[Itinerary Help] Eastern Hokkaido (Sounkyo > Shiretoko > Akanko) — where to spend an extra night between them?
Hello everyone,
I'm planning a late August Hokkaido road trip (Aug 15–26), this is my second time in japan (already done the Golden Route).
Confirmed itinerary:
Hakodate (2 nights)→ Lake Toya (1 n.) → Sapporo (2 n.) → Biei/Furano (1 n.) → Sounkyo (1 n.) → Shiretoko (Utoro) (2 n.) → Akan-Mashu (1 n.) → fly from Memanbetsu
Two questions:
- I'm cutting Furano from 2 nights to 1.
Main reason: late August means no lavender, and the typical Furano activities (winery, cheese factory, Farm Tomita) don't interest me — I'm Italian, so those aren't exactly exotic. I'll keep 1 night as a base for Biei (Patchwork Road + Blue Pond), which I genuinely want to do. That frees up 1 extra night somewhere between Biei and Akanko/Shiretoko.
Where would you put it? Options I'm considering:
- Abashiri (convenient stop en route, Prison Museum) or any other city worth visiting
- Just add a 3rd night in Shiretoko (Kitakobushi) and do a whale watching day trip to Rausu
- Add a second night in Akan-Mashu and relax in a ryokan on the river (La vista Akangawa).
**2. On the night between Sounkyo and Shiretoko (Aug 22): is there anything worth stopping for that I'm missing?
Distance is ~220km / ~3h15 by car. Abashiri seems the obvious stop but not particularly exciting other than the prison museum. Anything hidden in that stretch?
We are a couple with rental car, not really interested in hiking but more in shightseeing, good food and nice cities to wander.
Thanks in advance :)