Hokkaido Winter Self Drive Travel – Furano 富良野

Furano is well known for its picturesque rural landscapes, vivid lavender farm and powdery snow ski resorts. Our main purpose of visiting Furano is to snowboard. While Niseko is well known worldwide, Furano boasts one of the finest quality snow and one of the best ski resort in Japan.

The Furano Ski area is made up two connected peaks, the Kitanomine zone (Mid. Dec – Late Mar) and the Furano zone (Late Nov – Early May), each offering long, fast runs that have hosted several World Cup races.

We left Asahikawa early in the morning to Furano. It takes roughly 1 hour 30 mins drive from Asahikawa.

1. Furano Ski

It is very important to learn how to ski or snowboard if you have never skied before. The terrain can be dangerous such as falling off the cliff and without the basics, you can seriously hurt yourself or others.

We took our snowboard lesson with Sportpia Furano. They offer English-speaking instructors to teach from beginner to the advanced, group or private lesson. Since 9 of us will be snowboarding, we took their 2 hours private lesson.

You can rent ski or snowboarding gear at the ski resort. However, if you plan to ski a few times, it is recommended to buy your own ski jacket, pants and goggle as 2 to 3 times rental will cover those easily. A full set rental is usually around 10,000 jpy while the ski lift cost 5,700 jpy for a 1-day pass.

If you are planning to ski or snowboard, make sure to allocate at least 5 to 8 hours for the activity. We recommend 2 full days if you plan to master the basics.

Furano Ski Area PDF Map

The group & our instructors from Sportpia Furano

Our private instructor

Lesser crowd compare to Niseko. Moreover, it is safer as well.

Ready to rumble

2. Ningle Terrace

Ningle Terrace (Map) is a beautiful collection of boutique cottages, housing speciality arts and crafts, located below New Furano Prince Hotel. The tall pine trees that surround these little cottages not only create beautiful, fairy tale like scenery but also give the place a great scent.

3. Goto Sumio Museum

Goto Sumio (Map) is one of Japan’s most prominent artists and a master of nihonga, Japanese style-paintings using naturally-derived pigments. Drawn by the severe beauty of Hokkaido, Goto set up a studio 30 mins away from Furano town.

The museum houses over 130 works of his art featuring the landscapes of Hokkaido, Nara, and China, including some stunningly large-scale paintings. If you are an art lover, this is a place you should visit.

Address: 26 Go Higashi 4 Senkita, Kamifurano, Sorachi District, Hokkaido 071-0524, Japan

Opening Hours: 9 am to 4 pm

Admission Fees: 1,200 JPY

Furano Food

1. YAMADORI 炭火焼肉

Yamadori (Map) is housed in Furano’s oldest stone building which was built in 1911. The restaurant specialized in serving affordable and delicious Furano Wagyu beef, pork, lamb and seasonal local vegetables.

They use Jiyoton pork from Kumifura Farm for their signature pork dish and malted rice from Suzuki Koji store. The meat itself is marinated with salt and water to enhance its underlying flavor.

Price: Around RM80 to RM150 per pax

Address: Asahimachi 4-22, Furano-shi

2. Furano Delice

Furano Delice (Map) is renowned for their Milk Puddings served in miniature milk bottle and Double Frommage Cheesecake. The famous LeTao Double Frommage originated here where he learnt to bake.

The patisserie is located nearby Furano ski resort hence we drop by for breakfast before our snowboarding session.

Address: 2156-1 Shimogoryo, Furano-shi

Opening Hours: 10 am to 6 pm. Closed on Tuesday

Price: 500 to 1500 JPY (Depending on how many cakes ordered)

3. Furano Natulux Hotel

If you have never try Japanese Hamburg before, head to Natulux Hotel in Furano. They serve one of the best Japanese Hamburg at a reasonable price. The patty is juicy, flavorful and moist and accompanied by local vegetables. Another choice would be their omu rice.

Address: 1-35 Asahicho Furano City, Hokkaido Japan

Price: Around 1,300 JPY

Hokkaido Car Rental

We booked our Nissan car online with ToCoo Japan. If you are travelling to few cities, Hokkaido Highway Pass will be beneficial as HEP allows unlimited use of Hokkaido’s expressways, for one fixed price thus saving on toll.

Read: How to Rent a Car in Hokkaido

Pocket Wifi

We rented our portable wifi from Roaming Man which offers 3GB data daily at a 4G speed at only RM12 per day for up to 5 devices.

Promo code: RMWIFI19 for 10% off discount. (validity: 4th May till 31 July 2019, for travels until 31 Dec 2019)

Our Hokkaido Self Drive Travel Blogs

About Tommy Ooi 509 Articles
Luxury Hotel Reviewer & Destination Blogger. Passionate for travel, exploring new culture & indulging divine food, Tommy has traveled to 42 countries & 140+ destinations.

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