▶ 08:00 - 09:00 | Depart from Sapporo & Board Train to Otaru • Board the JR Hakodate Line Rapid Ishikari Liner at JR Sapporo Station (~35 minutes) • Enjoy the sea view from the window seat ▶ 09:00 - 10:00 | Arrive at Otaru Station & Explore the Surroundings • Take commemorative photos at the retro Otaru Station building • Taste fresh Hokkaido milk and soft ice cream at 'Otaru Milk Plant' ▶ 10:00 - 11:30 | Tenguyama Ropeway & Observatory • Ride the Otaru Tenguyama Ropeway (~5 minutes) • Enjoy the view of Otaru city and Ishikari Bay from the top • Visit Tenguyama Shrine & experience the legend that touching 'Tengu's Nose' grants wishes ▶ 11:30 - 13:00 | Lunch (Otaru's Famous Sushi Street) • Taste fresh sushi at Miyakodori Sushi Street near Otaru Canal • Recommended restaurants: 'Masazushi', 'Otaru Takashimada' ▶ 13:00 - 14:30 | Otaru Music Box Museum & Glass Craft Experience • View Japan's largest music box collection at 'Otaru Music Box Museum' • Glass craft experience: Make your own glass (reservation required) ▶ 14:30 - 15:30 | Northern Canal & Otaru Art Village • Take a leisurely walk at the quiet Northern Canal instead of the crowded Central Canal • Appreciate Hokkaido art at Otaru Art Village ▶ 15:30 - 16:30 | Dessert & Coffee Break • Taste the signature Double Fromage Cheesecake at 'LeTAO Main Store' • Enjoy a cup of local coffee at 'Cafe Vanilla' ▶ 16:30 - 18:00 | Explore Near the Sea & Seafood Snacks • Visit Otaru City Museum of Art (exhibits of Hokkaido and Otaru artworks) • Visit Otaru Fish Market and enjoy seafood snacks (grilled scallops, sea urchin rice bowl, etc.) ▶ 18:00 - 19:30 | Otaru Canal Night View & Dinner • Enjoy the night view of Otaru Canal with lights and reflections at dusk • Have Otaru craft beer and German cuisine at 'Otaru Beer Hall' ▶ 20:00 - 21:00 | Return to Sapporo • Board the train to Sapporo at JR Otaru Station (~35 minutes)

The following is a sample itinerary for my tour: • 8:30 meet up at hotel lobby • 8:43-9:59 take train to Yoichi (change trains in Otaru at 9:36) 1150yen • 9:43-9:28 Sapporo - Otaru • 9:38-10:02 Otaru- Yoichi • 10:10-12:20 Nikka Distillery factory tour and tasting( free tasting or paid tasting) • 12:30- 12:55 JR train from Yoichi to Otaru ( 440 yen ) • 13:00-14:30 lunch at Sankaku Market ( seafood ) Do you like sea food?. If you would like sushi, I will take you to a nice sushi restaurant • 15:00-17:30 Otaru Canal, Sakaimachi Street( Music box shops, Glass shops, Samurai goods shops, and more), option Tanaka Japanese Sake Brewery, Mt Tengu ropeway • 17:30-18:30 take JR train from Otaru station to Sapporo ( 750yen) disband at JR Station or I will take you to your favorite dinner place

| Otaru's Hidden Gem: Shukutsu Panorama Observatory | Inomata's Residence Cherry Blossom Viewing | Tanaka Sake Brewery Kikkogura | Otaru Shussemae Square | Otaru Port Bird Watching | Otaru Suitengu Shrine | Otaru Railway: Old Temiya Line | Otaru Sankaku Market | Hokkaido Trip - Sapporo - Otaru | After a trip to Hokkaido, my perspective on spending has completely changed. | It feels like falling in love with Hokkaido... | Under the Oil Lamp: Music and Fine Wine at OMO Cafe & Bar - A Perfect Night in Otaru | The Romantic Spot of Otaru Canal in the Small Port City of Otaru.

It’s probably a no-brainer that visitors to Otaru can look forward to consuming fresh seafood when in the port city. There are a total of 9 markets in the compact city, and Sankaku Market (小樽三角市場) is the most convenient for tourists like us, because of its superb accessibility!. The fresh seafood market is only a quick 3-min walk from Otaru Station, regardless whether you take the short flight of steps shown in the earlier section, or along the main road.

Afternoon: In Otaru, pay a visit to the colorful Sankaku Fish Market and grab a stool at Otaru Takeda once hunger strikes. The hole-in-the-wall eatery is likely to be swarmed with locals enjoying regional specialties, like king crab, buttery hokke fish, and donburi bowls overflowing with uni, salmon roe, and prawns. After getting your seafood fix, spend the afternoon strolling along the Otaru Canal or getting lost in the Otaru Music Box Museum.

After a stroll down the 200-metre-long corridor tightly packed with fisheries, fishmongers, restaurants, fresh grocery and snack shops, it’s easy to see why Sankaku Market has attracted both locals and international tourists for decades. The friendly staff warmly invite you into their shops, where you may even want to try negotiating with them to secure the best price!. The name Sankaku (triangle) comes from the triangle-shaped land and roof.

Right next to Otaru Station is Sankaku Market, where fresh seafood is found in abundance. Not as large as the likes of Nijo Market in Sapporo, this market only has a couple of alleyways full of vendors hawking fresh seafood. I have a tough time deciding what to eat at the best of times (my friends laugh at me for exploring Instagram geotags at restaurants every time we go out to eat), so my indecisiveness appreciates the narrow selection.

