Noboribetsu Bear ParkSapporo: Noboribetsu & Lake Toya Day Tour with Jozankei Stop
At 4.9 this is the highest-rated coach in our comparison, and the only one that works Jozankei's hot-spring gorge into the return leg — a stop worth having when the autumn colour is on the maples. Lunch is included and so is one attraction ticket, with the choice left to you: the Usuzan Ropeway across the crater rim, or the Showa Shinzan bear farm. Guided in Chinese, English and Japanese from Sapporo Station or Odori, with three drop-off points on the way back. Ten reviews means the score is thin but consistent, and as always, the bears here are Showa Shinzan's rather than Noboribetsu's. As a Noboribetsu Lake Toya Jozankei tour it is the only one that works the hot-spring gorge into the return; our Noboribetsu tour catalog covers the rest.
About This Day Tour
From $63 per adult, lunch and one attraction ticket included
10 hours
4.9 from 10 GetYourGuide reviews
Shared coach, hotel pickup option
Jigokudani, Usuzan Ropeway or bear farm, Lake Toya, Lake Hill Farm, Toya deck, Jozankei
Chinese, English and Japanese
Quick answer What the extra ten dollars buys over the cheaper coaches
Three things: lunch, one attraction ticket of your choosing, and forty minutes at Jozankei. Set against the $48.40 coach, where you pay ¥2,000 (about $14) for the ropeway and buy your own lunch, $63 is close to a wash — and the Jozankei gorge, all maples and hot-spring steam, comes free in the comparison. The choice of ticket is the smart part: if wind shuts the Usuzan Ropeway, you take the bear farm instead rather than losing the stop. Meeting details arrive by email between 16:00 and 21:00 the day before. Note the operator excludes travellers over 70, and that Noboribetsu Bear Park is still not on this or any coach route.
Check Dates and Departure Point
Departures run from Sapporo Station or Odori depending on the option booked, with three drop-off points on the return.
Why This One Rates Highest
Ten reviews is a small sample, but the pattern in them is consistent and matches what the listing promises.
The choice of ticket removes the worst failure mode
Volcano ropeways in Hokkaido stop for wind, and on the tours where the ropeway is the only mountain stop, a windy day turns eighty minutes into standing around a car park. Here the alternative is built in: take the Showa Shinzan bear farm ticket instead and the stop still works. It is a small piece of itinerary design that quietly prevents the complaint most common on rival listings.
Jozankei is a real addition, not filler
Forty minutes in a hot-spring gorge forty minutes outside Sapporo, with a free public foot bath and, from early October, some of the best maple colour close to the city. Coming at the end of a ten-hour day it functions as decompression rather than another photo stop, and it is the part reviewers single out.
What the thin review count still hides
Ten reviews cannot tell you how the operator handles a cancellation, a missed pickup or a February road closure. If that certainty matters more than the extras, the 2,100-review coach remains the conservative choice. The 4.9 here is a good signal, not a guarantee.
Listing at a Glance
Read from the operator's GetYourGuide listing in August 2026. Terms are set by the operator and confirmed at checkout.
- Tour name Noboribetsu & Lake Toya: A Day Tour
- Booking platform GetYourGuide
- Product ID 1388485
- Starting price From $63 per adult
- Currency USD at checkout
- Price last checked August 2026
- Rating 4.9 out of 5
- Review count 10 reviews
- Review source GetYourGuide verified reviews
- Duration 10 hours
- Departure Sapporo Station or Odori Station, by option
- Return Three drop-off points including Sapporo Station north exit
- Bear stop Showa Shinzan bear farm, if you choose it over the ropeway — NOT Noboribetsu Bear Park
- Included Coach, trilingual guide, lunch, one ticket: Usuzan Ropeway or bear farm
- Not included Drinks and personal expenses
- Stop times Jigokudani 40 min, mountain stop 80 min, Toya area 70 min, Jozankei 40 min
- Meeting details Emailed between 16:00 and 21:00 the day before, with vehicle plate number
- Payment Reserve now, pay later available
- Cancellation Set by the operator at checkout
- Not suitable for Travellers over 70
- Weather Ropeway suspends in high wind; the bear-farm alternative covers a closure
- Suits Travellers who want lunch and a ticket settled, and value the Jozankei stop
- Does not suit Anyone over 70, or anyone whose goal is the Noboribetsu ropeway park
- Pace / difficulty Easy
- Restrooms At each stop
- Animal-welfare note The bear-farm option is a captive-bear facility
- Drinks / food on board None
- If this is not right for you Best-rated coach, but the bears here are Showa Shinzan's — see tour-1 for this park
- Guiding language Chinese, English and Japanese
- Group format Shared coach
Day Tour Questions
Which attraction ticket is included?
One of two, your choice: the Usuzan Ropeway or the Showa Shinzan bear farm. Having the alternative built in means a windy day that closes the ropeway does not cost you the stop.
Is lunch really included?
Yes, lunch is named in the inclusions along with the coach, the trilingual guide and one attraction ticket. Drinks and personal spending are not.
What is the Jozankei stop?
Forty minutes in a hot-spring gorge about forty minutes from Sapporo, with a free public foot bath and strong maple colour from early October. It sits on the return leg and is the part reviewers mention most.
Why does it exclude travellers over 70?
The operator states it as a condition of carriage; it is not explained further. If that affects your party, the daily bus tour sets its limit at 75 instead.
When do I find out where to meet?
An email arrives between 16:00 and 21:00 the day before with the meeting time and the vehicle's licence plate. Make sure the address on your booking is one you will read that evening.
Does it go to Noboribetsu Bear Park?
No coach in this comparison does. The bear option here is Showa Shinzan's farm beside Lake Toya; the Noboribetsu park needs its own ropeway ticket and independent transport.
Page last reviewed August 2026. Price, rating and review count read from the listing on August 2026. Prices, availability and terms are set by the operator and confirmed at checkout.
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