Cruises to Hakodate

23 Reviews
Hakodate, Japan (Photo: Sean Pavone/Shutterstock.com)

About Cruising to Hakodate

Hakodate is a popular port city on many Japan cruise itineraries. This city of about 280,000, is located on the southern tip of Japan's northernmost major island, Hokkaido. The city was Japan's first modern international trading port, opening in 1859. Today, it is known for its morning market, with more than 250 shops, including many selling local seafood. Hakodate is particularly famous as a squid-fishing port, and you can even find squid-ink ice cream cones here.

In addition, you can see interesting evidence of outside influence around town, including houses that combine Japanese and Western elements, foreign churches, brick warehouses, a Trapistine convent, a star fort -- and even yoshoku, the Japanese take on Western food, including items like deep-fried hamburgers or omu rice, an omelet stuffed with ketchup-seasoned rice.

Outside of the city are mountains and parks, including Shikotsu-Toya National Park, which has a lake, hot spring and smoking volcano.

  • More about Hakodate

  • Why Cruise to Hakodate?

  • Currency & Best Way to Get Money?

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Norwegian Spirit
Norwegian Spirit (Photo: Adam Coulter)

18 Night
Transpacific

2,124 Reviews
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Regatta
Regatta

41 Night
World Cruise

423 Reviews
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Riviera
Riviera

19 Night
Transpacific Cruise

782 Reviews
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Noordam
Noordam

14 Night
Circle Japan

829 Reviews
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15 Night
Far East Cruise

1,777 Reviews
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13 Night
Transoceanic Cruise

267 Reviews
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12 Night
Best Of Japan Cruise

1,739 Reviews
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28 Night
Southern Japan & China Collector

1,113 Reviews
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12 Night
Best Of Japan Cruise

1,739 Reviews
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16 Night
Transoceanic Cruise

267 Reviews
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12 Night
Asia - Japan

2,124 Reviews
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129 Night
129-day Ring Of Fire: Hidden Gems

156 Reviews
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19 Night
Southeast Asia Cruise

262 Reviews
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27 Night
North Pacific Crossing & Circle Japan Collector

829 Reviews
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10 Night
Southeast Asia Cruise

922 Reviews
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More about Hakodate

Why Cruise to Hakodate?

Pros:

Interesting history of early Japanese interaction with international traders

Cons:

Beside the bustling morning market, there are not a lot of sights in the city

Bottom Line:

Best visited when the cherry blossoms are in bloom at Fort Goryokaku

Currency & Best Way to Get Money?

Currency in Hakodate is the Japanese yen. The best way to get cash is to use an ATM at a convenience store. Look for a 7-Eleven, Lawson's or Family Mart. You'll find plenty of them in the city center, about 15 minutes from the port.

Language?

Japanese is Hakodate's official language. Some younger people and those at tourist attractions will likely know some English, but there are fewer English speakers here than in other major Japanese cities.


Hakodate Cruise Reviews
Loved the fact that you can tour Hakodate on your own. The Unlimited Use Day bus pass was very reasonable. So many interesting places to explore. It was raining a lot so we could not go to the Tower but just staying Read More
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gellybeans59
we arrived at 9am. Sunny and pleasant. It took 20 minutes on the free shuttle to town. We headed for morning market, helped by local school girls happy to practice some English conversation with the visitors. We gRead More
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onyourmark
Best to get a Taxi from the ship to Goryokaku Fort good views from the top of Tower and information about the Fort, Cherry blossom was almost out here still enjoyable, taxi back to port, 10,000 yen each way, Then weRead More
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Lily George
Real freezing arctic wind conditions. Immigration took forever and then I got the shuttle bus into town. It dropped us very close to the station and the incredible "Morning markets". I have never seen such enormous cRead More
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CJSANDFS

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