Audio walking guides in Sapporo
Photo: ノボホショコロトソ · CC BY 4.0
These are self-guided audio walks around Sapporo. You pick a route, put one earbud in, and the guide talks you through it stop by stop — what you are looking at, and why it is there. There is no group to keep up with and no meeting time. 14 walks covering Odori Park & the Planned City, Hokkaido University, Sapporo Beer & the Red Star, Susukino & the Food City, Hokkaido Shrine & Maruyama, Moerenuma Park, Otaru, Volcano Country and more, 412 minutes of narration in total.
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Every walk in Sapporo
Odori Park & the Planned City
Stand in the middle of Sapporo and look around, and you will notice something that sets it apart from almost every other major city in Japan: it is…
Hokkaido University: The Frontier College
Just north of Sapporo Station, occupying a vast swathe of the city, lies one of the most beautiful university campuses in Japan, and one of the most important…
Sapporo Beer & the Red Star
Of all the surprising things a frontier produces, beer might be the least expected, and yet Sapporo is, above all else, a beer city, home to the oldest…
Susukino & the Food City
As night falls, the southern part of central Sapporo lights up, and you find yourself in one of the great entertainment districts of Japan. This is Susukino, the…
The Snow Festival & the Winter City
To truly understand Sapporo, you have to understand its winter, for this is one of the snowiest large cities on the face of the earth. Sapporo is a…
Hokkaido Shrine & Maruyama
In the wooded hills on the western edge of central Sapporo, reached through a great torii gate and up a broad tree-lined approach, stands Hokkaido Jingū, the grand…
Moerenuma Park: A Sculpture the Size of a Landscape
On the northeastern edge of Sapporo, a little out from the centre, lies one of the most extraordinary parks in the world, and one of the great works…
The Ainu and the Making of Hokkaido
This walk is different from the others, for it is not about a place so much as a people, the people who were here first. Long before Sapporo…
Otaru: The Herring Port & the Gas-Lit Canal
About forty minutes northwest of Sapporo, where the mountains meet the Sea of Japan, lies the port town of Otaru, and it is one of the most atmospheric…
Volcano Country: Tōya, Usu and the Hells of Noboribetsu
Lake Tōya is almost perfectly round, about ten kilometres across, with a cluster of wooded islands in the centre. That shape is not accidental and it is not…
Furano and Biei: The Painted Hills
In front of you is a hillside of lavender in stripes, and it is the most photographed farmland in Japan. It is also, in the strict sense, an…
Niseko: Fifteen Metres of Snow
Try to make a snowball here in midwinter and you will fail. The snow will not hold together. It falls apart in your hands like flour and puffs…
Shiretoko: Drift Ice and Brown Bears
Shiretoko is a long finger of mountainous land sticking northeast out of eastern Hokkaido into the Sea of Okhotsk. The name is Ainu, from words meaning roughly the…
The Mountains of Sapporo: Moiwa's Sea of Light & the Jōzankei Hot Springs
Stand anywhere in central Sapporo, at the foot of the TV Tower or in the middle of Odori Park, and look to the south and west, and you…
Questions about walking Sapporo
What is the best self-guided walking tour in Sapporo?
It depends how long you have. Odori Park & the Planned City (30 minutes, 5 stops) starts at Ōdōri Station and is the one most people begin with. Hokkaido University: The Frontier College covers a different part of the city in about 31 minutes. All 14 walks in Sapporo are listed on this page with their length and starting point.
Do I need to book a walking tour in Sapporo?
No. Every wanderaudio walk is self-guided, so there is nothing to book and no departure time. You start whenever you arrive, and you can stop halfway and pick it up the next day.
How much do the Sapporo audio guides cost?
Your first guide is free. You make a free account before it plays, with an email address or a Google login, and no card. After that a single guide is $4.99, a 30-guide pass, spendable on any guides in any cities, is $29.99, and every guide in Japan is $59.99. It is a one-off payment, not a subscription.
Are these tours in English?
Yes, all 14 Sapporo walks are narrated in English. Other languages are not available yet.
Can I do these walks alone?
Yes — that is what they are built for. There is no group and no guide waiting for you, so walking alone works exactly the same as walking with someone. You choose the pace and the order.