Hokkaido Scenic Byway: Taisetsu-Furano Route, Hokkaido, Japan

While Hokkaido is on every avid skier’s winter hitlist, Japan’s northernmost island has lots to offer in the warmer months, especially to those with the freedom of their own car. Rainbow fields teeming with millions of sunflowers, lavender, poppies and tulips stripe the countryside in mesmerising waves of colour. It’s not a sleepy drive by any means, with the Taisetsu Mountains to traverse and a thrillingly undulating section known as Roller Coaster Road. After landing at Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport, rent a car, stay the night, then set off early to see the flower fields in their full glory before the crowds descend. Hokkaido is renowned for its onsen, so stay at Onsen Ryokan Yuen Sapporo to experience a traditional inn before making your way to Taisetsu the next morning to begin your drive. This drive is like something straight out of a Studio Ghibli film, with the bloom-filled fields of Farm Tomita and the enchanting forest village Ninguru Terrace offering ideal pitstops to try a lavender ice cream – the region’s speciality. Keep the Pantone daydream going with a final stop at Biei’s famous Shirogane Blue Pond, a manmade pool with a distinctive turquoise hue, making for an otherworldly photograph.

Total distance: 124 kilometres

Rent a car and earn miles