Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour: 2026 Tickets, Prices & Review

During my recent trip to Hokkaido, I focused mainly on Sapporo and Otaru, cities known more for their culinary delights and shopping than historic landmarks. Since Sapporo has fewer historic spots compared to Kyoto, most of this trip was about eating and shopping—which I didn’t mind at all! In this regard, the Sapporo Beer Museum, especially the premium tour, was a great touristy activity.

Updated July 2026. I took the Premium Tour before the museum’s July 2026 renewal; the practical prices and booking rules below have been checked against the official Sapporo Beer Museum website.

Quick answer: The Sapporo Beer Museum is no longer free for adults. Self-guided admission costs ¥1,000 for adults and does not require a reservation. The 55-minute guided Premium Tour costs ¥2,000 for adults, includes two tasting drinks, and requires advance booking. Both experiences follow the same historic museum route; choose the Premium Tour if you want the theater presentation, a guide and the included tasting.

Sapporo Beer Museum tickets and prices for 2026

Option	Adult price	Reservation	Best for
Self-guided museum	¥1,000	Not required; advance and same-day tickets available	Flexible schedules and independent visits
Premium Tour	¥2,000	Required; online booking recommended	Guided history, theater presentation and two tasting drinks

For both options, visitors from middle-school age through 19 pay half the adult price, while elementary-school children enter free. Children below elementary-school age cannot join the Premium Tour but can take the self-guided route. Prices and availability can change, so confirm them on the official page before traveling.

This is the official Sapporo Beer Museum page, not an affiliate link.

Premium Tour reservation: what to know

• Length: About 55 minutes, including tasting.
• Language: The live guide speaks Japanese. English and Korean audio-guide devices are available for an additional ¥1,000 per device.
• Booking window: Online reservations are accepted until two hours before a tour. Same-day reservations may be available at the desk until 20 minutes before departure, but only if seats remain.
• Tour days: Tours normally run on business days except Mondays. When Monday is a national holiday, tours operate Monday and pause Tuesday instead.
• Tasting: Adults receive two beer tastings; non-alcoholic and soft-drink alternatives are available for guests who do not drink.

Hours and how to get there

• Museum: 11:00 AM–6:00 PM; last admission 5:30 PM.
• Nearest JR station: Naebo Station, about an 8-minute walk from the North Exit.
• Nearest subway: Higashi-Kuyakusho-Mae Station, about a 10-minute walk from Exit 4.
• From Sapporo Station: Direct and loop bus services stop at Sapporo Beer Garden.

Two useful things to bring

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• Wired USB-C earbuds: The renewed self-guided audio experience runs on your smartphone and is designed to be used with earbuds.
• Compact USB-C power bank: Useful if you plan to use the museum audio guide and your phone for maps, tickets and photos on the same sightseeing day.

My Premium Tour experience

Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour Reservation

For my visit before the July 2026 renewal, I reserved the Premium Tour online four days in advance and found one of the last Friday seats. Weekend tours were already full, so I would still book early even though the current online cutoff is two hours before departure.

At the time of my visit, self-guided entry was free. That is no longer the case: since July 1, 2026, adult self-guided admission costs ¥1,000. Tasting drinks are sold separately in the Star Hall.

During my visit, the Premium Tour itself cost ¥1,000. The current adult price is ¥2,000 and includes:

• A guided tour (the tour is in Japanese, led by a Japanese guide)
• Two free glasses of sample beer + a small snack
• Optional English or Korean audio-guide device rental; the current fee is ¥1,000 per device

We paid ¥1,500 per person under the old pricing. Under the current 2026 rates, an adult Premium Tour plus one rented English or Korean audio device totals ¥3,000. The museum now accepts cash as well as supported credit cards, code payments and e-money.

I recommend arriving at least 15–20 minutes early to check in, confirm payment and request an audio-guide device if you need one.

When I read that the tour is guided in Japanese but that you can use your own guided tour device in English (or Korean for me), I couldn’t quite imagine how it would work. I’ll describe it in detail below!

Sapporo Beer Museum

We arrived about an hour before the tour, so we had plenty of time to walk around and check out the surroundings.

The Sapporo Beer Museum is actually a large complex of several red brick buildings like this one.

But don’t worry! You’ll easily spot the Reception sign for the main museum building.

The rest of the buildings are mostly restaurants, and the photo above is the inside of one of them. They have an All-You-Can-Eat Genghis Khan, so if you don’t have time to hunt down one of the great Genghis Khan restaurants in the city but still want to try it, the restaurant in the Sapporo museum is definitely worth a try! I heard the wait time here is shorter compared to city restaurants, and the quality is quite good.

You’ll also find directional signs pointing to different buildings.

And here we are—the museum shop! I usually love museum shops more than the museums themselves, haha.

