Getting there & away
Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) connect Hakodate Airport with Nagoya, Kansai, Sendai, Niigata, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and (of course) Tokyo. All Nippon Kōkū has flights from Hakodate to Sapporo’s Okadama airport (low season from ¥9000, 45 minutes).
Trains link Hakodate and Aomori via the Seikan Tunnel (tokkyū ¥5340, two hours). Some of these trains also give you the option of taking the Seikan Tunnel Tour.
Hokutosei Express sleeper trains serve Tokyo’s Ueno station (¥27, 990, nine hours). It costs ¥9450 with a JR Pass. A combination of tokkyū and shinkansen (from Morioka) takes about seven hours to Tokyo (¥18, 750).
JR’s Hakodate main line runs north to Sapporo (tokkyū ¥8790, 3½ hours) via New Chitose airport.
Hokuto buses (22-3265) depart from in front of Hakodate station for Sapporo’s Chūō bus station and Ōdōri bus centres (¥4680, five hours and 10 minutes, six daily). One night bus leaves at 11.55pm for the same locations, same price. Buses for Esashi leave six times a day (¥1830, 2¼ hours). A tour bus does a loop of Matsumae and Esashi – check out www.hotweb.or.jp/hakobus or the tourist info centre for the current schedule. The tour is in Japanese only, but English handouts help.
Seikan Ferries (42-5561; 24hr) depart year-round for Aomori (¥1420, 3¾ hours) and Ōma on the Shimokita-hantō peninsula (from ¥1170, 1¾ hours, two to four daily).
Hakodate
- Hakodate Overview
-
Getting there & around
Things to do
- Entertainment (3)
- Restaurants (5)
- Shopping (1)
- Sights (11)
- Hotels & hostels
