Noboribetsu Bear ParkSapporo: Hokkaido, Noboribetsu and Lake Toya Bus Day Tour
Most Sapporo coaches collect attraction money at the stop; this one has already paid it. The Usuzan Ropeway ticket and lunch are both inside the $58 fare, which changes the comparison once you work out what the cheaper tours actually cost by the end of the day. Three hundred and fifty-four reviews at 4.3 make it a known quantity rather than a gamble, and the route includes Cape Chikyu — a hundred-metre Pacific cliff head that almost no rival itinerary bothers with. Guided in English and Japanese, departing from the Sapporo TV Tower or the Tokyu REI Hotel. As a Noboribetsu Lake Toya bus tour it is unusual in prepaying its own extras — the Noboribetsu tour comparison shows which others do.
About This Bus Tour
From $58 per adult, ropeway and lunch included
10 hours
4.3 from 354 GetYourGuide reviews
Shared tour bus, daily departures
Jigokudani, Cape Chikyu, Mt. Usu-Shinzan, Toya silo observation deck
English and Japanese
Quick answer Why $58 can be cheaper than $48, and what this route swaps out
Run the arithmetic before dismissing this as the expensive option. The $48.40 coach leaves you paying ¥2,000 (about $14) for the Usuzan Ropeway and buying lunch, which lands the real total around $62 to $70. This one includes both, so $58 is the finished figure. What you give up is the bear stop — there is no bear ranch on this route at all — and Jigokudani gets thirty-five minutes rather than forty. What you gain is Cape Chikyu, a genuinely dramatic hundred-metre cliff head over the Pacific that the Lake Toya circuit usually skips. If bears are the point, neither coach helps: only the ticket does.
Check Dates and Current Price
Daily departures with reservations usually available at short notice. Reserve now, pay later is offered at checkout.
What Sets This Route Apart
Three things: the fees are prepaid, Cape Chikyu is on the list, and there is no bear stop to be confused about.
Prepaid beats cheap-looking
Hokkaido coach tours advertise a low headline and collect the rest at the stops — ¥2,000 here for a ropeway, ¥1,000 there for a bear ranch, lunch wherever the guide recommends. This listing includes the Usuzan Ropeway admission and lunch, so the number you pay online is close to the number the day costs. For travellers carrying limited yen in cash, that is worth more than it looks: several of the cheaper tours expect cash at the stops.
Cape Chikyu is the reason to pick this one
Chikyu-misaki — Earth Cape — sits at the end of the Muroran peninsula, a hundred metres of cliff dropping into the Pacific with a white lighthouse on the headland. On a clear day the horizon visibly curves, which is where the name comes from. Twenty-five minutes is short, but it is twenty-five minutes more than the Lake Toya circuit gives you, and it is the stop reviewers photograph most.
Eighty minutes at Mt. Usu-Shinzan
The ropeway crosses to a viewing platform on the Usu crater rim, looking down on Lake Toya on one side and the steaming Showa Shinzan lava dome on the other. Usu is an active volcano that erupted as recently as 2000, and the platform is the closest most visitors will get to a live crater in Japan. The ticket is already in your fare, so there is no decision to make at the stop.
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 Sapporo: Hokkaido, Noboribetsu and Lake Toya Day Tour
- Booking platform GetYourGuide
- Product ID 777199
- Starting price From $58 per adult
- Currency USD at checkout
- Price last checked August 2026
- Rating 4.3 out of 5
- Review count 354 reviews
- Review source GetYourGuide verified reviews
- Duration 10 hours
- Departure Sapporo TV Tower or Sapporo Tokyu REI Hotel
- Return Same two Sapporo points
- Bear stop None — no bear facility on this route
- Included Tour bus, guide, Usuzan Ropeway admission, lunch
- Not included Personal expenses; no food or drink permitted on the vehicle
- Stop times Jigokudani 35 min, Cape Chikyu 25 min, Mt. Usu-Shinzan 80 min, Toya deck 30 min
- Languages English and Japanese
- Payment Reserve now, pay later available
- Cancellation Set by the operator at checkout — check the terms for your date
- Not suitable for Babies under 1, travellers over 75, wheelchair users
- What to bring Comfortable shoes and clothes, and cash
- Meeting point Arrive at least 10 minutes early; the guide does not contact guests beforehand
- Suits Travellers who want the fees settled up front and a Pacific coast stop
- Does not suit Anyone set on seeing bears — this route has none
- Pace / difficulty Easy — short walks, mostly seated
- Restrooms At each stop
- Animal-welfare note No animal attraction on this route
- Drinks / food on board None — no food or drink on the vehicle
- If this is not right for you Add tour-1 on a separate day if you want the bears themselves
- Group format Shared coach
Bus Tour Questions
Is the ropeway really included?
Yes — the Usuzan Ropeway admission is listed among the inclusions along with lunch, which is unusual on this route. That is why $58 can work out cheaper overall than a $48 tour that collects ¥2,000 at the stop.
Does it visit a bear park?
No. There is no bear facility on this itinerary at all — neither Noboribetsu Bear Park nor Showa Shinzan Bear Ranch. For the park above the onsen town you need the admission ticket and your own transport, or the private tour.
What is Cape Chikyu?
A hundred-metre cliff headland on the Muroran peninsula, named 'Earth Cape' for the visible curve of the horizon on a clear day. The tour stops for 25 minutes; it is the most photographed part of the route.
Who is it not suitable for?
The operator excludes babies under one year, travellers over 75, and wheelchair users. It also bans food, drink, smoking, alcohol and drugs on the vehicle.
How do I find the meeting point?
Sapporo TV Tower or the Sapporo Tokyu REI Hotel, both central. Arrive at least ten minutes early — the guide does not contact guests in advance, and late arrivals are not refunded.
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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