Hokkaido in summer with a kid: Part 6 (Biei)

Time for a drive up to Biei and if you think Furano was nice, Biei, in our opinion, was even better.

Baby-blue skies dotted with fluffy clouds, lolling hills in the horizon, lush green landscape or flower fields in the foreground with a gentle wind blowing across - it's the stuff that fairy tales were made of.

We had a quick stop at Flowerland at Kamifurano on the way, but we preferred the flowers at Shikisai no Oka. A tractor-ride or buggy is also available if the kid prefers, but walking on foot can be fun too.

We then went on to various stops at Biei - it looks a lot, but we managed to finish everything by about 3pm, including a fairly long lunch. Here are the sights we stopped at.

Sanai no Oka and Shinei no Oka

Hokusei no Oka and Ken & Mary tree

Zerubu no Oka with its lovely flowers

Mild Seven Hill

Parent-child tree 

Aoi Ike (blue pond) - the mysterious azure-blue colour is due to mininerals.

Before Aoi Ike, we stopped for some lunch at Farm Chiyoda. Little ones will like the up close encounter with the farm animals, and adults will be even happier with the wagyu dishes such as the wagyu hamburger or beef stew. Wifi is available here too :)

Thereafter, it was back to Furano to visit the Ningle Terrace, which is a collection of little shops housed in cabins, selling mostly artisanal handicraft products. There is also a famous little coffee shop (Mori no Tokei / The clock of the forest) deeper in the forest, which is super packed. Both can be easily found as they are at the base on the Prince Hotel.

For dinner, it was back to the yummy Kumagera again. Don't forget to try their cheese tofu, which puts all cheese tofu you know to shame. Plain-looking yes - but the cheese flavour is perfectly integrated into the tofu. Add a splash of the dipping sauce for a different taste!

Our complete itinerary:
Day 1: Haneda to Hakodate (overnight in Hakodate)
Day 2: Hakodate - Lake Toya (overnight in Lake Toya)
Day 3: Lake Toya - Sapporo (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 4: Otaru (overnight in Sapporo)
Day 5: Sapporo - Furano (overnight in Furano)
Day 6: Biei (overnight in Furano)
Day 7: Furano - Asahikawa - Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 8: Tokyo (overnight in Tokyo)
Day 9: Tokyo - Singapore