Enjoy the majestic nature! 5 Most Famous Cottages in Hokkaido

1. Rusutsu Resort

Located in the middle of Sapporo, New Chitose Airport and Otaru, Rusutsu Resort is a resort in the highlands where guests can engage in all sorts of activities, including play at the amusement park or at the golf course, skiing and rafting. Various types of accommodations are available inside its premises, from a luxurious hotel up to a camping village, so you can stay in your preferred style. There are a total of 11 log houses and cottages here where you can relax while enjoying the crisp air and beautiful nature of the plateau. Just open the front door of your cottage and you will be treated to the sight of a lush meadow in the summer and snow-white slopes in the winter. Some of the cottages here have enough rooms to fit as many as 24 people, so they are recommended for groups.

2. Winkel Village

Winkel Village, located in Asarigawa Onsen in Otaru near Sapporo, is a complex lodging facility where guests can enjoy hot springs and various activities while they are surrounded by gorgeous nature. Here, guests can choose to stay in a villa or a condominium-type unit, with all the condominiums (a total of six buildings) annexed to their own open-air baths! You can also soak in a nice bath in the 100% natural hot spring bath on the terrace. Dutch ovens, barbecue sets and other equipment can be rented for a fee, so you can easily enjoy barbecuing at anytime. Check out this place and have a grand time while enveloped in the lush greens and falling snow.

3. Resort and Villa Feriendorf

Located at the heart of Tokachi Plain, about 25 minutes from Tokachi-Obihiro Airport by car, Resort and Villa Feriendorf is a recreational facility with cottages set in the middle of a thick forest with lush greens. Here, you can kick back and relax in the comfort of a quiet living room with a fireplace while feeling close to nature. Every house at this resort features a barbecue terrace, so if you stay, you have to taste “food cooked right in the middle of nature.” Another appeal of this place is that guests get to eat breakfast that use eggs freshly laid by the chickens raised inside the facility. You can also pet the ponies bred here, help gather the eggs laid by the chickens, and engage in various other fun activities.

4. Shihorokogen Nupuka No Sato

Shihorokogen Nupuka No Sato, located on a plateau with an altitude of 600 meters in the northern part of Tokachi Plain, is about 35 minutes away from Obihiro by car. It is found inside Daisetsu-zan National Park, so guests will get to enjoy unspoiled nature. All six cottages here offer a panoramic view of Tokachi Plain. You can gaze at the vast expanse of land and look at a sky full of stars at night while wrapped in fresh air. There are also wooden playground equipment and toys that kids would surely love, so this is the perfect place to take your family. As for food, you can head to Yakiniku House where they serve steaks and yakiniku (grilled meat) using Shihorogyu beef that is raised in fresh air and clean waters, as well as Hokkaido’s specialty dish, Genghis Khan.

5. Annupuri Village

The last spot on the list is Annupuri Village, a resort situated at the base of Niseko Annupuri, which is the highest peak in the Niseko mountain range that is made up of mountains about 1,000m high. It is located in Niseko and is about a two-hour drive from Sapporo. This massive facility is dotted with seven high-class villas that each features a unique design and specifications. There are villas with Jacuzzi baths, saunas and billiard tables, giving guests an elegant stay while enveloped in nature. In winter, you can enjoy powder snow and winter sports. While in the summer, the popular activities here are hiking, rafting and riding in hot air balloons.

Staying in a cottage and communing with nature ought to wipe away your fatigue from the daily grind. So, do something you can’t do every day: head out to any one of these places and spend some of your valuable time there to relax.