Odori Park is a lush green park in the heart of Sapporo, also famous as the venue for the “Sapporo Snow Festival.” See our 15-spot guide for more details.

📍 Central Sapporo

Sapporo Clock Tower is one of Japan’s oldest clock towers, built in the Meiji era. See our 15-spot guide for more details.

📍 Central Sapporo

Maruyama Park sits near the city center and offers lush greenery with beauty in every season. The adjacent Maruyama Zoo is home to a wide variety of animals and is a popular spot for families.

📍 Around the “Maruyama Koen” streetcar stop

Hokkaido Jingu Shrine is Hokkaido’s principal Shinto shrine, built in the Meiji era. Adjacent to Maruyama Park and surrounded by rich greenery, its grounds are known as a popular spot for New Year’s visits (hatsumode) and cherry blossoms. Enshrined as the guardian deity of Hokkaido’s development, it’s a place where you can feel the history of the island’s pioneer era.

📍 Adjacent to Maruyama Park

Moerenuma Park is a large-scale park designed by sculptor Isamu Noguchi, blending nature and art into a beautiful landscape. It features a giant glass pyramid and fountains where visitors can play in the water, and is a beloved spot among locals. Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium was the venue for the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, and its observation deck offers sweeping views over Odori Park and the city below. See our 15-spot guide for more details.

📍 Various locations on the outskirts of Sapporo

Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill is famous for its statue of Dr. Clark. Jozankei Onsen is a hot spring town known as “Sapporo’s inner retreat,” prized for the natural scenery and autumn foliage along the Toyohira River. See our 15-spot guide for detailed highlights and recommended accommodations.

📍 Jozankei is about a 1-hour drive from central Sapporo

Sapporo is known as the birthplace of “miso ramen,” characterized by its rich miso-based broth and curly noodles, sold under the name “Sapporo Ramen.” At Sapporo Ramen Yokocho (Ramen Alley), rows of ramen shops let you sample the local flavor. “Genghis Khan” (Jingisukan), lamb grilled on a special dome-shaped grill, is popularly paired with a cold beer at Sapporo Beer Garden. “Kaisendon” (seafood rice bowl), made with fresh seafood, is best enjoyed at Sapporo Central Wholesale Market, piled high with sea urchin, crab, and salmon roe. “Soup curry,” spicy and packed with vegetables and meat, is another local specialty that originated in Sapporo.

📍 Various locations throughout Sapporo

The “Sapporo Snow Festival,” held every February, fills Odori Park and the Susukino area with massive snow and ice sculptures, making it Sapporo’s signature winter event. The “YOSAKOI Soran Festival” in June brings yosakoi dance teams from across Japan together for energetic performances, and the “Sapporo Autumn Fest,” held in Odori Park each autumn, gathers delicious food and drink from all over Hokkaido. Spring brings cherry blossoms at spots like Maruyama Park, summer means beer gardens and music events, autumn offers fall foliage at Moerenuma Park and Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill, and winter brings the Snow Festival along with skiing and snowboarding — with something to enjoy in every season, it’s a city worth visiting any time of year.

📍 Odori Park and other locations throughout the city (Snow Festival typically held in February)