stop (suggested by Hokkaido X) isn't actually at Noboribetsu station itself, but a highway bus stop. If you're planning to visit Jigokudani like us, you're supposed to get off there and walk to the Shiomizaka bus stop nearby. However when we got there, the Shiomizaka bus stop has changed its location. It is further away from what was stated on the website, also with slight changes to the time.
I also want to mention the bus pass doesn't cover the Donan bus ride from Shiomizaka to the nearest bus stop to Jigokudani, Daiichi Takamoto. So, prepare that 350 yen for one way.
You also can take a bus from Shiomizaka to Noboribetsu Onsen and Lake Toya. But just like Jigokudani, these places are not covered by the bus pass.
Here are some useful information (in English!) about the Donan bus to Jigokudani. You can refer the timetable and how to take the bus here.
We had trouble on our way back from Daiichi Takimoto to the Noboribetsu station. I couldn't find the bus stop back to the station, so we decided to walk to the onsen bus terminal for a better chance to catch a bus back to Shiomizaka.
Thanks to a kind lady's help, we do manage to catch bus ride back to Shiomizaka. There, we walked back to the highway bus stop and caught a bus back to Sapporo.
We then take a bus to Otaru where the well-known canal is. There are shops and museums around Otaru, and you can also check out the sea if you walk towards the back of the canal.
We went back to Sapporo with the Sapporo-Otaru bus (via Maruyama). We didn't visit these areas, but you can stop by the Hokkaido Shrine and the White Lover park along this bus route.
Early in the morning, we went to get breakfast from the Nijo market. Similar to the Hakodate Morning Market, you can get fresh seafood and seafood breakfast there. You can also get fruits from some of the stalls.
We had our breakfast at Kondo Noboru Shoten, a restaurant right at the end of the market. One of the workers can speak Chinese so we were very glad to have someone understand us. He was also kind enough to let us have some melon candies and take pictures with a huge crab.
After our breakfast, we checked out from our hotel and made our way to the Sapporo station. For the first time in this trip, we took a railway train from Sapporo to Chitose. Taking railway trains are just as stressful as bus rides.
You can't get to Chitose station directly from Sapporo station with the Hokkaido X Bus Pass, but you can get there if you take the Sapporo-New Chitose Airport bus, then take the Lake Shikotsu bus that passes Chitose station.
Lake Shikotsu is the second largest of Japan's caldera lakes, and it's so large that it looked like the sea. If it wasn't winter season, the lake offers rentals of boats, bicycles and scuba gear for you to enjoy the scenery around the lake.
We got back from the lake to Chitose station where we returned to our hotel to rest up for the day. The only other plan I had for the night was to visit a shrine to experience hatsumōde, which is the first Shinto shrine visit of the Japanese New Year.
Based on my experience with the Hokkaido X Facebook page and the Hokkaido X Budget Pass Group, you'll get more valuable and patient help with the page rather than the group. The group would just always assume you haven't did your homework as their first reply.
When I mean valuable help from the page, I mean it. I don't know who is the person (or people!) behind the page, but I just want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for the fast responses, the patience and the helpful information.
Here are some examples of their excellent services:
However, it isn't like there are no flaws with the Hokkaido X Bus Pass.
1. Not enough information about local buses.
I'm sure you can find some information on the website, but I don't think it's enough. Hokkaido X also doesn't necessarily provide enough info about the what local bus you should take or their bus routes. I was always worried about the validity of my bus pass unless it's Chuo Bus.
For example, I only knew Chuo Bus offers many bus routes around Hokkaido after taking a few rides because the only English information I can get about Chuo Bus is the Regular Sightseeing Bus which offers tour bus courses. Totally different from what we're supposed to take!
Like, I didn't know I was supposed to take the Kappa Liner to Koganeyu, and I only got the Donan bus stops information at Shiomizaka after digging on the internet.
2. The bus schedules on the website aren't always up to date.
I later learned that Hokkaido X gets the bus schedules from the bus companies, so it isn't entirely their fault, but it does cause some kind of panic when I realise I could be late for a bus ride. The trip to Noboribetsu was a stressful experience because of this very reason.
But I think the changes aren't drastic, so if you stay calm you'll still eventually make it.
3. The bus schedules don't make sense sometimes. Again, this isn't Hokkaido X's fault, but a weird system that the local buses have.
Many of the winter bus schedules end around 5PM, which is mind-boggling because does that mean I can't get a bus ride back to my hotel after the sun sets?! How am I supposed to get home after witnessing the night lights at the Ningle Terrace when the last bus back to Furano is 4:40PM?!
