Choosing a Day Tour from Sapporo

As it is not easy to get around the farms on our own, we opted to join  a day tour. There are a few tour companies you can choose from :

Hokkaido Resort Liner We went with this company for our tour to the farms as they offered pick up from our hotel. The drawback is that they do not have English audio headphones so throughout the tour we were 'lost' and could not follow what the guide was saying. Moroever, picking and dropping off at the various hotels turned out to be a time waster.

Club Tourism Yokoso Very limited tours departing from Sapporo. May be a better choice for those touring around from Tokyo.

Chuo Bus   We took the Chuo Bus tour for the day tour to the Lakes. It was a good experience. The tour bus pick up point was very near our hotel. The bus was comfortable and they had audio guide in English, which was very informative. More information on their tour can be found here : http://www.chuo-bus.co.jp/sightseeing/ol.pdf

One good thing about tours from Japanese companies is that they are very precise and detailed in their listing of the itinerary. You are told clearly if there is a stop or a tour via bus window, how long exactly you will stop at each stop and what you will be having for meals. I appreciate that as compared to our local tours.

Detailed itinerary