First time in Hokkaido, 5 nights in November, no car. How’s this look?

Hi everyone! I’m heading to Japan for the fourth time, traveling with my boyfriend like before. We don’t drive, so we’ll stick to trains, buses, and sometimes taxis. We’re both learning Japanese and enjoy practicing as we travel.

Last year, we spent five nights in Kyushu (Fukuoka for two nights, Yufuin for one night at a ryokan, and Beppu for two nights). Each place had its own food scene, and we loved that variety. We’re hoping to do something similar in Hokkaido.

We love food, so we’re looking forward to trying miso ramen, soup curry, seafood markets, local bakeries, and all the dairy treats in Hokkaido. My boyfriend is especially excited for the dairy and bread. We also make sure to visit an onsen every night. It’s become a special part of our trips.

Here’s our tentative plan for November 18 to 23:

Nights 1 to 3: Sapporo. We plan to visit Nijo Market, try soup curry, go on a bakery crawl, eat genghis khan, and spend evenings in Susukino.

• On day 3, we’ll take a day trip to Otaru for sushi, visit LeTAO, walk along the canal, and check out Sankaku Market.

Night 4: Noboribetsu. We’ll take the train from Sapporo and arrive in the late morning. We want to walk the Hell Valley loop, try the Oyunuma footbath, explore the main street, maybe visit another ryokan for a soak, then enjoy a kaiseki dinner and an evening soak at our own ryokan.

Night 5: Back to Sapporo. We’ll have a morning soak, then take the train back. We’re deciding between a day trip to Jozankei Onsen or just exploring Sapporo freely. If the White Illumination has started, we’d like to see it. We fly out the next morning.

I have a few questions:

1. Is one full day in Noboribetsu enough to see the town, walk through Hell Valley, and enjoy a few soaks? Or does it start to feel repetitive after a few hours? We really liked the main street atmosphere in Yufuin—does Noboribetsu have something similar, or is it mostly focused on ryokans?
2. For night 5, would you recommend a day trip to Jozankei or a free day in Sapporo in late November?
3. We thought about visiting Furano and Biei for the dairy farms and cheese workshop, but the two-hour train ride each way and early sunset seemed too much without a car. Was it the right choice to skip it?
4. Do you have any Sapporo bakery or food recommendations that aren’t in the usual guides? We love discovering small places without English menus.

This is just one part of our 22-day trip (Tokyo, Hokkaido, Kyoto, Osaka, Takayama, Kanazawa, Nozawa Onsen, Matsumoto, and back to Tokyo). I’m happy to share the full itinerary if anyone’s interested.