Where is Furano?
Furano is located in Central Hokkaido, the north island of Japan.
Furano is 59km south of the city of
Asahikawa and 141km (by road) northeast of
Sapporo, and there are Furano bus options from these cities and corresponding airports.
Flights
Common gateway airports for Furano are Asahikawa Airport (44km north of Furano) or the New Chitose Airport (128km southwest of Furano). Flights into Asahikawa typically originate from Tokyo (Haneda & Narita), Osaka or Seoul. Flights into Sapporo (New Chitose) come from Sydney, Hong Kong, Haneda Tokyo or from Narita Tokyo (which is often more convenient than Haneda). See the
flights to Hokkaido page for more information. You can check out different flights into Hokkaido and look for the best fare and route by using a
flight search aggregator.
Travel to Furano from the New Chitose Airport
Sapporo Airport to Furano Bus
Hokkaido Resort Liner (available for booking from October onwards) runs direct buses from the New Chitose Airport to Furano ski resort, with multiple departure times each day. The Furano bus conveniently stops at major Furano hotels (see below), and the trip takes about 3 hours depending on which hotel you get off at. You’ll need to pre-book your Furano bus
at least 9 days in advance.
Click here for timetables, bus stops, rates and reservations. The Furano airport bus stops at:
[AdListings collection="Japan" category="Furano" subcategory="Scheduled Airport Transfers"]
Sapporo Airport to Furano Private Transport
On-demand door-to-door private Furano transfers between the New Chitose Airport and your Furano accommodation are available with Sky Station for up to 2 to 16 people. The trip takes approximately 2.5 hours and child booster seats are available on request.
Train to Furano
From the New Chitose Airport, Furano can be accessed by JR train in two ways. Either way will include a transfer at Sapporo Station. The first option is via Takikawa Station which takes approximately 2.5 hours. The second option is to come via Asahikawa Station. Check out the Hyperdia website for schedules and fares.
If you’re staying near the ski area, you’ll need to catch a taxi from Furano Station to your accommodation which will take 5-10 minutes.
Driving to Furano
Plenty of car rentals are available at the New Chitose Airport, including cars with English GPS where you can just input the phone number of your Furano hotel (or the phone number of the Furano Ski Resort is 0167-22-1111). If you’ll be travelling around to visit some of the great nearby ski areas, having a car provides lots of flexibility. Having a car is also handy if you’re staying in downtown Furano so that you can easily get up to the ski resort.
The drive takes about 2:40 hours if the tollways are taken.
Travel From City of Sapporo to Furano
It’s possible to catch the train from Sapporo to Furano. See Hyperdia for timetables and fares.
Private door-to-door transfers between Sapporo City and Furano are available with Sky Station.
Getting to Furano from Asahikawa City or Asahikawa Airport
Train
The train from Asahikawa City to Furano is inexpensive and takes one hour depending upon how express it is. Check out the Hyperdia website for schedules and fares.
Furano Bus
There are buses from Asahikawa City to the resort which take about 1 hour and 30 minutes, called the “Lavender Go”. These drop you off at the New Furano Prince Hotel and the Kitanomine hotel area. There are also buses between Asahikawa Airport and Furano which take about one hour. Here's an option for booking a transfer between Asahikawa Airport and Furano.
Car Rentals
If you’ll be travelling around a bit, the other option is to rent a car at Asahikawa Airport or Asahikawa City. It’s fairly well sign-posted and you can hit the R273 directly to Furano.
Getting Around Furano
The concept of what is and where is Furano can get a little bewildering. There is the Furano Ski Resort, of which one half is called the Furano Zone. The other side of the ski area is called Kitanomine and the corresponding village is where most of the
Furano accommodation is located. There is also the town of Furano, which is a little way from the ski resort.
It’s about 2.5km between the Kitanomine gondola and the centre of Furano town. The road distance between the Kitanomine gondola and the
New Furano Prince Hotel (the Furano side of the ski resort) is 3.8km, whilst it’s about 5km from the New Furano Prince Hotel to downtown Furano.
To get around Furano if you don't have a car, you can catch a taxi and thankfully Furano Taxi accepts credit cards (so un-Japanese!).
If you’re staying at one of the
downtown Furano hotels, it’s ideal if you have your own wheels because bus transport between Furano town and the Furano Ski Resort is a little clunky. A couple of the hotels run a limited shuttle service, or
Furano bus runs a shuttle between the Furano train station and the Furano Ski Resort approximately every hour. Your hotel will be able to help you with a timetable or you can get assistance from the Furano Information Centre at the train station.
If you’re staying at the New Furano Prince Hotel or in Kitanomine, you’ll probably want to head to Furano town to go out for dinner some evenings. The Furano Evening Shuttle Bus travels mid December to mid March between the Furano train station, a few other downtown locations, New Furano Prince Hotel, Furano Prince Hotel, North Country and a few Kitanomine hotels. Your hotel will be able to help you with a timetable. These buses are very inexpensive.
Ski Resorts Near Furano
Furano makes a great base from which nearby ski resorts can be accessed for a day trip or multi-day trip. It is possible to get around to other resorts via shuttle buses or as part of a
guided tour, but you’ll have the most flexibility if you rent a car or catch a taxi.
Car Rental: There is a car rental outlet near the Furano station.
Taxi: Furano Taxi offers round trip charters to Tomamu and Kamui, either via a regular or jumbo taxi.
Buses: Buses run on particular days (Kamui on Tues and Thurs, Tomamu on Wed) but the downside of catching the bus is that you won’t be chasing the powder alone on these days and the buses don't quite arrive in time for first lifts.
Guided Tours: Day tours from Furano tend to book out very early in the season as do the
multi-day tours, so if you plan to take a guided tour, pre-book it well in advance. See the
multi-day tours that include or stay at Furano.
Ski Resorts Near Furano:
- Tomamu is 68km southeast of Furano. Hokkaido Resort Liner has a bus service between the two resorts (between the New Furano Prince Hotel and three hotels in Tomamu) but the timing is only good for a multi-day trip. The bus trip takes about 90 minutes. Click here for schedules and to book (NB bookings generally only available from July onwards).
- Asahidake is 70km northeast of Furano. Chuo offers a bus trip there on Mondays that takes about 2 hours.
- Sahoro - 68km southeast
- Kamui Links – 55km northwest - 60 minutes
- Tokachidake (backcountry) – 60 minutes
- Kurodake - 116km northeast - 2 hours
- Mt Racey/Yubari - 105km southwest
There are also two local ski hills, Biei and Minami-Furano, but you can probably just leave those to the locals.
Travel Between Furano and Niseko
Private transfers with
Sky Station (use drop down menu) provide door-to-door transport between your accommodation in Furano and Niseko.
Or there are scheduled bus transfers with
Hokkaido Resort Liner between Niseko (or Rusutsu) and Furano.