Self-Launched: Winter Hokkaido Active Adventure

Book a cheap morning domestic flight with Skymark, Peach or Jetstar from Haneda to Memanbetsu (roughly £70-110 one-way if booked a month or two ahead; ANA/JAL saver fares similar). From Memanbetsu Airport take the local bus to Utoro Onsen (about 1hr 45, ~£14). Check into a small Utoro guesthouse or minshuku, walk the harbour for views across to the Shiretoko peninsula, and eat a simple seafood dinner. Buy or hire any missing winter kit here — it's cheaper than Sapporo. Note that the cheap flights mean sacrificing Day 1 in Tokyo; if you'd rather have Tokyo time, add a night at the start.

🚌Domestic flight Haneda-Memanbetsu ~£70-110; airport bus to Utoro ~£14

🛏Utoro Onsen guesthouse or minshuku (shared room, ~£30-40)

• →Memanbetsu Airport arrival
• →Utoro harbour walk

Walk or take the seasonal Shiretoko Five Lakes shuttle bus to the Five Lakes trailhead. In winter the boardwalks are buried, so you need a guide: book a half-day snowshoe tour with a local operator such as Shiretoko Nature Office or Shiretoko Guide Club (roughly £45-60, includes snowshoes and boots). You'll cross the frozen lakes with snow up to your thighs and look for deer, fox and eagles. Afternoon free — thaw out at the Utoro Onsen hot spring (~£5) or rent binoculars for a stroll along the cliffs towards the Oronko Rock viewpoint. Check Steller's sea eagles gathering near the drift ice.

🚌Local shuttle bus to Five Lakes ~£4 return; walking on foot

🛏Utoro Onsen guesthouse (~£30-40)

• →Guided snowshoe tour of Shiretoko Five Lakes (~£50)
• →Utoro onsen (~£5)
• →Oronko Rock viewpoint walk

Book a second guided snowshoe trek, this time into the Primeval Forest area of the UNESCO-listed peninsula (about 4hrs, ~£55-65 self-booked through the same local guides). The forest trails run to cliff edges above the turquoise Okhotsk Sea — bring binoculars for sea eagles, Japanese deer and, with luck, flying squirrels. In the afternoon do a drift-ice walk with a local operator at Utoro (drysuit supplied, ~£40-50): you walk out on the ice floes and, if you're brave, float in the water. Peak ice is late January to mid-March.

🚌On foot / arrange guide pickup from guesthouse

🛏Utoro Onsen guesthouse (~£30-40)

• →Primeval Forest guided snowshoe (~£60)
• →Drift ice walk with drysuit (~£45)

Travel inland by local bus — the Utoro-to-Abashiri and then Abashiri/Kitami-to-Akan route takes most of the morning (roughly 3-4hrs, ~£25-30 total; check the winter timetable as services are sparse). Alternative: local train to Bihoro or Kitami then bus. Break the journey to see the steaming, sulphurous Mt Io volcano inside the Kussharo caldera and stop at the Lake Kussharo shoreline where you dig your own hot-spring pool in the sand (free, bring a small spade or borrow one). Finish at the Lake Mashu observatory deck for the blue crater lake views. Overnight at a traditional ryokan on Lake Akan with dinner and a hot-spring bath (book direct, ~£90-130 half board). In the evening see the Ainu cultural performance 'Akan Yukar Lost Kamuy' at the Akan Ainu Kotan (~£12-15).

🚌Local bus Utoro-Akan via Kitami ~£28; short local hops

🛏Traditional ryokan on Lake Akan, half board (~£100)

• →Mt Io sulphur vents (free/trailhead)
• →Lake Kussharo hot-spring sand beach (free)
• →Lake Mashu observatory deck (free)
• →Akan Yukar Lost Kamuy Ainu performance (~£14)

Take a second soak in the ryokan onsen before breakfast, then walk the frozen shore of Lake Akan — marimo (moss ball) displays are at the visitor centre if the cold bites. Take the local bus to Kushiro or Kitami and connect by JR to Asahikawa (about 4-5hrs total, ~£35-45; the Kushiro-Asahikawa route via Abashiri is scenic but slow). Check into a budget business hotel or hostel near Asahikawa station. Dinner is the point of the day: Asahikawa ramen, ideally at a shoyu-style shop such as Ramen Santoka or one of the station-area institutions (~£8-10).

🚌Bus + JR local trains Lake Akan-Asahikawa ~£40

🛏Asahikawa business hotel or hostel (~£35-45)

• →Ryokan onsen
• →Lake Akan shore walk
• →Asahikawa ramen dinner

Take the local bus from Asahikawa station to Asahidake Onsen (about 1hr 30, ~£12 each way; winter services run a few times a day — check the timetable the night before). Ride the Daisetsuzan Asahidake Ropeway (~£16 return) up to the 1,600m station, then walk or snowshoe for a couple of hours across the volcanic plateau, hoping the clouds lift on the peaks. If you want a guide, Asahidake-area operators run half-day snowshoe tours (~£50) — otherwise stick to the marked route; the terrain is serious in winter. Back in Asahikawa, warm up with a bowl of soup curry.

🚌Local bus Asahikawa-Asahidake ~£24 return

🛏Asahikawa business hotel or hostel (~£35-45)

• →Asahidake Ropeway (~£16)
• →Snow hike on Daisetsuzan plateau

Catch a JR limited express from Asahikawa to Sapporo (about 1hr 25, ~£28; a Hokkaido Rail Pass covers this leg if you're doing more train travel). Drop bags at a hostel around Odori or Susukino (~£25-35 dorm, ~£50 private). In the afternoon take the subway and bus to the Hill of the Buddha at Makomanai Takino Cemetery (free entry, ~£5 transport) — Tadao Ando's hill-shrouded statue — then come back via Hokkaido Jingu shrine in Maruyama Park. Evening in Susukino: soup curry or a standing izakaya, then a wander through the snow sculptures if it's February (Yuki Matsuri).

🚌JR limited express Asahikawa-Sapporo ~£28; Sapporo subway ~£5

🛏Sapporo hostel or budget hotel (~£35)

• →Hill of the Buddha (free)
• →Hokkaido Jingu shrine (free)
• →Susukino evening walk

Start at Nijo Market, a short walk from Odori — stalls piled with Hokkaido crab, salmon, scallops, uni and ikura. Breakfast on a seafood rice bowl or grilled scallops (~£10-14). Then take the loop bus or subway to the Sapporo Beer Museum in a converted 19th-century sugar factory (free entry, ~£3 transport). Do the short self-guided tour and pay for the tasting set of beers only sold there (~£5). Spend the rest of the day at leisure: the Chocolate Factory, Odori Park, or a day trip to Otaru by JR (~£8 return, 40min) if you have energy left. Last-night dinner of jingisukan lamb BBQ (~£15).

🚌Subway/loop bus ~£6; optional Otaru train ~£8 return

🛏Sapporo hostel or budget hotel (~£35)

• →Nijo Market
• →Sapporo Beer Museum and tasting (~£5)
• →Optional Otaru day trip

Check out and head to New Chitose Airport on the JR rapid airport train (~£8, 40min). If your flight is late, leave bags in a locker and do a final coffee and sandwich run in Odori. Book onward flights or the Shinkansen (Hokkaido Shinkansen to Tokyo from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, then connecting trains) depending on where you're heading next.

🚌JR rapid airport train ~£8

🛏None (departure day)

• →Departure from New Chitose Airport