Furano & Biei in Bloom: Lavender Rows, a Cobalt Pond & the Patchwork Hills of Central Hokkaido — 2 Days

The farm that made Furano lavender famous. When the perfume industry collapsed in the 1970s, Tadao Tomita kept his fields planted out of stubbornness and love of the flower; a railway calendar photo turned them into a national image. Today it is a free, beautifully kept estate of lavender and rainbow flower strips, with a distillery, lavender soft-serve and the original oil still on display.

Free admission, year-round; lavender peaks roughly late June–mid-July, fields best ~9:00–10:00 before the crowds. In Nakafurano, a short drive or seasonal train (Lavender Field Station) from Furano.

Furano's town food-hall: a bright complex of local produce, a bakery, a cafe and takeaway counters built around Furano's dairy and farm output. The easiest, freshest lunch in town — a melon-and-cream cone, a corn-and-cheese bake, or a proper plate of Hokkaido beef — and a good place to buy farm jam and cheese to take home.

Generally ~10:00–19:00 (seasonal). Counters and cafe are casual, no reservation; light meal roughly ¥1,000–2,500 (approx., 2026). Central Furano.

The most comfortable high-end base in Furano: a full-service apartment hotel of spacious one-to-three-bedroom units near the Kitanomine gondola, with an on-site restaurant — well suited to families and longer summer stays who want kitchen space and room to spread out between flower days.

Kitanomine area, near the gondola base. Alternatives: La Vista Furano Hills (onsen hotel) or the New Furano Prince Hotel (at Ningle Terrace). Apartment units suit longer stays (approx., 2026).

A boardwalk through the forest on the New Furano Prince Hotel grounds, lined with fifteen log-cabin workshops selling handmade glass, leather, candles, woodwork and paper. Named for the 'ningle' — tiny forest spirits from a Hokkaido novel and TV drama — it is at its best at dusk, when the lamps come on and the cabins glow between the trees.

Free to enter; cabins generally open from around midday into the evening (~noon–20:45 seasonal). On the Prince Hotel grounds, a short drive from central Furano (approx., 2026).

Fifteen hectares of rolling Biei hillside planted in broad bands of colour — poppies, salvia, lavender, marigold and more — that shift week by week through the warm months. The classic image of the Biei 'patchwork' land, with a buggy and a small alpaca paddock for anyone travelling with children.

Open year-round; a small admission applies in peak flower season (around ¥500 adult, approx., 2026). Flowers roughly July–September. In Biei, about 25 minutes by car from Furano.

A man-made pond that turned famous by accident: built as an erosion-control basin below the Tokachi volcanoes, it filled with water carrying aluminium-rich mineral runoff that scatters light into an unreal cobalt-turquoise, with the bleached skeletons of drowned larch trees standing in it. Apple used a photo of it as a default wallpaper, and the crowds followed.

Free to view (paid parking). The colour is most vivid in calm, bright conditions before midday; it fades in rain. A short drive from Shikisai-no-oka, on the way up to Shirogane (approx., 2026).

The hot-spring hamlet just above the Blue Pond, tucked into the forest below Mt. Tokachi, with iron-rich waters and the white-threaded Shirahige Falls pouring straight out of the cliff face into the blue river that feeds the pond downstream. A quiet day-bath and a short look at the falls close the loop where the pond's colour begins.

Day-use bathing available at the hamlet's hotels (roughly ¥700–1,000, approx., 2026); the Shirahige Falls viewing bridge is free and a 2-minute walk. About 10 minutes by car above the Blue Pond.