Just a few minutes’ walk from Otaru Station, Sankaku Market has been serving the freshest catches for over half a century. Local fishmongers display everything from king crab to sea urchin, with many stalls offering sample tastings. Small restaurants within the market serve donburi (rice bowls) topped with just-caught seafood, making it one of the best places to experience some of Hokkaido’s freshest bounties.

Conveniently located near the station, this bustling indoor market stretches for about 200 meters on a gentle slope with a variety of shops lining both sides of its narrow aisles. Each shop offers seasonal fresh local fish, some of which are rare finds, and an array of crabs, including large king crabs and hairy crabs, swimming in tanks. Interacting with the local staff adds to the experience.

Otaru, which once prospered from herring fishing, was also the center of Hokkaido’s economy. Financial institutions were concentrated in Otaru, and at one time the city was so prosperous that it was called the “Wall Street of the North. Even today, there are many historical buildings such as stone Western-style buildings and old Japanese architecture remaining here and there in the city.

Rinyu Asaichi (鱗友朝市) opens the earliest at 4am but there’s another one just across the Otaru station called Sankaku Market (小樽三角市場) and only 10 minutes from Sonia Hotel where we’re at. *Pro-tip: If you find the kaisendon stores too crowded within the market, check out the shops right outside which are usually less crowded, slightly cheaper bowls and their fish are just as fresh!

Just outside of Otaru train station on its left, hidden behind a row of residential buildings, lies a covered wet market. Walk through the narrow row of stalls and be distracted by the numerous live seafood alongside you. On our way back after visiting Otaru Canal, we indulged in expensive fresh seafood in one of the stalls here.

During the half-day tour a local guide will take you to several renowned foodie hotspots, including the famous Sankaku market, stopping off for a seafood lunch comprising delicacies such as snow crabs, fresh oysters, and juicy butter scallops, all washed down with locally brewed beer. Tours can be booked through Viator.com.

Sankaku Fish Market is located directly to the left of the station (Tim: when exiting). Hokkaido is known for their seafood, particularly their scallops, crab (king, snow, hairy), salmon roe, and uni (sea urchin). The market is a small strip of a few vendors as well as restaurants (some a lot busier than others).

The Sankaku fish market is known for offering high quality and fresh seafood in the city. Here you can find tasty fish without any artificial flavours or sauces which bring out its authentic taste. A large number of stalls are present that sell delicious seafood like salmon, octopus, and prawns.

If you only have time to eat at one place when visiting Otaru from Sapporo, make it the Sankaku Market. Here, you’ll get the freshest seafood in town, and being next to Otaru JR Station makes it super convenient to reach as well. Go crazy with the ultra-delicious kaisendon (seafood rice bowl).

It has tens of seafood shops and restaurants on the gentle slope. Check out this great market that serves locals and tourists fresh vegetables and seafood every day. The stalls here have a lot of things to choose from which offer a whole lot of seafood that is usually either grown or bought.

Another place to visit for fresh seafood is the Sankaku Market, also known as Otaru’s Kitchen. Bustling with locals and tourists, this is the place to go to find some of the freshest seafood from fish to crabs to sea urchins. A must-eat in this area is the seafood rice bowl.

Start your day early with a visit to Sankaku Ichiba Market where you can find a truly Hokkaido-style breakfast. Located between Otaru Station and National Highway No. 5, the market is an assembly of 15 individual shops and diners. Breakfast is served as early as 6:30 am.

As described, Otaru is a port city so some of the best and freshest seafood in Hokkaido can be found here. Sankaku Market is located just outside the train station to your left. If you arrive in Otaru before noon, then this is a great place to have a seafood lunch.

We’ll begin the tour starting at Otaru Station (opened in 1903). Just a min walk from the station is the famed Sakaku Market ( Sakaku Ichiba). There are 16 restaurants and vendors inside the market that sell and serve mouthwatering seafood and Hokkaido produce.

After exiting the Otaru Train station, I make the short walk to the Sankaku Market. This is a popular fish/seafood market with many little spots to eat fresh seafood. Upon entering the walkway is lined with shops selling all manner of beautiful looking seafood.

If you’re in Otaru for a short stopover but still wanna experience the port city’s fresh seafood without walking far, Sankaku Market is right up your alley. It’s a 2-minute walk from Otaru Station and, unlike other markets here, it’s open every day!

Sankaku Ichiba is a small bustling market with 16 stores dotted along a narrow 200-meter long stretch. Here, you can sample fresh seafood and shop for souvenirs. The market’s signature item is kaisen-don, a bowl of rice topped with fresh seafood.

Bring your luggage along with you to Sankaku Fish Market for breakfast. Luggage can be cumbersome but the fish market is just next to the JR station. It makes sense that after breakfast, you can immediately board the JR train to Sapporo.

This market sells fresh seafood, vegetables, and fruit, and also features several restaurants where you can enjoy fresh seafood dishes. If you’re not sure where to go, try Takinami Shokudo!. This eatery's specialty is seafood bowls!

And in Otaru, the food experience can start right out the station at Sankaku Market, a local fish and seafood market. As it is a popular place, you should be aware that it gets very busy around lunchtime.

Visiting the Otaru Canal, trying fresh seafood at the Sankaku Fish Market, exploring the Music Box Museum, and taking a stroll through the Otaru Tenguyama Ropeway are some popular activities.

1-min walk from Otaru Station is a market street selling an assortment of fresh seafood, fruits, and other produce. Restaurants line the street where you can drop in for a bite.

You can have reasonably priced kaisendon in the restaurants at the market, so lunch time here is recommended. ＊Please be aware that lunch time is crowded.