Well, most local buses do have a night bus schedule but the problem is, there's no information about it on Hokkaido X's website or on the internet. It wasn't until I asked the Hokkaido X page that I got these night bus schedules.
4. The time gaps between the buses are crazy (sometimes).
For places like Sapporo city, the frequencies of the buses are rather alright. The most I probably have to wait is 30 minutes to an hour to catch the next bus. However, things can be different at let's say the Blue Pond at Biei.
For example, if I took the 12PM bus from Biei station and dropped by the Blue Pond, I would have to wait for three hours and a half to get on the next bus to Shirogane Hot Spring. Let me remind you that there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING surrounding the Blue Pond, which means you have to spend three hours waiting in the freezing cold staring at a blue man-made pond in the forest.
And that is why I didn't visit the Blue Pond.
As a person that can't handle last-minute planning, I prepared a rather detailed itinerary for myself because I knew that if I screwed up with the bus timing, my day can be severely affected. If you're interested in my personal itinerary for reference, you can see it here.
But self-plans trips can be extremely rewarding and satisfying. You get to travel freely to destinations you want at the pace you desire. Based on my personal experience, I can never go on a planned tour by tour agencies ever again because of the restrictions.
I wrote this blog post in hopes that someone one will find it useful for their travels in Hokkaido. Most people wouldn't even consider travelling by buses, but I think it's a valid option since Japan's public transportation is excellent anyway.
If you have questions about Hokkaido X and their bus pass, please don't hesitate to contact them at their Facebook page or group. Thanks to anyone that managed to read till the end of this post!
Some things I have to mention, just to be clear:
- My Hokkaido trip happened during the winter of 2019.
- The information about bus rides, schedules and other information stated here are current as of January 2020. If the information or links changes, I can't guarantee I will update it.
- Anything written in this post are my own honest thoughts, and I don't represent any of the companies here.
- A long blog post ahead.
What is the Hokkaido X Bus Pass?
Hokkaido X Bus Pass is a unlimited ride bus pass for non-Japanese people (tourists, students, foreign workers) to travel around Hokkaido. It's a cheaper alternative to travel, and it allows you to visit many areas of Hokkaido. Besides traveling to popular touristy locations, this bus pass also offers long distance bus rides to let's say, Hakodate and Abashiri.There are two types of Hokkaido X Bus Pass: the Inter City Bus Pass and the Budget Bus Pass. I believe there better names for the bus passes but I'm no expert in naming bus passes. You can choose to buy three-day passes or five-day passes for both types of bus passes.
The Inter City Bus Pass allows you to visit the areas near the capital city of the Hokkaido Prefecture, which is Sapporo. These areas include Otaru, Asahikawa and Noboribetsu. If you have no plans to visit cities way outside Sapporo, this bus pass is more than enough.
However, if you would like to travel around the city AND venture further out to places like Obihiro, Kushiro and Abashiri, the Budget Bus Pass is the one for you. However, I think the company only provides bus schedules for Hakodate on their website, so if you're planning to visit the Abashiri, I'm not sure if they have the information to help you.
From Hokkaido X Bus Pass' website.
Not only does the bus passes let you travel from cities to cities and to well-known tourist locations, but it also lets you take most of the local buses. Basically, you are riding local buses that the average Japanese takes, which means you are following the schedules of their every day buses, stopping by streets and corners you would have never heard about.
These bus pass are valid for local buses such as Chuo Bus, Donan Bus and JR Hokkaido.
My Traveling Itinerary for Hokkaido
Me and my mom begun our travel to Hokkaido from the night of 22nd December 2019 to 1st of January 2020. For our trip, we used the three-day Budget Pass from the 23rd to the 25th. Then, we used the five-day Inter City Bus Pass from the 26th to the 30th. For the rest of the trip, we travelled with our own means.23rd of December
After landing at the international terminal of the Shin-Chitose Airport, we had to make our way to the domestic terminal of the airport to collect our passes. After we got our passes, we caught the New Chitose Airport-Sapporo bus to get to Sapporo station. The journey took about an hour.Hakodate was the first part of our itinerary, so we had to get another long-distance bus ride from Sapporo Station to Hakodate Station. It took about five hours, but the bus ride was pretty comfortable.
I would like to mention that long-distance bus rides require seat reservations. So for our instance, we had to book our seats from Sapporo to Hakodate, and vice-versa. If you don't, you can't get on the bus. You can reserve seats on Hokkaido X's ticketing website.
