Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 from JR Otaru Station to Otaru City General Museum (Railway)
Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 is a popular bus route for visitors to Otaru, with a direct service from JR Otaru Station to Otaru Aquarium. Along the way, it also stops at Otaru City General Museum featuring the railway history of Otaru. As it was snowing on and off, I decided to take the bus from Otaru Station to Otaru City General Museum to travel in shelter for most part of the way.
Otaru Station Bus Terminal
Otaru Station Bus Terminal is located right outside JR Otaru Station.
Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 is featured in Chuo Bus’ tourist route map outside Otaru Station Bus Terminal.
A single trip within Otaru for any local bus costs 240 yen, but there is also an Otaru City Bus One-Day Pass available at 800 yen. The ticket counter beside this sign is very closed though, with the amount of timetables being pasted on the shutter, so I’d assume it’s available on board the bus only.
There is also a ticket machine at Otaru Station Bus Terminal, but no one was using it. I guess most people would just pay on the bus.
Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10
The Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 departs from Platform 3 of Otaru Station Bus Terminal.
Boarding the Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 from the rear door.
The interior of the Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 bus.
Departing from Otaru Station Bus Terminal and Otaru Station.
Heading through a little bit of Otaru town.
It continued raining and snowing throughout my bus ride, so I was quite happy to be in shelter to get to Otaru City General Museum instead of walking there.
Passing by Temiya bus stop. During non-snowy periods, the Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 will stop here for Otaru City General Museum as the museum entrance would be at the former Temiya Station. However, with the snow, the museum entrance is at the museum building itself, and the Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 also changes the stopping point to be closer to the Otaru City General Museum building.
Next bus stop information is shown on board the bus. My stop, Sogo Hakubutsukan, is up next.
Press the bell to alight at the coming bus stop.
Sigh, still snowing.
Sogo Hakubutsukan bus stop
After paying my 240 yen bus fare in cash and alighting, the Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 continued on its way to Otaru Aquarium.
The Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 from JR Otaru Station to Sogo Hakubutsukan bus stop took 9 minutes.
The Sogo Hakubutsukan is a simple bus stop sign with no shelter. Alighting is also via the grass strip to the pavement.
Crossing the road to Otaru City General Museum.
The snow started to get heavier so I took a few minutes of shelter at the Otaru Fire Department on the side of the pavement.
Otaru City General Museum
The façade of Otaru City General Museum.
Conclusion
While Otaru City General Museum is walkable from Otaru Station, I took Hokkaido Chuo Bus 10 to avoid walking in the rain and snow. It wasn’t an exactly cheap bus ride at 240 yen (~S$2.40) for 9 minutes, but it saved me about 20 minutes of walking in the rain and snow.