Thanks to the community I have received so much info and advice here so I would like to give back with this little trip report on my recent trip to Japan and riding around the island of Shikoku.
* We had done a shorter trip to Japan last year. We rode from Osaka to Kyoto, around Lake Biwa, and then on the Shimanami Kaaido through to the Tobishima Kaido and ending in Kure.
* We loved the ride on the Shimanami and Tobishima Kaido so much that we decided to go back this year to ride it again so we started from the cute little town of Onomichi.
* We flew into Tokyo and took the Shinkansen to Onomichi and then back from Matsuyama. You can book the Shinkansen a month out and you can search for the seats at the back of each carriage that has space for extra space.
* Bikes are allowed on trains in Japan as long as they are completely bagged up. Bike bags in Japan are called rinko bags and you can find them at all bike shops or outdoor equipment retailers like Mont-Bell.
* Even with the extra storage that a reserved rear seat provides in each carriage, it was a challenge to fit our bagged up folding bikes. It would be an even tighter squeeze with full sized bikes.
* We decided to bring our folding bikes again since it is much more convenient for the trains and also for taking them into hotel rooms as some hotels only allow bikes in the room if they are folded and bagged up.
* Our stops were Onomichi > Imabari > Kanonji > Takamatsu > Tokushima > Shishikui > Kochi > Shimanto > Nakamura > Sukomo > Uwajima > Matsuyama
* The route around the whole island of Shikoku is around 1,100km but due to Super Typhoon Leon we had to skip 1.5 days of our planned route by taking some local trains
* We averaged around 100km a day and stayed at comfortable business hotels each night. The average cost for hotels was about CAD 78.00/night and most of them included breakfasts.
* The highlights were:
* Onomichi to Imabari on the Shimanami Kaido, Japan’s most beautiful bike route.1 little ferry ride, 6 islands, 6 stunning bridges, sea salt and milk ice cream, and lemon groves everywhere.
* The two climbs near the Naruto Whirlpools close to Tokushima afforded the most amazing views. The bridges that you cross at the top of the climbs were amazing to ride over.
* The coastal road down to Cape Murato was smooth, quiet, and super scenic. Cape Muroto was beautiful and otherworldly.
* The ride along the Shimanto River from Shimanto to Nakamura was memorable since it was slightly downhill had great views all day.
* Ashizuri Sunny Road and the Ashizuri Underwater Aquarium at the south western tip of Shikoku.
* Coastal road (Route 378) heading to Matsuyama did have lots of traffic but there is a wide shoulder and you get have stellar views all along the route.
* Rural Japan is beautiful and the people are so friendly. We had lots of lovely little interactions with the people on Shikoku and the foods was amazing.
* The not so nice bits:
* Tunnels ! There were so many tunnels on this route. The most we had to ride through was 16 of them in one day. Most of them have raised sidewalks that you can safely ride on. Some of those sidewalks were very narrow so we would choose to ride on the road instead. For the most part, it wasn’t too bad but there were a few that we were genuinely scared to ride through because they didn’t have much of a shoulder and lots of big trucks would rumble loudly and closely beside us. Even if there are sidewalks, some of the tunnels were over 2km long and if it is uphill and there is lots of traffic, the exhaust made breathing a bit difficult.
* Traffic. Almost all of this route was on regular roads so there is quite a bit of traffic, so it made it a little less enjoyable but this is balanced out with long stretches of very quiet roads. The northern parts of the island were significantly busier and as a result, we preferred the riding in the south. From Shishikui to Uwajima, traffic was pretty low. If you are not comfortable riding on the road with lots of traffic, I would skip the northern bits and ride south.
* Japan is amazing for bicycle touring. It is super safe, it’s very hard to have a bad meal anywhere there, there are convenience stores with delicious snacks and meals everywhere (even on the more rural stretches on Shikoku), and almost all of the drivers are courteous towards cyclists on the road.
teanzg on
I love Japan and cant wait to ge there with a bike one day!
