A practical eating guide to the Furano valley — how far apart the towns actually are, what is open when, and where to stop for curry between Furano and Biei.
📋 Table of Contents
The Valley Is Smaller Than It Looks
Furano, Nakafurano, Kamifurano and Biei read like four separate destinations on a map and behave like one long road in practice. Furano to Nakafurano is about six kilometres. Nakafurano to Kamifurano is about eight. Biei sits further north, roughly thirty minutes by car in winter, and is the only one of the four that feels like a proper journey rather than a hop.
That matters when you are hungry, because it means you are rarely more than twenty minutes from anywhere in the valley — and it means the honest answer to "where should we eat" is usually not "in the town we happen to be standing in". Nepal Dining is based in Nakafurano, near the middle of that road, which is a geographical accident we have come to appreciate.
From Furano: Six Kilometres North
Furano is the biggest of the four and has the widest choice, particularly around the station and the ski resort base. It is also where the queues are in high season. If you are staying in Furano and everything within walking distance has a wait on it, driving six kilometres north to Nakafurano takes about fifteen minutes and there is free parking at the other end.
From Furano Ski Resort specifically, the drive is the same distance and is a natural stop on the way back to accommodation rather than a detour.
From Kamifurano: Eight Kilometres South
Kamifurano is the quieter northern neighbour, known for its onsen and for Tokachidake beyond it. It has fewer places to eat in the evening than visitors expect, particularly outside the summer season, and the eight kilometres south to Nakafurano is a short run on a road that is generally well cleared in winter.
From Biei: The Long Way Down
Biei is the one that takes planning. The Blue Pond and the patchwork hills are the reason people go, and in winter the light is gone by mid-afternoon, which catches out visitors who assumed they could sightsee and then find dinner at leisure. Allow around thirty minutes to drive down to Nakafurano, and bear in mind that our kitchen stops serving at 21:00.
If you are driving the Biei-to-Furano route in a single day, the practical move is to eat in the middle rather than at either end. That is the case for stopping in Nakafurano, and we would make it even if we were not standing in it.
Planning the Stop
Nepal Dining is at Akatsukimachi 3-19, Nakafurano — not in Furano, Kamifurano or Biei, but within easy reach of all three. Lunch is 11:00 to 15:00, dinner 17:00 to 21:00, closed the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. Around sixty seats, free parking, English-speaking staff, vegetarian dishes on the standard menu and halal-friendly options, though we are not halal-certified and say so.
For a group of more than four, or for any evening in ski season, call 0167-44-2444 before you set off. In a valley this size, a phone call is usually the difference between eating when you arrive and waiting outside in the cold.
Sharing the best of Furano travel, Hokkaido food culture, and the story of Nepal Dining — where Himalayan flavours meet Japanese hospitality.