Where to stay

Sapporo is famous around the world for its beer, which has been brewed in the city since 1876. Curious drinkers should consider a stay in the southern part of Kita Ward to visit the acclaimed Sapporo Beer Museum, where fun tours and tastings delve into the history of the brewery. Find more raucous nightlife by choosing a hotel near the small neighborhood of Susukino. This is the best area to see Sapporo come to life after dark. As the largest entertainment district in Japan north of Tokyo, it is packed with karaoke bars, cinemas, and ramen shops.

Chuo-ku, the central ward encompassing much of Sapporo City Centre and extending to the southwest, offer accommodations in the commercial heart of Sapporo. This is one of the best cities in Japan for shopping, with a range of department stores and one-off boutiques and arcades. Early risers can visit Sapporo's Curb Market, a visitor-friendly experience abutting the Central Wholesale Market, where locals come for fresh fish and seafood. For fashion, Odori's shopping district is the top choice and a particularly pleasant neighborhood to choose as a base. As well as two large underground malls, it has the thirteen-block park, Odori-koen, a welcome oasis in the city center.

Sapporo Snow Festival, Sapporo Yuki Matsuri in Japanese, is the best-known winter festival in Japan. Every year about two million visitors come to see its illuminated ice sculptures. The event takes place at several sites across the city. Because of Sapporo's grid pattern and easy-to-navigate subway, it is easy to experience the festival even from hotels at New Chitose Airport. Accommodations near the central site in Odori can book quickly, but there are other great options in the city's eastern ward of Higashi-ku near the snow slides and snow maze of the Tsudome Site. Outside of the festival, families can also enjoy horse-drawn sled tours at the Historical Village of Hokkaido while staying in the more suburban Atsubetsu ward.