24th of December
The first place we visited in the morning after we arrived at Hakodate was the Hakodate Morning Market. You can take a bus that drops you at this market, but we walked there because it was close to our hotel. Here, not only can you buy fresh seafood and various seafood products, but you can also have the seafood for breakfast.
Hakodate Morning Market
I recommend trying the unidon, which is sea urchin's gonads on rice.
Then, we took the Hakodate-Goryokaku bus from the Hakodate station to the Goryokaku Tower. This tower lets you have a bird's-eye view of the star-shaped Goryokaku Fort for the price of 900 yen.
Goryokaku Fort
Our third destination was the Yukura Shrine, a Shinto shrine. I stopped there because it was along the bus route to our fourth destination, the Trappistine Convent.
Trappistine Convent is a Catholic convent or some websites would say, a monastery. Unfortunately, I think the place was closed (I assume) in preparations for Christmas celebrations. But according to websites, you can see majestic architecture and beautiful Catholic icons and statues here.
Trappistine Convent
For our case, we stopped at the Hakodate Beer restaurant and walked to Meijikan and the warehouses. They're all within walking distances but we struggled with the heavy snow and strong wind. So my advice is to take the bus, if it's convenient for you.
Red Brick Warehouses
In the evening, we went up to Mount Hakodate to experience the night view of the city. The loop bus' schedule ends as early as 5PM, so you have to take a local bus that brings you all the way to the rope-way station from the station. The bus pass covers this, so you don't have to pay a single cent. We only got this information* about this particular bus after we asked the Hokkaido X staff.
*It seemed like they updated the website with this night bus schedule, so yay!
Night view from Mount Hakodate
Don't be an idiot like me who took the tram and presented the bus pass (something was wrong with my head that night). The tram doesn't bring you all the way to the top so me and my mom had to walk up a steep icy slope. We didn't make the same mistake on our way back and took the bus.
It was also that night that we took an overnight bus from Hakodate to Sapporo. You can choose to do this to save travelling time and perhaps, save accommodation fees. Heh.
25th of December
After arriving at Sapporo, me and my mom walked to the Sapporo Clock Tower and Odori Park since it was near our hotel in Sapporo. But you can take the No.89 Chuo Bus to get to both of of these locations with the bus pass as well.
The Odori Park was more beautiful at night.
We did take this bus to Nakajima Park, though. If you continued along this bus route, you can also get to the Hitsuji-ga-oka Observatory Hill.
26th of December
On our second day in Sapporo, we took the Sapporo-Jozankei bus. The bus we took is actually called the Kappa Liner and it stops by the Odori area, Susukino and the hot spring areas at Jozankei and Hoheikyo.But while others are heading to the spas, I actually wanted to stop by Koganeyu to visit the AINU Cultural Promotion Center “Sapporo Pirka Kotan.” We were the only two people that stopped by Koganeyu, lmao.
For a fee of 200 yen, you can get close with the Ainu equipment in the museum.
I don't have pictures of Jozankei, but I saw that Hoheikyo has a beautiful outdoor hot spring bathhouse.
After an educational experience at the cultural center, we travelled back to Sapporo where we took the Sapporo-Furano bus to get to Furano.
27th of December
In the morning after we arrived at Furano, we took the Asahikawa-Biei-Furano bus to Biei station. At Biei, you can visit the some locations like the Blue Pond, the Shirahige Waterfall and the Mild Seven Hill. However, the Inter City Bus Pass only lets you take the Blue Pond-Shirogane bus to the Blue Pond and the Shirahige Waterfall.We didn't stop by the Blue Pond because of the wide time gap between the two stops, so we only visited the Shirahige Waterfall for about 20 minutes before we take the bus back to Biei station.
Pictures don't do justice to this beautiful waterfall.
After that, we took bus from Biei station to the New Furano Prince Hotel where the Ningle Terrace is nearby. Make sure the stop at the NEW Furano Prince Hotel (not just the Furano Prince Hotel) if you want to take a look at the Ningle Terrace!
You have to take some stairs down outside the hotel to visit the Ningle Terrace where you can see cute wooden cottages selling souveniors and food. People say it's a beautiful place when they turn on the lights at night, but we left before that happened.
Ningle Terrace
So, I actually contacted the Hokkaido X staff because the bus schedule on the website stated there was no buses back from the New Furano Prince Hotel past 4:40PM, which defeats the whole point of seeing the Ningle Terrace at night, so they were kind enough to let me know this Furano Evening Shuttle Bus you can take past 4PM.
We ended our little Furano-Biei adventure by heading back to Sapporo that night.