They had various things to eat, like spices and sauces…

And of course, cute items… Shima-enaga, a subspecies of long-tailed tit affectionately known as the “snow fairy,” is like a mascot of the city. So, you’ll find lots of cute merchandise featuring this bird around, including in the Sapporo Museum Shop!

They also had t-shirts…

I almost bought one! But since I don’t drink at all and already have too many t-shirts, I decided against it.

This one was so cute as well.

They also had various Sapporo beer cans! Sapporo beer cans, including the Hokkaido-exclusive Classics, can be easily found in any convenience store in Sapporo, so we didn’t buy any here.

Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour Check In

We arrived 30 minutes before the tour time and entered the museum building.

• Hours: 11:00AM～6:00PM（Last admission 5:30 PM）
• Holidays : Every Monday (or on Tuesday if Monday is a holiday), year-end/New Year, irregular closings
• Premium Tour closure: Normally Mondays, or Tuesday when Monday is a national holiday. The museum may also close temporarily, and all buildings close on December 31.

It was great that they had coin lockers.

The lockers take a 100 yen deposit, but it’s refunded when you finish using the locker, so it’s free.

There are stamps and papers available.

Once you’re inside the main hall, show your reservation email, pay, get your premium tour badge, and rent the audio guide device.

Then you’ll be guided upstairs to the 3rd floor (an elevator is available).

Since we arrived way earlier than the tour start time, no one else was there yet. There are chairs in the waiting area, and people, along with the guide, will arrive on time. There is a maximum of 20 people per group.

There are some signatures… I don’t know who they belong to though, haha.

You can also see the various sizes of Sapporo cans and bottles.

There’s a big screen, and once the guide arrives, you’ll gather around the screen and receive an introduction to the tour.

This is what the audio device looks like. It’s an ASUS phone device with a one-sided earphone. The audio plays automatically with the written script displayed on the screen as you move through different sections.

The Japanese guide says the same things that we hear and read from the device. Even though I couldn’t understand Japanese, the guide always made eye contact with everyone, including foreigners like me. I was impressed by that.

Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour

I couldn’t take a photo, but the first step of the tour starts in the theater, where you watch a short film about the history of Sapporo Beer. It was interesting to learn how the beer industry was driven by the government as part of Hokkaido’s economic growth. The story of two young men struggling to make the best beer while learning from Germany was also captivating.

You then go downstairs past a huge beer tank that was used until recently.

The tour continues by visiting each section of the museum, organized by era. The audio device keeps explaining, but if you prefer, you can also find a large translated pamphlet with visuals in your desired language.

It was fascinating to see the history of the beer industry and the evolution of the labels.

The old bottle designs were classic and vintage. I thought the old label designs were pretty cool, like Starbucks’ old design.

One of the most intriguing stories was about why Hokkaido became famous for beer and why people enjoyed cold beer in the region, even in winter. I won’t spoil it—you might find it interesting during the tour! 😉

There was also an opportunity to smell the hops, the main ingredient of beer.

Walking past the historical ad posters of Sapporo beer, the tour finally reached the last stage.

Walking down to the beer tasting hall…

Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour Beer Tasting

Now for the fun part! Each participant gets to try two glasses of beer (the old-style beer and the modern style). I don’t drink, but there were several options for non-drinkers as well.

I chose the Sapporo Premium non-alcohol beer and corn tea.

We also got snacks—chips flavored with Soup Curry!

The above are the beers.

And these are the corn tea (cold) and non-alcohol beer. The corn tea was surprisingly very good.

But that wasn’t the end! The guide shared tips on how to drink Sapporo beer for the best experience, and we could follow her instructions. I was surprised to see the foam ratio was quite high.

The guide also asked for volunteers to drink the beer she poured, and people played rock-paper-scissors to pick a winner. The winner shared her feedback, and it’s a shame I couldn’t understand Japanese.

While the guide explained, I tried to take note of her instructions, but you can also find a mini pamphlet by the counter, so no worries!

Sapporo Beer Museum Shop

Once the tour is over, there is another museum shop inside the museum this time.

They had some interesting items, including Pringles in Scallop Butter Soy Sauce flavor. They also had the Soup Curry chips that we had during the beer tasting session!

Lastly, there’s a cute photo spot by the restroom, so don’t forget to stop by for a fun photo 😉

Is the Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour worth it?

For me, the Premium Tour was worth it because the guide, theater presentation and tasting turned a museum visit into a structured one-hour experience. The live narration was in Japanese, but the rented audio device let me follow most of the story. At the new ¥2,000 adult price—or ¥3,000 if you rent one English or Korean device—it is best for travelers genuinely interested in beer history. If your schedule is uncertain or you prefer to explore independently, the ¥1,000 self-guided visit is the better-value choice.