Home / Muroran / Your day / Route
For a 9-hour call · MuroranNoboribetsu Hell Valley by taxi, train and bus
Calls of 9 hours or more; not on a Tuesday if you want curry ramen at the onsen. Clock times below are for leaving the ship at 07:30. Timed from the gangway and back.
- Best for
- Calls of 9 hours or more; not on a Tuesday if you want curry ramen at the onsen. Clock times below are for leaving the ship at 07:30
- Room to spare
- Fits a 9-hour stop with nothing to add (off the ship 30 minutes after arrival, back at the gangway an hour before all-aboard). A longer call gives you the extra time; on this one, do not add a stop.
- What it costs
- Taxi to Higashi-Muroran about ¥4,800 each way for the car (our estimate); JR ¥470 each way (+¥850 seat ticket on the limited express); bus ¥450 each way on the flat-fare buses (the fare on the others is not confirmed). Hell Valley free.
Checked · Researched, not yet visited · times from official timetables and our estimates · Takumi Yamada
Open in Google Maps, in 2 parts
Google Maps on a phone takes three stops between start and end, and none on a train or bus route, so the day opens in parts. Each step below also has its own directions.
How the day runs
Times are from the moment you step off, not from the scheduled arrival. Everything shifts if your ship is late; the order does not.
- +0:0007:30 taxi from Shukutsu Pier to JR Higashi-Muroran
12.4 km, about 15 min free-flow, about ¥4,800 (our estimate)
- +0:37Buy return tickets, then the 08:07 local or the 08:25 limited express to Noboribetsu
Limited express about 15 min, local about 20 min; two or three trains an hour in the morning (JR Hokkaido timetable, Nov 2026–Jan 2027; it changes each spring). Ticket machines have had queues on big-ship days
- +1:24The 08:54 Donan bus from Noboribetsu Station to Noboribetsu Onsen
about 15–25 min; ¥450 flat on the front-door buses, pay on exit on the others. About 25 departures a day from the station, unevenly spaced: 08:23, 08:54, then 10:25 (Donan Bus timetable from 1 Oct 2026). No IC cards; carry coins and ¥1,000 notes
- +1:45Walk up to the Hell Valley observatory
Time from the bus terminal not confirmed; allow 10 min
- +1:55Hell Valley, then Oyunuma pond if time allows
Free; a ramp leads from the park service centre to the observatory
Directions from the ship (train or bus)Full guide: Noboribetsu Hell ValleyPhoto: 663highland / CC BY 2.5 - +4:00Curry ramen at Aji no Daio’s Noboribetsu Onsen branch
11:30–15:00, closed Tuesdays
Photo: くろふね / CC BY-SA 4.0 - +5:03The 12:33 bus back to Noboribetsu Station, then the 13:10 local or 13:28 limited express to Higashi-Muroran
Allow 1 h for both with waits. Buses leave the onsen at 12:00, 12:20, 12:33, 13:18, 13:50, 13:58, 14:15 (about 20 min to the station); trains toward Higashi-Muroran leave Noboribetsu at 13:10 (local), 13:28, 14:10 (local), 14:41 and 15:03
- +6:30Taxi back to Shukutsu Pier
About 15 min, about ¥4,800 (our estimate)
- +7:00Back at the gangway about 14:30
Train times are JR Hokkaido’s to January 2027 and bus times Donan Bus’s from 1 October 2026; check both after the spring change
The other routes in Muroran
Shukutsu on foot: the bridge, the roadside station and the aquariumNeeds a 5-hour call · ~3hBig ships at Shukutsu Pier and short or cautious clocks; nothing needs a taxi
Cape Chikyu, Tokkarisho and curry ramen by taxiNeeds a 5.5-hour call · ~3.5hAny call from Shukutsu Pier except a Tuesday. Aji no Daio opens at 11:00, so leave the ship at about 09:15
Upopoy, the National Ainu MuseumA wet day · ~7hRain on a 9-hour call or longer; clock times are for leaving the ship at 07:30; the museum is indoors. Not on a Monday, when Upopoy is closed