Thirty minutes northwest of Sapporo, the small harbor city of Otaru seems like a relic from a bygone era. With your local host, you’ll explore this fascinating pocket of Japanese history. In the quaint city center, see the perfectly preserved western-style buildings of Sakaimachi-dōri, an old merchant street harking back to Otaru’s late 19th-century history as a powerful port city, and swivel your head between elegant buildings on Nichigin-dōri, the old “Wall Street of the North”, just around the corner. Stroll the cobbled pathways of the breathtakingly beautiful Otaru Canal along Ishikari Bay, squid ink ice-cream in hand, before grabbing a bite to eat and a freshly brewed draft beer at the Bavarian-style Otaru Brewery beer hall.