Sapporo city at dusk with snow-covered mountains behind it

New Chitose · CTS

Getting
here

Hokkaido reads as remote on a map and is not. Sapporo is an hour and thirty-five minutes from Tokyo, under three from Seoul, and the airport train puts you in the middle of the city in about thirty-seven.

01 · Where it is

Closer than
it looks

Every international arrival lands at New Chitose, forty kilometres south-east of Sapporo. The Tokyo route is one of the busiest in the world, which means if a flight is full there is another one soon.

From Tokyo
1h 35m
Airport to city
approx. 37m
Time zone
JST, UTC+9

02 · Flights

Direct into
New Chitose

Flight times are typical block times. Seasonal routes do not run all year, and schedules change. Check with the airline before you book.

Origin Code Country Flight time Service

Connections through Tokyo Haneda, Narita, Osaka and Nagoya add Hokkaido to almost any long-haul itinerary.

03 · Airport to city

Landing
to laptop

Three ways into Sapporo. Times are approximate and vary with the season, so treat them as planning numbers rather than a timetable.

04 · Onward

Around
the island

From Sapporo, the rest of Hokkaido is a train or a bus away. Winter buses also run direct from the airport to the ski towns, so you can skip the city entirely if that is why you came.

05 · On arrival

The first
twenty-four hours

The short version of what people ask before they land. None of this is legal or immigration advice.

Landed. Now what?

If something here is unclear for your route or your dates, ask a local rather than a forum. We answer in English.