Otaru, approximately 60 minutes by car shorter by expressway. A very pleasant small town located on the coast, and famous within Japan for its attractive canal which is very European in design. Also famous for its seafood, music box museum with associated tourist shop and glass works. Also famous for being the setting of the movie Love Letter.
Niseko, arguably Japan's top destination for powder skiing and snowboarding, is two hours away by bus.
The hot springs and mossy canyons of Shikotsu-Toya National Park are within easy striking distance of Sapporo.
Asahikawa's Asahiyama Zoo (http://www5.city.asahikaw...) is the most famous and most visited zoo in Japan, even though it's in the middle of nowhere at least a two-hour trip from Sapporo. Its most famous exhibits are the penguins which walk around the park twice a day THE must see for all the Japanese who find this immensely cute, and the seals that you can see swim vertically through a large transparent pipe. It also features polar bears, wolves, Japanese deers, big cats, different kinds of monkeys and more. It's most impressive in winter when it's covered in snow have you ever seen a giraffe walking in snow?! but a few of the exhibits are also closed during this season.