28th of December
Our only plan on this day was to visit the Asahiyama Zoo at Asahikawa. We inititally planned to visit on the 26th, but there was a delay to the famous 'penguin walk' this year so we pushed back our visit to the 28th. Ah, the convenience of self-planning trips!
We took the earliest Sapporo-Asahikawa bus at 8AM. However, the 40-minute bus ride from Asahikawa station to the zoo itself isn't covered by the Hokkaido X Bus Pass. The price for that bus ride to the zoo is 450 yen (one way). You can buy also buy the return trip ticket at the bus terminal at the Asahikawa station with a machine.
Asahiyama Zoo isn't the only zoo in Hokkaido to feature the penguin walks, but they are one of the first zoos to do so. But besides the adorable king penguins waddling in the snow, I highly recommend this zoo as they feature other wonderful animals such as the polar bear, wolves and even a hippopotamus.
The zoo closes in the winter at 3:30PM, and I suggest leaving on time so you can catch a bus back to Asahikawa station as many people take the buses too. We then took a bus back to Sapporo station from Asahikawa.
29th of December
This day was the day we visited Jigokudani (Hell Valley) at Noboribetsu. If you're taking the bus, look out for the bus to Muroran, as the Noboribetsu stop is in between Sapporo and Muroran.The Noboribetsu stop (suggested by Hokkaido X) isn't actually at Noboribetsu station itself, but a highway bus stop. If you're planning to visit Jigokudani like us, you're supposed to get off there and walk to the Shiomizaka bus stop nearby. However when we got there, the Shiomizaka bus stop has changed its location. It is further away from what was stated on the website, also with slight changes to the time.
I also want to mention the bus pass doesn't cover the Donan bus ride from Shiomizaka to the nearest bus stop to Jigokudani, Daiichi Takamoto. So, prepare that 350 yen for one way.
You also can take a bus from Shiomizaka to Noboribetsu Onsen and Lake Toya. But just like Jigokudani, these places are not covered by the bus pass.
Here are some useful information (in English!) about the Donan bus to Jigokudani. You can refer the timetable and how to take the bus here.
We had trouble on our way back from Daiichi Takimoto to the Noboribetsu station. I couldn't find the bus stop back to the station, so we decided to walk to the onsen bus terminal for a better chance to catch a bus back to Shiomizaka.
Thanks to a kind lady's help, we do manage to catch bus ride back to Shiomizaka. There, we walked back to the highway bus stop and caught a bus back to Sapporo.
30th of December
Our plan for this day was to visit Otaru, but before that we went to look around Hokkaido University via the Sapporo-Otaru (via Hokkaido University) bus. It is said that you can see Poplar trees at the university and Ginkgo trees at specific areas of the university, but it was winter season so we didn't check it out. I'm sure it would still be pretty, though!
I wish my university was half as pretty as Hokkaido University, lol.
We then take a bus to Otaru where the well-known canal is. There are shops and museums around Otaru, and you can also check out the sea if you walk towards the back of the canal.
We went back to Sapporo with the Sapporo-Otaru bus (via Maruyama). We didn't visit these areas, but you can stop by the Hokkaido Shrine and the White Lover park along this bus route.
31st of December
From this onwards, we couldn't use any of our bus passes since they have expired. But I will continue laying out my itinerary as some of the places I went can be visited with the bus passes.Early in the morning, we went to get breakfast from the Nijo market. Similar to the Hakodate Morning Market, you can get fresh seafood and seafood breakfast there. You can also get fruits from some of the stalls.
We had our breakfast at Kondo Noboru Shoten, a restaurant right at the end of the market. One of the workers can speak Chinese so we were very glad to have someone understand us. He was also kind enough to let us have some melon candies and take pictures with a huge crab.
After our breakfast, we checked out from our hotel and made our way to the Sapporo station. For the first time in this trip, we took a railway train from Sapporo to Chitose. Taking railway trains are just as stressful as bus rides.
You can't get to Chitose station directly from Sapporo station with the Hokkaido X Bus Pass, but you can get there if you take the Sapporo-New Chitose Airport bus, then take the Lake Shikotsu bus that passes Chitose station.
Lake Shikotsu is the second largest of Japan's caldera lakes, and it's so large that it looked like the sea. If it wasn't winter season, the lake offers rentals of boats, bicycles and scuba gear for you to enjoy the scenery around the lake.
Lake Shikotsu
We got back from the lake to Chitose station where we returned to our hotel to rest up for the day. The only other plan I had for the night was to visit a shrine to experience hatsumōde, which is the first Shinto shrine visit of the Japanese New Year.
