2017 grand hokkaido winter wonderland tour #1 - Non

2017 GRAND HOKKAIDO
WINTER WONDERLAND TOUR #1
Experience Six Winter Festivals! Tokachigawa Onsen Swan Festival,
Lake Akan Winter Festivals with Fireworks, Sounkyo Ice
Waterfall Festival, Asahikawa Winter Festival, Lake Shikotsu
Ice Festival, and Sapporo Snow Festival
9 Nights / 11 days
Escorted from Honolulu • English Speaking Licensed Local Guide
February 02 – 12, 2017 • Tour Manager: Lana Ige
22 Meals (9 Breakfasts, 5 Lunches & 8 Dinners)
•
Visit: Chitose • Sapporo • Tokachigawa • Lake Akan • Abashiri • Kitami
Sounkyo • Asahikawa • Otaru • Noboribetsu • Lake Shikotsu • Sapporo
Hands-On Experiences:
Wine Castle Tour & Tasting, Lake Akan Wakasagi (smelt) Ice Pond Fishing and
Tempura Lunch, Ice Breaker Cruise Aurora, Otokoyama Sake Brewery Tour & Tasting,
Music Box Making Experience & Sapporo Beer Brewery Tour
COMPLETE PACKAGE!
$ 3750*
INCLUDES ROUNDTRIP AIRFARE
FROM HONOLULU, 9-NIGHT HOTEL
ACCOMMODATIONS, 22 MEALS,
TIPS FOR LOCAL TOUR GUIDES &
BUS DRIVERS, ALL TAXES & FEES
EARLY BOOKING DISCOUNT
PER PERSON
Japanese Cuisine Highlights:
Abashiri Prison Set Meal Lunch with Abashiri Prison Stout Beer, Kaiseki – Traditional
Multi-Course Dinner, Gourmet Dinner Experience at Nishin Goten (Otaru),
Gourmet “All You Can Eat” Crab & Seafood Buffet & Salmon Teppanyaki Lunch
Enjoy 6 Onsen Hot Springs:
Tokachigawa Daiichi Hotel (Tokachigawa) • Forest of Akan Tsuruga Resort Hana Yuuka (Lake Akan)
Abashiri Koso Hotel (Abashiri) • Sounkyo Choyo Resort Hotel (Sounkyo)
Authent Hotel Otaru (Otaru) • Hotel Mahoroba (Noboribetsu)
Locally Owned & Operated Since 1985 – Mahalo Hawaii!
1150 S. King Street, Suite 102 • Honolulu, HI 96814
593-0700 or Toll-Free 1-800-551-1226
www.nonstop.travel
SAVE $100
BOOK BY JUNE 30, 2016†
SAVE $50
BOOK BY AUGUST 31, 2016†
SAVE $25
BOOK BY OCTOBER 31, 2016†
Book your next vacation
to Japan today!
* Fares are per person, USD based on double occupancy and INCLUDE ALL AIRLINE TAXES AND FEES. Airline fuel supplements, taxes and fees are subject to change and tour member is responsible for any increases. Some airline-imposed
personal charges, including but not limited to baggage, priority boarding and special seating, may apply. For details visit www.exploreflightfees.com. After initial deposit, a $75 per person Non-Stop Travel (NST) Cancellation Fee will apply.
Group departures may be cancelled, if there are less than 24 tour members. Final Payment to NST for “non-cruiseline” Air & Land package must be made by Money Order or Personal Check. NST does not guarantee that all tour members will fly
together with Tour Manager. Tour Manager assignments and “final” tour itinerary are subject to change. NST reserves the right to correct errors or omissions including but not limited to, fares, fees and surcharges at any time.
Deposit: $500 per person. Final Payment Due: 09/30/16.
† Early Booking Discount is per person. Purchase of Non-Stop Travel’s complete Air & Land package is required. 060116
Enjoy a relaxing soak in the hot springs onsen and a sumptuous dinner buffet at your hotel.
