Joanna James
If you have any idea of touring to Sapporo in Hokkaido and not to Otaru which is just a 40-min train ride away- that's in vain! No sightseeing experience in Hokkaido will be complete without a day trip to Otaru, and you may cover all its attractions within your limited time.
Sightseeing in Otaru mainly revolves around exploring the Otaru Canal. Once in the golden past, the Otaru Port was considered the base of trade for the city, and that's why the canal has also been built back in 1923. However, they developed the harbour later, and the canal was not used for trade after then. Now, it's a famous tourist attraction offering travelers with amazing photo backgrounds.
One of the top reasons why Otaru is loved by the tourists is that they feel so welcomed in this city. Once you take a very short walk from Chuo-Bashi on Otaru Canal, you find this old building reserved for a tourist information center today. If you need any help in finding Otaru attractions, the staff here will be able to help you (they can speak both Korean and Chinese too) and provide you the maps you may need.
This one-way street is 900m long and you may find several merchant houses and buildings done in the old western style on your way while you walk along this street. To entertain you more and better, there are plenty of shopping boutiques and food stalls (especially the sushi shops!) awaiting you!
Otaru Art Base is also a must-explore during your tour. It consists of 4 historical buildings, and they all display various forms of artwork. The Stained Glass Museum and the Nitori Museum are two of the most significant buildings out of the four.
This is a free experience you can try out when you are in Otaru. Kitaichi Glass Sangokan is considered the most popular glass craft workshop in the city and has 3 different floors to entertain you with local, western, and Japanese products respectively. Thus, this is also considered one of the finest places from where you can buy souvenirs- be it an old-fashioned oil lamp, a lamp made up of stained glass or any other attractive, unique piece of craft.
Even if it's a day tour or a longer one, you need to stop by and rest a little before you travel back to where you came from. That's why you have many accommodation venues and dining options in the city. Any Otaru hotel near Jr Station the likes of Grand Park Otaru is great, and as they are located very close to all these attractions mentioned in the article, the convenience factor is also very high.
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