Hakodate Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide
- 4–6 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- 2 languages
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
This value-packed trip with a government-licensed and experienced tour guide is a fantastic and efficient way to explore Hakodate! Hakodate has a long history of international trade and as such hosted a small foreign community. That influence is evident in the European buildings, churches, and red-brick warehouses that you can see from the nostalgic streetcar that makes its rounds of the city. Let us know what you would like to experience and we will customize a six-hour tour that's best for you! Note*1: Please select your must-see spots from a list in the tour information to create your customized itinerary. Note*2: National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter certification is issued by the Japanese government requires a good knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture and history.
Inclusions
What's included
- Meet up with guide on foot within designated area of Hakodate.
- Customizable itinerary (4h: 2–3 sites, 6h: 3–4 sites)
- Licensed Local English-speaking Guide
What's not
- Transportation fees, Entrance fees, Lunch, and Other personal expenses
- Private Vehicle
- You cannot combine multiple tour groups.
- Guide Entry fees are only covered for sights listed under What to Expect.
Itinerary
Mount Hakodate (函館山, Hakodateyama) is a 334 meter high, wooded mountain at the southern end of the peninsula on which much of central Hakodate is located. On clear days and nights, in particular, the views from the mountain are spectacular and included among Japan's three best night views alongside the views from Nagasaki's Mount Inasa and Kobe's Mount Rokko. Facilities at the summit, which is accessible by ropeway, bus or car, include observation platforms (free of charge), souvenir shops, a cafe and a cafeteria style restaurant.
Designated as a "quasi national park" and located only twenty kilometers north of Hakodate, Onuma Park (大沼公園, Ōnuma Kōen) is known for its picturesque, island dotted lakes and majestic volcano, Mount Komagatake. Onuma Park can be easily visited in either a day trip from Hakodate or on a stop over on a journey between Hakodate and Sapporo, since most limited express trains between the two cities stop at Onuma Koen Station, the central railway station.
Goryokaku Park is a historic star-shaped fort in Hakodate, now a popular public park. Originally built in the late Edo Period as a Western-style fortress, it later became the site of the last battle between the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji government. Today, the park is famous for its cherry blossoms, with over 1,000 trees blooming in early May. Visitors can also enjoy panoramic views from the nearby Goryokaku Tower. *Entry to Goryokaku Park is free, but there is an admission fee for Goryokaku Tower.
The Hakodate Morning Market (函館朝市, Hakodate Asaichi) is held daily from 5am (from 6am during winter) to noon, just a few steps away from JR Hakodate Station. The market area spans about four city blocks. Products on sale include various types of fresh seafood such as crabs (kani), salmon eggs (ikura) and sea urchin (uni), as well as fresh produce such as melons. Many restaurants can be found in the market area, offering fresh seafood breakfasts, such as uni-ikura domburi.
The harbor of Hakodate was one of the first to be opened to foreign trade in 1854 after Japan's era of isolation had come to an end. As a result, many traders from Russia, China and Western countries moved to Hakodate. Motomachi, at the foot of Mount Hakodate, became a district favored among the new foreign residents. Many foreign looking buildings remain in the area today. Among the most famous are the Russian Orthodox Church, the Old British Consulate, the Chinese Memorial Hall, the prefectural government's former branch office building and the old Hakodate Public Hall (closed from November 2018 till April 2021). Admission 300 yen
Hakodate Port was among the first Japanese ports to be opened to international trade towards the end of the Edo Period (1600-1867). Several red brick warehouses from past trading days survive along the waterfront in the bay area of Hakodate, and have recently been redeveloped into an atmospheric shopping, dining and entertainment complex. Besides a typical range of trendy souvenir, fashion, interior and sweets shops, the complex also features a restaurant, a beer hall, a chapel for weddings and sightseeing cruises of the bay.
The Bay Area facing Hakodate Port offers an expansive vista of the harbor. This area features a row of old red-brick buildings that have been converted into a unique shopping mall, enticing visitors to stop in and enjoy some shopping or a tea break.
The Hakodate Museum of the Northern Peoples is located inside a building that would once have served as the Japan Bank and was built in 1926. The museum is an ode to the Ainu culture and offers you a fascinating look at this indigenous culture which is not well known outside of Japan. You can also learn about other indigenous groups in Japan such as the Sakhalin who are from an island which is to the north of Hokkaido that is now a part of Russia.
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
4.9
- 525
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Ratings come from 27 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Showing reviews written in English.
5Amazing!
Toshi was amazing guiding us through Hakodate. She was very knowledgeable about the history and culture in the area. If you want to know more about Hakodate and how it become a thriving port town, this tour is for you.
5Cruise port must
Akira was our tour guide and was great. We went to all the stops and he was flexible with us if wanted to take a taxi or stop and eat. I would recommend this tour, especially if you are stopping at a cruise port. He had lots of knowledge and you saw a lot in a small amount of time.
5Hakodate tour
Booked a Hakodate tour for 7 pax. The car provided was 10 pax and very spacious. The tour guide, Kazuo Sumi san provided us with extremely good service contacting me on the proposed itinerary and meeting place way ahead of our tour day. He is very experience and helpful making us feel comfortable throughout the 6 hrs tour.
5Best of Hakodate
Akira was a very knowledgeable guide who showed us the best and most interesting sights of Hakodate. We learned a lot about Hakodate and Japanese history from him.
5Fun day in Hakodate
It was customized to exactly what we wanted to see, but also Noriko had great suggestions. Would recommend
5Wow!
This was a wonderful tour. Yumi was punctual, polite, knowledgeable and attentive. The hike up to Mt. Hakodate was beautiful and educational. We were able to see a lot of the flowers that were in bloom. The view from the top is breathtaking. The cherry blossoms at the fort were beautiful. We were blessed with great weather and peak blooms. We were in awe. Then Yumi led us to a traditional lunch at the market. Overall, this was a very enjoyable, peaceful, easy paced tour that all four of us thoroughly enjoyed.
Know before you go
- Pickup
- Pickup is included for everyone.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- Japan Guide Agency
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- This is a walking tour. Pick up is on foot.
How it compares in Hakodate
- Its from-price is 33% below the median of the 11 city tours we list in Hakodate.
- It is shorter than most of them.
- By number of reviews it ranks 1 of 11.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Hakodate
Hakodate is a port city at the southern tip of Hokkaido, known for its night view from Mount Hakodate, a star-shaped fort and a hillside of old churches.
Hakodate lies on a narrow neck of land between two bays at the southern end of Hokkaido, with Mount Hakodate rising at its tip. It was one of the first Japanese ports opened to foreign ships in the 1850s, and the slope of Motomachi still holds Western-style buildings and churches, among them a green-roofed Russian Orthodox church. Red-brick warehouses by the waterfront now hold shops and restaurants.
Top-ranked sights in Hakodate: Goryokaku Park, Hakodate Morning Market, Goryokaku Tower.
Special offers in Hakodate
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