SOUNKYO CHOYO RESORT HOTEL (1 Night) (B, L, D)
HOKKAIDO
Sapporo
Asahikawa
Kitami
Sounkyo
Otaru
Lake
Shikotsu
Noboribetsu
Abashiri
Lake Akan
Tokachigawa
Chitose
Airport
JA PA N
PACIFIC
OCEAN
2017 GRAND HOKKAIDO WINTER WONDERLAND TOUR #1 DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY:
Day 1 : Thur, Feb 02 – HONOLULU – CHITOSE. Depart Honolulu via ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS FLT
#181 at 11:50 am.
Day 2: Fri, Feb 03 – CHITOSE. Arrive Chitose International Airport via Narita at 7:40 pm. After
entry formalities, walk to your hotel located within the terminal. A bento dinner and bottle water
will be provided. AIR TERMINAL HOTEL (1 Night) (D)
Day 3: Sat, Feb 04 – CHITOSE – TOKACHIGAWA. First this morning, we will stop at a sporting
goods store to buy snow shoe and gear before traveling to Tokachigawa. Enroute, a stop will
be made at a Michi-no-eki (roadside farmer’s market) and the Wine Castle for a tour and free
samples. After dinner at the Tokachigawa hotel, walk to Tokachigaoka Park for the Tokachigawa
Onsen Swan Festival. This festival takes place between the end of January to the end of
February, when the swans come back to the area. The festival features a fantastic show of
music and lights (which can be viewed from ground level or from an elevated platform). In
addition, there are snow rafting, ice slide and snow candle making opportunities, along
with a light zoo. Warm up in the available hot spring facilities including a handbath and
footbath. TOKACHIGAWA DAIICHI HOTEL (1 Night) (B, L, D)
Day 4: Sun, Feb 05 – TOKACHIGAWA – LAKE AKAN. Morning at your leisure. In the afternoon,
travel to Lake Akan. Upon arrival, try your hand at ice fishing for wakasagi (smelt fish).
Enjoy freshly made wakasagi tempura. Nothing quite like it! After dinner, walk to the nearby
Lake Akan Winter Festival. The completely frozen over lake offers you an unique event
experience. Watch the “Fuyu-hanabi” fireworks festival set on the ice. Take part in the
ice cutting demonstrations and mini ice games. Observe the fire lighting ceremony.
FOREST OF AKAN TSURUGA RESORT HANA YUUKA (1 Night) (B, L, D)
060116
Day 5: Mon, Feb 06 – LAKE AKAN – ABASHIRI. Start the day with an ice breaker cruise aboard
the “Aurora.” Then enjoy a special Abashiri Prison Set Meal Lunch with Abashiri Prison
Stout Beer before take a tour of the Abashiri Prison Museum. This evening enjoy a special
seasonal Kaiseki – Multi-course Traditional Japanese dinner. ABASHIRI KOSO HOTEL (1 Night) (B, L, D)
Day 6: Tue, Feb 07 – ABASHIRI – KITAMI – SOUNKYO. As we travel towards Sounkyo, we will
make a stop in Kitami to visit the Kitami Mint Museum. It was peppermint that built Kitami’s
economy in the early days. During the peak production in 1938/1939, Kitami’s peppermint
accounted for approximately 70% of the global market and became globally recognized as a
special produce of Kitami and Japan. Adjacent to the Museum stands the Mint Distillation
House where you can still enjoy the aroma of freshly made mint. In Sounkyo, first visit the
Ginga Ryusei Waterfall. The word “Ginga” means “the Milky Way” or “Galaxy” and the word
“Ryusei” means “a meteor or shooting star.”Then enjoy the nearby Sounkyo Ice Waterfall
Festival, a frozen world of ice featuring man-made ice caves, pillars, tunnels, domes and sculptures.
Day 7: Wed, Feb 08 – SOUNKYO – ASAHIKAWA – OTARU. We will start the day at the Otokoyama
Sake Brewery, where we will take a tour and a tasting of sake and other tasty products. Then
experience one of the most popular winter festivals in Hokkaido, the Asahikawa Winter Festival.
