Lake Shikotsu Illumination and Ice Festival Half-Day from Sapporo

If it's your first time visiting, I recommend signing up for a tour, because this spot is really inconvenient to get to without a car. But if you're planning to go, be sure to eat lunch beforehand, because other than cotton candy and drinks, I didn't see any shops inside the area. By the time you get back to the city, it might be after 9 PM, so I strongly suggest bringing some food. We were lucky, even though it was the hottest week in Hokkaido, and there wasn't much snow in the city, but when we got to Lake Shikotsu, it started snowing as soon as we entered the exhibition area, unlocking my travel buddy's first snow experience. However, it's a bit remote there, so the wind is quite cold. I highly recommend wearing warm clothes and gloves, otherwise you'll feel the piercing wind. If I have the chance, I'd like to go again, but maybe I'll arrive around noon so I can wander around at my leisure.

There's plenty of time, so it's definitely worth it if you can get a reservation! There's also a paid marshmallow roasting experience on-site. Everything is beautifully decorated, as expected of an ice and snow art festival. It's really great for taking pictures!

The place is truly magical and lights up at night like an ice castle. However we encountered a massive traffic jam on the way to the festival so our time at the festival was limited.

Meeting place and time is very exact. The guide will call for the tour at the exact time they mention since there are loads of other tours using the same hotel as a meeting place too, so be careful not to get mixed up! Our guide was very sweet! She couldn’t speak english, so she translated all her announcements for all non-Japanese participants of the tour. Really appreciate her! Overall, a wonderful tour! It was so beautiful and you have more than enough time to go through the venue. Amazing experience!

So amazing all the ice and lights. The tour was great.

The experience was great! It was easy to meet up and the bus ride was pleasant and comfortable. Lake Shikotsu was incredible and the ice formations were spectacular. I wore two layers of thermal clothing and I was still freezing in the wind blowing along the shores of the lake. The light illuminations were amazing as it reflected through the ice.

More details from the tour guide could have made this trip even better. All in all, they delivered what was advertised.

super trip, well run. ice sculptures were amazing and the integral lighting made a very magical experience

Very fun but cold. The bus trip was a but boring because there is no signal coverage but overall its worth the money.

The bus guide only spoke Japanese but was very kind at all times and provided information and made himself understood by the rest of the people who did not speak Japanese. A very nice experience at this festival.