With your local host leading your family through Sapporo, you can rest assured: the kids are alright! From central Ōdōri Park, where year-round festivals and seasonal bungee jumping attract families from all over Japan, to the Historical Village of Hokkaidō, an open-air museum where you could get a history lesson on a horse-drawn trolley, it’s impossible to be bored. Ride to the top of the famous Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium like Olympic athletes in 1972, get a sugar rush at the Ishiya Chocolate Factory at Shiroi Koibito Park, with chocolate exhibits that put Willy Wonka to shame, or simply browse huge, flashy shopping centers in entertainment district Susinko before slurping down Sapporo’s spectacular miso ramen at a tiny noodle bar.

Kick off your adventure in family-friendly Ōdōri Park, the city’s central hub where an exciting new festival is hosted every few weeks, then amble through the Tanukikoji shopping arcade past stores selling cool gadgets, stylish clothes and 100 different flavors of Kit Kat towards some of the city’s most beautiful locations further west: the wild cedar forest of Maruyama Park (where you can sneak in some sightseeing at the iconic Hokkaidō Shrine) and the famous Mt. Moiwa Ropeway for a jaw-dropping view of the cityscape. You could even hop on a bus and head 11 miles south to the Takino Suzuran Hillside National Park for an afternoon of picnics, play areas, and Sapporo’s famous sweet-cream flavor ice-cream.