As Hokkaido’s second largest winter festival, after Sapporo’s snow festival, Asahikawa Winter Festival
boasts one of the biggest snow sculptures. Each year, one massive sculpture is made as a
stage for music or other performances. The giant sculpture has a different theme each year. What
will the theme be this year? Will it top the giant sculpture built in 1994 which made it into the book
of Guinness World Records as the largest snow construction ever built? Warm yourself with lunch
(on your own) at the Asahikawa Ramen Village, where you’ll get to choose the type of ramen
lunch you’ll have from one of eight ramen shops. Asahikawa is known for their shoyu based broths,
while Sapporo is known for its miso based broths and Hakodate for its salt based broths. Which
one will you try? After lunch, on our way from Asahikawa to Otaru, we will make a stop at the
Sunagawa Highway Oasis, a shopper’s paradise. Otaru served as a major trade and fishing port
in the 1800s. During the heyday of herring fishing, large Herring Mansions (Nishin-Goten) were
built by wealthy fishermen. This evening you’re in for a real treat! Enjoy a multi-course gourmet
dinner experience at a genuine, Nishin-Goten. AUTHENT HOTEL OTARU (1 Night) (B, D)
Day 8: Thur, Feb 09 – OTARU – NOBORIBETSU. Stroll along the Otaru canal and take advantage
of the wonderful shopping opportunities available there. Next we will stop at the Otaru Music
Box Museum to make our own music box. Then we will take a ride on the Tenguyama
Ropeway to the top of Mt. Tengu. Drink in the panoramic views of Otaru and Ishikari Gulf
stretching below you. Before departing Otaru for Noboribetsu, you’ll have the opportunity to
tour one of Herring mansions, the Aoyama Villa, that Otaru is famous for. This evening enjoy
a relaxing soak in the hot springs and enjoy a gourmet “All You Can Eat” Crab and
Seafood Buffet. HOTEL MAHOROBA (1 Night) (B, D)
Day 9: Fri, Feb 10 – NOBORIBETSU – LAKE SHIKOTSU - SAPPORO. Before departing Noboribetsu,
visit Jigokudani or “Hell Valley,” a spectacular, appropriately named valley just above the town,
which displays hot steam vents, sulfurous streams and other volcanic activity. It is a main source
of Noboribetsu’s hot spring waters. Stop at a local restaurant and enjoy a Salmon Teppanyaki
lunch. After lunch, we continue our journey to the town of Shiraoi, visiting Porotokotan
(Shiraoi Ainu Museum), an outdoor reproduction of an Ainu Village. Enjoy a traditional Ainu
song and dance performance. Then arrive at the Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival. A fantastic
world of ice featuring various snow and ice sculptures created from the water of the nearby lake.
Experience more ice festival fun at the Sapporo Snow Festival at Odori Park and at the
Susukino area. The Sapporo Snow Festival was started in 1950, when high school students
built a few snow statues and it has since developed into a world-class event attracting more
than two million visitors. Ample free time to walk around at your own pace and enjoy the city.
SAPPORO TOBU HOTEL (2 Nights) (B, L)
Day 10: Sat, Feb 11 – SAPPORO. Morning at your leisure. Begin the day of touring with a visit
to Hokkaido Shrine, one of the most popular Japanese temples in Hokkaido. Originally called
the Sapporo Shrine when the Meiji Emperor decided to enshrined three Shinto deities in 1869.
In 1964, when the Meiji Emperor’s soul was enshrined there as well, the name was changed
to Hokkaido Shrine. Next visit the Sapporo Beer Brewery. Opened in 1987 in a former brewery
from the Meiji Period, the brewery museum chronicles the rich history of Sapporo Beer, which
has been brewed in Sapporo since 1877. Enjoy some refreshing beer tasting as well. Then checkout Tanuki Koji Street, a ten block long outdoor shopping arcade located in the Odori Area of
Sapporo. Spend a little more time exploring the Sapporo Snow Festival. (B, D)
Day 11: Sun, Feb 12 – SAPPORO – CHITOSE – HONOLULU. Morning at your leisure. We now
make our way back to Chitose. Enroute we will make a final shopping stop before checking in
for our flight home. Depart via ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS FLT #2154 at 2:05 pm. Arrive Honolulu, via
Narita, same day at 8:35 am. Aloha and Welcome Home! (B)