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Thanks to the community I have received so much info and advice here so I would like to give back with this little trip report on my recent trip to Japan and riding around the island of Shikoku.
* We had done a shorter trip to Japan last year. We rode from Osaka to Kyoto, around Lake Biwa, and then on the Shimanami Kaaido through to the Tobishima Kaido and ending in Kure.
* We loved the ride on the Shimanami and Tobishima Kaido so much that we decided to go back this year to ride it again so we started from the cute little town of Onomichi.
* We flew into Tokyo and took the Shinkansen to Onomichi and then back from Matsuyama. You can book the Shinkansen a month out and you can search for the seats at the back of each carriage that has space for extra space.
* Bikes are allowed on trains in Japan as long as they are completely bagged up. Bike bags in Japan are called rinko bags and you can find them at all bike shops or outdoor equipment retailers like Mont-Bell.
* Even with the extra storage that a reserved rear seat provides in each carriage, it was a challenge to fit our bagged up folding bikes. It would be an even tighter squeeze with full sized bikes.
* We decided to bring our folding bikes again since it is much more convenient for the trains and also for taking them into hotel rooms as some hotels only allow bikes in the room if they are folded and bagged up.
* Our stops were Onomichi > Imabari > Kanonji > Takamatsu > Tokushima > Shishikui > Kochi > Shimanto > Nakamura > Sukomo > Uwajima > Matsuyama
* The route around the whole island of Shikoku is around 1,100km but due to Super Typhoon Leon we had to skip 1.5 days of our planned route by taking some local trains
* We averaged around 100km a day and stayed at comfortable business hotels each night. The average cost for hotels was about CAD 78.00/night and most of them included breakfasts.
* The highlights were:
* Onomichi to Imabari on the Shimanami Kaido, Japan’s most beautiful bike route.1 little ferry ride, 6 islands, 6 stunning bridges, sea salt and milk ice cream, and lemon groves everywhere.
* The two climbs near the Naruto Whirlpools close to Tokushima afforded the most amazing views. The bridges that you cross at the top of the climbs were amazing to ride over.
* The coastal road down to Cape Murato was smooth, quiet, and super scenic. Cape Muroto was beautiful and otherworldly.
* The ride along the Shimanto River from Shimanto to Nakamura was memorable since it was slightly downhill had great views all day.
* Ashizuri Sunny Road and the Ashizuri Underwater Aquarium at the south western tip of Shikoku.
* Coastal road (Route 378) heading to Matsuyama did have lots of traffic but there is a wide shoulder and you get have stellar views all along the route.
* Rural Japan is beautiful and the people are so friendly. We had lots of lovely little interactions with the people on Shikoku and the foods was amazing.
* The not so nice bits:
* Tunnels ! There were so many tunnels on this route. The most we had to ride through was 16 of them in one day. Most of them have raised sidewalks that you can safely ride on. Some of those sidewalks were very narrow so we would choose to ride on the road instead. For the most part, it wasn’t too bad but there were a few that we were genuinely scared to ride through because they didn’t have much of a shoulder and lots of big trucks would rumble loudly and closely beside us. Even if there are sidewalks, some of the tunnels were over 2km long and if it is uphill and there is lots of traffic, the exhaust made breathing a bit difficult.
* Traffic. Almost all of this route was on regular roads so there is quite a bit of traffic, so it made it a little less enjoyable but this is balanced out with long stretches of very quiet roads. The northern parts of the island were significantly busier and as a result, we preferred the riding in the south. From Shishikui to Uwajima, traffic was pretty low. If you are not comfortable riding on the road with lots of traffic, I would skip the northern bits and ride south.
* Japan is amazing for bicycle touring. It is super safe, it’s very hard to have a bad meal anywhere there, there are convenience stores with delicious snacks and meals everywhere (even on the more rural stretches on Shikoku), and almost all of the drivers are courteous towards cyclists on the road.
I love Japan and cant wait to ge there with a bike one day!