Chitose Shrine
1st of January 2020
It was first day of 2020 but it was also our last day being in Hokkaido. We boarded a plane from New Chitose Airport and landed safely in Malaysia. This concludes our holiday trip in Hokkaido!Overall Thoughts after using Hokkaido X Bus Pass
The Hokkaido X Bus Pass is, no doubt, a cheaper way to travel around Hokkaido. Train passes can be expensive, and they don't necessarily reduce travelling time. This is because you'll still have to take buses or walk to a location after getting out of a train station. Buses, on the other hand, can bring you quite near to a tourist destination.Based on my experience with the Hokkaido X Facebook page and the Hokkaido X Budget Pass Group, you'll get more valuable and patient help with the page rather than the group. The group would just always assume you haven't did your homework as their first reply.
When I mean valuable help from the page, I mean it. I don't know who is the person (or people!) behind the page, but I just want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for the fast responses, the patience and the helpful information.
Here are some examples of their excellent services:
- they reply even late at night (me and mom only had the evening to discuss our itinerary since I have work during the day)
- they are willing to answer questions (anything about travelling in Hokkaido) other than bus schedules
- they kept in touch with us throughout our trip to make sure we're okay
- they're very friendly with their replies
However, it isn't like there are no flaws with the Hokkaido X Bus Pass.
1. Not enough information about local buses.
I'm sure you can find some information on the website, but I don't think it's enough. Hokkaido X also doesn't necessarily provide enough info about the what local bus you should take or their bus routes. I was always worried about the validity of my bus pass unless it's Chuo Bus.
For example, I only knew Chuo Bus offers many bus routes around Hokkaido after taking a few rides because the only English information I can get about Chuo Bus is the Regular Sightseeing Bus which offers tour bus courses. Totally different from what we're supposed to take!
Like, I didn't know I was supposed to take the Kappa Liner to Koganeyu, and I only got the Donan bus stops information at Shiomizaka after digging on the internet.
2. The bus schedules on the website aren't always up to date.
I later learned that Hokkaido X gets the bus schedules from the bus companies, so it isn't entirely their fault, but it does cause some kind of panic when I realise I could be late for a bus ride. The trip to Noboribetsu was a stressful experience because of this very reason.
But I think the changes aren't drastic, so if you stay calm you'll still eventually make it.
3. The bus schedules don't make sense sometimes. Again, this isn't Hokkaido X's fault, but a weird system that the local buses have.
Many of the winter bus schedules end around 5PM, which is mind-boggling because does that mean I can't get a bus ride back to my hotel after the sun sets?! How am I supposed to get home after witnessing the night lights at the Ningle Terrace when the last bus back to Furano is 4:40PM?!
Well, most local buses do have a night bus schedule but the problem is, there's no information about it on Hokkaido X's website or on the internet. It wasn't until I asked the Hokkaido X page that I got these night bus schedules.
4. The time gaps between the buses are crazy (sometimes).
For places like Sapporo city, the frequencies of the buses are rather alright. The most I probably have to wait is 30 minutes to an hour to catch the next bus. However, things can be different at let's say the Blue Pond at Biei.
For example, if I took the 12PM bus from Biei station and dropped by the Blue Pond, I would have to wait for three hours and a half to get on the next bus to Shirogane Hot Spring. Let me remind you that there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING surrounding the Blue Pond, which means you have to spend three hours waiting in the freezing cold staring at a blue man-made pond in the forest.
And that is why I didn't visit the Blue Pond.
Last Words
If you're considering to have a self-planned trip at Hokkaido with this bus pass, it is extremely crucial that you do research and your homework. The buses aren't as frequent like the subway trains in Tokyo, and a missed bus could mean waiting hours in the winter at the highway.As a person that can't handle last-minute planning, I prepared a rather detailed itinerary for myself because I knew that if I screwed up with the bus timing, my day can be severely affected. If you're interested in my personal itinerary for reference, you can see it here.
But self-plans trips can be extremely rewarding and satisfying. You get to travel freely to destinations you want at the pace you desire. Based on my personal experience, I can never go on a planned tour by tour agencies ever again because of the restrictions.
I wrote this blog post in hopes that someone one will find it useful for their travels in Hokkaido. Most people wouldn't even consider travelling by buses, but I think it's a valid option since Japan's public transportation is excellent anyway.
If you have questions about Hokkaido X and their bus pass, please don't hesitate to contact them at their Facebook page or group. Thanks to anyone that managed to read till the end of this post!
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