Just a quaint place - We went a few years ago in summer, while staying in Sapporo. We are now planning to go in winter. Otaru is an ideal distance for a day trip from Sapporo. Alternatively you can use Otaru as a home base and do day trips out from there. It is so pretty just strolling the streets any time of the day, sunrise, sunset, twilight. We found as you got further north less tourist. If you are planning a holiday and don’t want the queues Otaru is ideal. We are looking forward to going in winter.

Rickshaw driver experience tour is the best - The Otaru rickshaw tour was a wonderful experience. I learned about the history of the Otaru Canal and got a feel for the feelings of the local people. I was touched by the young rickshaw driver's love and pride for Otaru. I'll definitely visit Otaru again. Thank you very much.

Highlight of day trip to Otaru - I was so happy that I booked this wonderful experience. Our guide Kuma was very professional and knew so much info about Otaru. We learned so much. His English was also excellent and is self taught. I believe he also knows a bit of Korean and Chinese.

It was fun being a local! - Since it was close, I had never ridden a rickshaw before, but my daughter said she wanted to try it, so we got in and it was fun as the driver explained the deep history of Otaru. The explanation was easy for children to understand and interesting, and Mr. Inoue was a fun guy, so I recommend it! He was also really good at taking photos, so we made some great memories!

Fun, Authentic & Affordable - What a fabulous way to see downtown Otaru and hear about its history while also experiencing this mode of transportation which was invented in Japan. Our guide was friendly and strong and stopped along the way to share the history of what we were seeing. I was so pleased to have a hand-pulled rickshaw, the bicycle driven ones are not the real mccoy in my view. Since it was a cold and somewhat rainy day, our driver put seat warmers down for us, bundled us up in a blanket and then affixed a brightly-colored tarp over the blanket to keep all dry and cozy. What an excellent experience!! Highly recommend!

Yuki was the best - We had a fun ride with our Rickshaw driver Yuki. We liked his attire. He provided us with interesting information about Otaru. He was professional and friendly. We highly recommend him if you are coming here.

Great way to see Central Otaru - A rather unique way to get around but if you can handle other tourists taking photos of you, one I endorse. The fitness of our driver (puller?)Mitsu was amazing for a 2 hour tour with only short breaks for photos. He took several photos of us in the rickshaw as well, which turned out excellent. Otaru is a compact city and much can be seen in a short time. If you do take a rickshaw in Otaru I suggest asking for Mitsu who apart from his rickshaw capabilities also speaks English. Very handy for non Japanese speaking Australians.

Templeton trip - This was one of our best tours we had 2 for the four of us and both young men were great Really enjoyed it

Best experience ever - Going around otaru with rickshaw is really the best choice, we have 30min tour and enjoy otaru with the best view frim rickshaw, the guide also can speak english to guide!

We had a wonderful and knowledgeable... - <p>We had a wonderful and knowledgeable guide who made every minute of the rickshaw tour exciting. It was obvious he had studied the areas we toured, had a superb sense of humor, and fine talent in photography. Photography is his hobby and he set up our photos so that the lighting for each shot was perfect. Looking at the photos he took of us in the richshaw will bring back unforgettable memories of that day in snowy Otaru. We were so happy that we signed up for this event and had the luck of being assigned the tour guide that we had. I'm sorry I forgot this talented young man's name but I'm sure you can find his name in your records. </p> <p>This was our first experience with Viator and we were so pleased not only with the event, but how they set up the tour purchase and provided excellent contact information with their on-site office. I was able to contact a real person from the time of purchase as well as in the days prior to the tour for confirmation purposes. Because of this, I will continue to book with Viator in the future. </p> <p>Patti B and Ed L of Aiea, Hawaii</p>