Japan Tours
Snow & Ice Festivals Winter bird watching + Snow Monkeys Tour

 

Five Snow & Ice Festivals Winter bird watching + Snow Monkeys Tour

In 8 days we will take you to see more of Hokkaido island than any other company. Visit national parks in their winter splendour, see Steller's sea eagles, ice carving festivals, dancing Japanese Red-crowned Cranes, cruise on an ice breaker, try ice fishing, ride a snowmobile, take a steam train across the frozen marshland, enjoy a wide selection of Japanese dinners and traditional ryokan accommodation.

AND ... You can add a 4 night / 5 day extension to visit the Snow Monkeys of Honshu Island.

Tour Departs : February 9, 2011
Land only price AUD$ 5,388 Sapporo to Sapporo

For flight prices ex Australia please contact our office.

Click on any photo to enlarge it.


The following video of Japanese Red-crowned Cranes was taken by Anna Osetroff during our Toursgallery Winter Festivals Tour. Click on the arrow in the centre of the frame to start the movie.

Winter Festivals and Ice Castles

Five Winter Festivals will be visited on this tour in Japan`s northern most island of Hokkaido .

• Asahikawa International Ice Sculpture Festival
• Sounkyo Ice Fall Festival 
• Abashiri Drift Ice Festival 
• Sapporo  Snow Festival
• Utoro Winter Festival

Each destination has been chosen so that you will see the biggest variety of winter scenes including an international ice sculpture competition , small houses and castles made of ice, illuminated from inside at night, beautiful scenes of nature, forests, mountains and marshlands covered in snow and frozen lakes .

Look into our Photo Gallery for more photos.

 

Bird watching and Drift Ice

February is the best month for bird observing of the Japanese Red crowned Crane as well as Steller`s Sea Eagle, Whooper Swan and Bewick Swan. We will be visiting Kushiro Marsh where local members of the Japan Wild Bird Society will show us the best locations for birdwatching that day.

Northern Pintail, Great Spotted and Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers, White-tailed Eagle, Goldeneye and Harlequin Ducks could also be found as we look around each location.

This is a vacation package for those people who enjoy nature and want to do something completely different .

Cruise on an Ice Breaker

Take an Icebreaker cruise through the drift ice along the Shiretoko peninsula . Here resting on the floating bergs of pack ice in the Sea of Okhotsk , drifting down from the Arctic, we usually see Northern Fur Seals and numerous eagles on the lookout for a feed.
For any of our warm climate friends , this is a perfect opportunity for some great photos that nobody else back home will have .

Ainu wood carving & Steam Train across the snow fields

Another unusual and just for fun event will be a Steam Locomotive ride across the snow covered fields around Kushiro Marsh . We will also stop in at Lake Akan to visit the wood carving craft shops of the Ainu people. Here too you can try your hand at ice fishing. At yet another festival you might like to ride on a snowmobile across the frozen surface of a lake.




Snow Monkey extension.

Extension Price AUD $2,988 ( Tokyo to Tokyo )

An optional 5 day / 4 night EXTENSION has been especially created for you to visit the Snow Monkeys of central Honshu island. This includes 2 nights in the 5 star western style Palace Hotel in Tokyo and 2 nights of traditional Japanese Ryokan style accommodation in the mountains near Nagano. Bullet train tickets from Tokyo, private charter bus transfers from and to Nagano station, all breakfasts and 2 Japanese banquet dinners and your Japanese English speaking guide are all included in this journey.

For Detailed Itinerary & Price Click Here

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