Otaru (小樽) is a port city in Hokkaido, Japan.

Travel to Otaru - Visa Requirements

By train

Otaru is a major station on the JR Hakodate Line from Sapporo, with very frequent train runs. At a cost of ¥620, there are at least five trains per hour; the fastest service, the Airport Rapid, reaches Otaru in 30 minutes. The complete journey on the Airport Rapid from New Chitose Airport to Otaru takes 70 minutes.

By car

Otaru is 25 minutes away from Sapporo by car.

By ferry

Otaru is one of Hokkaido's key ferry ports, and the closest to Sapporo. Shin-Nihonkai Ferry (06-6348-1120) operates a daily service between Sapporo and Niigata (18 hours, ¥6,200+) and between Sapporo and Maizuru near Kyoto (20 hours, ¥9,600+). Both services are overnight, and private cabins are available for a higher fare (the base fare buys sleeping space on the floor).

Tours and Getting around Otaru

Otaru tourist attractions and sightseeing

Otaru city tours

Otaru souvenirs and shopping

Kitaichi Glass- hand made crystal is one of the famous handmade crystal in Japan which can be bought as a good souvenir

Otaru Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Otaru is famous for its Sushi in Japan. In fact the best in Japan- mainly because of supply of good quality fish and Otaru being a fishing district. Sushi in Otaru are expensive, but worth having it.

Otaru nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

The locally-brewed Otaru beer.

Otaru cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

  • Otarunai Backpackers' Hostel MorinoKi, Aioi 4-15(10 min on foot from JR Minami-Otaru station), ☎ +81-134232175, [1]. checkin: 3PM; checkout: 10AM. Top notch hostel, with a laid back owner and interesting decoration - but you're gonna have to be OK with dogs to stay here.3400 JPY.  

Otaru Hilton right next to Otaru Chikko Station and the factory outlet is another place to stay. Oataru Chikko is just two stops west of Otaru on the Sapporo-Otaru rail line and conveniently situated in the middle to travel around Sapporo and Otaru area

Get out

This page was last edited by Stefan Ertmann. Based on work by Jose Ramos and Jani Patokallio and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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