Get to all the Eastern Hokkaido sightseeing spots with these convenient seasonal express buses!

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Eastern Hokkaido Express Bus

The Eastern Hokkaido Express Bus is a winter-only bus connecting 8 sightseeing destinations in eastern Hokkaido.

Driving in snow-covered Hokkaido can be a daunting prospect, but if you take this express bus you can get to the best locations without any worry at all.

White bearMajor sightseeing spots visited by the Eastern Hokkaido Express Bus

  • Drift Ice of Monbetsu (Garinko liner)
  • Drift Ice of Abashiri (Aurora liner)
  • Kitahama Hakucho Park
  • Oshin-Koshin Waterfalls
  • Lake Mashu
  • Tsurui Ito Tancho Crane Sanctuary
  • Mt. Io
  • Lake Akan
  • Lake Saroma
  • The Ice Horizon of Notsuke Peninsula
  • The Drift Ice of Rausu (Drift Ice Birdwatching Cruise)
  • Shiretoko Utoro
  • Kawayu Hot Springs and Mt. Io

For details and reservations on the Eastern Hokkaido Express Bus, please refer here

- The bus will depart strictly on schedule. Please be mindful about the boarding location and the time. After confirming the schedule of departure, please gather at the designated meeting location at least 5 minutes beforehand. (Please be aware that we will not bear any responsibility should you miss your transportation.)
- There might be cases where you will not be able to eat breakfast at your respective lodgings due to an early departure, so please confirm and be aware beforehand.
- The route the bus takes might change if there is even one occurence of an area closing off in the bus-route.
- There will be facilities that we will pass by if there are no reservation customers present.
- You will have to cover paid facilities, food and shopping on your own expense.
- Please be aware that there might be cases where the closing hours and day-offs of the tourism facilties will deviate.
- Based on the number of passengers, there might be cases where the transportation vehicle will change into a medium or small bus, or into a taxi.
*You will have to stay in the accommodations listed below if you are using the agreed-upon bus.
- Sounkyo (Hotel Taisetsu, Sounkaku Grand Hotel, Sounkyo Kankou Hotel)
- Monbetsu (Mombetsu Central Hotel, Hotel Okhotsk Palace, Mombetsu Prince Hotel)
- Abashiri Lake Saroma(Hokuten no Oka Lake Abashiri Tsuruga Resort, Abashiri Kankou Hotel, Hotel Abashirikoso, Tento no Sato Hotel Honjin Lake Abashiri)
- Shiretoko Utoro (Shiretoko Daiichi Hotel, KIKI Shiretoko Natural Resort, Kitakobushi Shiretoko Hotel and Resort)
- Shiretoko Betsukai (People's Hotel Rausu-no-yado Marumi, Rausu Hot Springs Hotel Minenoyu, Pension Rausukuru, Pension Nomura, Kikuya Ryokan, Pension Honma, Business Hotel Isaribi, Pension Taka-no-yado, Pension Kannari, Takashimaya Ryokan, Hotel Sakaeya)
- Kawayu Teshikaga (Kawayu Kanko Hotel, Yunokaku-Ikedaya, Kawayu Daiichi Hotel Suikazura, Kinkiyu Hotel, Meito-no-mori Hotel Kitafukuro Hotel Mashu)
- Lake Akan(Lake Akan Tsuruga Wings, Akan Yuku no Sato Tsuruga, Forest of Akan Tsuruga Resort Hanayuuka, Akan Tsuruga Bessou Hinanoza, New Akan Hotel, Hotel Akankoso, Hotel Gozensui)
- Nakashibetsu Betsukai(Hotels associated with the Japan Hotel Association)
*Guidelines for bus boarding locations
- Respective Hotels = reception desk of respective facilities
- Respective Drift Ice ship boarding locations = Parking lot in front of the Terminals
- Lake Mashu First Observatory = Information Desk
- Nakashibetsu Airport = In front of Nemuro Kanko Information Center
- Roadside Station Rausu = In front of the Chuo information desk

Wintertime Eastern Hokkaido Bus
Eastern Hokkaido Tour Bus

Set off towards Wintertime Eastern Hokkaido from Sapporo.
The drift ice of the Okhotsk Sea that you must see at least once, the ice masterpieces of the "Jewelry Ice" and the aptly named flowers of the "Frost Flowers",
as well as various other events that can be experienced only in wintertime Hokkaido!
For those wishing to enjoy wintertime Eastern Hokkaido, we have prepared the convenient Wintertime Eastern Hokkaido Bus (8 routes) and the Eastern Hokkaido Tour Bus (4 routes).

Major sightseeing spots

きつねWintertime Eastern Hokkaido Bus

  • Lake Shikaribetsu Kotan(Ice Village)
  • Ryugetsu Sweetpia Garden
  • Nissho Pass Observatory
  • Asahiyama Zoo
  • Kitanomori Garden Snow Activity
  • Ginga and Ryusei Waterfalls
  • Lake Mashu
  • Akan International Crane Center
  • Jewelry Ice
  • Washo Market

ペンギンEastern Hokkaido Tour Bus

  • Asahiyama Zoo
  • Ginga and Ryusei Falls
  • Biei Shikisai no Oka
  • Furano Marche
  • Okhotsk Ryu-hyo Museum
  • Abashiri Prison Museum
  • Abashiri Drift Ice (Aurora Liner)
- When using the bus, you must be staying at or planning to stay at accommodations in the Doto or Dohoku regions. We ask that when the bus comes to pick you up, you (the person making the reservation) show the bus staff proof of your stay, such as a hotel coupon, a reservation confirmation email shown on your smartphone (or a hard copy), or the receipt from your accommodations.
- Please arrive at your respective boarding locations 10 minutes beforehand. Should you become late, you will have to travel to the destination on your own. You will have to cover the commuting fees regarding that trip on your own.
- Though toddlers (under 2 years of age) who do not need seats are free of charge, in the case of them requiring a seat they will be charged with the child fee.
- Although all seats are non-reserved, there might be cases where we will designate you seats due to complete fill up. Also, there might be cases where you will be seated next to another customer. (There might be cases where foreign customers will be aboard alongside you.)
- We ask for your co-operation in filling out our survey.
- Though the bus will follow the alloted time frame, there might be cases where we will have to deviate or be late in our routes and shorten or omit the drop-off sightseeing time due to the states of traffic and weather. Please be forewarned. There will be no refunds in those cases.
- There will be no refunds of the travel price and passenger fare regarding a cancellation on the day of the event.
- In the case of us not being able to tour to our field trip facility destinations due to them being closed, we will instead guide you to subsidiary touring spots.
- Smoking is strictly forbidden aboard the bus.
- Tourists will have to cover the costs of free-time lunch and respective facility admission fees on their own.
- Though there will be no accompanying tour conductors or bus guides, a "Smile Attendant*" will be present.
* "Smile Attendant": Supports customers on the bus and can also provide foreign language support to foreign passengers using a tablet. They can also provide a simple guide of the sightseeing area. There are no multi-lingual guides available. Thank you for your understanding.