Explore Furano Brewery
Like much of Hokkaido, Furano is known for its beer and you can get a taste of this firsthand at the Furano Brewery.
This is located at the Kitanomine Ski Area and you will find a range of local beers here including dark ale, light ale and pilsner. On a visit, you can take a tour of the brewery to find out how the beers are made here with local ingredients that use seasonal ingredients and also sample some of these at the same time.
Ride a bicycle through patchwork fields
The Biei and Furano area is most famous for its bucolic rural landscapes of vast, colourful rolling flower fields. Once you have arrived, the best way to explore the local area’s sights is to hire a bicycle and get out on two wheels.
Start with the area northwest of the town centre, known as Patchwork Road. Make sure you stop off at the Hokusei Hill Observatory, a pyramid-shaped structure offering fine views out over the fields, and Zerebu Hill. You can explore this flower park on foot, but opt for a more unusual mode of transport by taking a ride in one of its interesting old-fashioned carts.
Visit Furano Cheese Factory
If you are a cheese lover then you must not miss the chance to visit the Furano Cheese Factory. This is actually a factory and a museum combined and dates from the 1980s.
The name is actually slightly misleading as they have a range of dairy products on offer and you learn how these are made as well as buy a range of diary based treats on site. One of the signature snacks sold here is the squid ink cheese which is a startling black color thanks to the squid ink but which is delightfully oozy on the inside and reminiscent of Camembert. You can also get hands on at the factory and learn now to churn your own cheese or ice cream.
Farm Tomita with stunning flower and lavender fields
In Furano, Farm Tomita has vast flower fields, including their own lavender fields. There are thirteen fields in total at the farm, such as flower fields, gardens, greenhouses, and forests with various flowers and trees. The fields are breathtaking and beautiful and are open from April to October. It is also the lavender field with the longest history in Japan.
You will let out a sigh at the beauty of Lavender East, Japan’s best lavender field, cultivated for the production of lavender oil. Up to around 90,000 lavender plants bloom here.
Get Snap-Happy at the Blue Pond
If you have still got room on your camera roll after all the snapping, you will have done at Furano and Biei’s beautiful lavender and flower fields, then the Blue Pond is the place to head to next. If you have still to capture the perfect Hokkaido holiday selfie, it will give you another chance.
In all honesty, there is not much to do at the Blue Pond other than get snap-happy and fill up any space remaining on your camera roll, so if you have got time to kill while you are there, why not head over to nearby Shirogane Onsen for a quick relaxing bath? Shirogane Onsenkyo Mori-no-Ryotei Biei is open 10:00 - 16:00.