FURANO — Fields of lavender

The quiet of Hokkaido's heart

Lavender fields in summer, the same hills under dry snow by winter. Working farmland, not a park — which is why Biei's patchwork slopes look the way they do.

02 — FURANO — WHAT TO SEE

What to see

What FURANO is known for

FLOWER FIELDS

Lavender, and the rest of the colour

富良野のラベンダー

Farm Tomita is the field everyone pictures, and July is its short peak. The farms around it plant in bands of poppy, salvia and baby's breath, so the hills stay striped with colour well past the lavender itself. Early morning is the quiet hour.

BLUE POND

The Blue Pond at Biei

美瑛の青い池

A pond that turned an unnatural blue-green after upstream works, with dead larch trunks still standing in it. It is small, and it photographs far better than it sounds. Ten minutes further on, Shirogane waterfall runs off the same mineral-heavy stream.

THE HILLS

Roads that run to the horizon

丘のうねりと一本道

Biei's patchwork hills are farmland, not a park — which is why they look the way they do. Jetcoaster Road drops and climbs in a straight line for several kilometres. With a car and a driver you can string the viewpoints together without hunting for parking.

WINTER

The same hills in winter

冬の白金

From December the colour drains out and the region becomes some of the driest snow in Japan. Shirogane and the Tokachidake side have onsen at the foot of the slopes, and the Blue Pond is lit up after dark through the coldest months.

PRIVATE TRANSPORT

Your own vehicle, and a driver who knows the roads

移動そのものを楽にする

Hokkaido is large and the trains do not go where the good places are. Every tour we run is private to your group, in our own vehicle, with a nationally-certified driver. You are picked up at your hotel and dropped back at it, and the route can change on the day if the weather does.

02 — FURANO — A DAY HERE

A day here

How a day here fits together

A sample route from the private day tour we actually run here. Nothing on this list is fixed — tell us what you want to see and we rearrange it before you travel, or on the day if the weather turns.

Sample route from 후라노・비에이・아사히카와 종일 프라이빗 투어 (차량＋가이드・삿포로 출발)— 10 hours, private to your group, hotel pick-up and drop-off included

Pick-up at your hotel in central Sapporo
Blue Pond (Aoiike) and Shirahige Falls in Biei
The patchwork hills: Ken and Mary's Tree, Seven Stars Tree
Farm Tomita in Furano for the lavender fields (best in July)
Lunch: Furano curry or an omu-curry (own expense)
Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa, or a cheese and wine stop
Drop-off at your hotel in Sapporo

See this tour — ¥100,000〜 →

02 — FURANO — PRACTICALITIES

Practicalities

Before you go to FURANO

Best season: July for the lavender at its peak. June to September for the wider flower fields; December to March for dry snow and the winter Blue Pond illumination.
Getting there: About two hours by road from Sapporo. There is no practical way to see Biei and Furano in one day without a vehicle.
Time needed: A full day from Sapporo covers Biei and Furano. Staying a night lets you catch the hills at first light.
Getting around: The viewpoints are spread across farmland with little parking and sparse buses. This is the area where a private vehicle changes the day most.
Good to know: The hills are working farms, not a park. Stay on the marked paths and off the crop rows.