I really like cycling. At home I have a one-speed bike that I use to commute everywhere I go and it saves me a lot of money but also gets me to where I want really faster than the transportation could ever be. Not to mention the physical benefits of exercise and staying in shape.
I’m used to biking in cold weather we well, but not extreme ones when snow is falling late December and early January. Around these times I just start using public transportation again.
I’ll be staying in Tokyo for a week and a half and I was thinking maybe I can rent a bike to go around the city. I believe it’d be the fastest way to explore the city and see as much as I could in such a short amount of time, and it will save me money I’d otherwise spend on transportation.
What do you guys think?
8 comments
I do not recommend using bike as a primary mean of transportation, because of three factors:
* the fairly significant distances involved;
* the need to research available parking in the destination area, because it’s illegal to park a bike and the illegally parked bikes are towed away (to the tune of hundreds thousands a year);
* the need to find overnight parking at your accommodation – many hotels do not have any parking spots at all.
Note that the rental fees are also going to be significantly higher than typical per day transport costs in Tokyo.
Wild parking is not permitted anywhere close to train/subway stations, nor most other busy/interesting places. So you’ll need to find and pay for proper bicycle parking.
And yes, it’s enforced.
If that works for you, sure, go ahead. Public transport will definitely be faster as soon as you go further than 1 station, and the distance between e.g. Shibuya and Asakusa is fairly long so that’s not doable for everyone.
But all that aside, sure, it’s great. I used to do Nakano – Okubo regularly for half a year and it was awesome. Got fitter, got fresh air twice a day, and saved money.
Not sure how much money you’ll save. You usually have to pay for parking. But I have no idea how much that is.
Bad idea. Also, coming from Berlin, I dont find Tokyo cycle friendly
I enjoy cycling in rural Japan, but not in Tokyo. Too many traffic lights, too many cars parked on the left side of the road, barely any cycling lanes.
For my second trip me and my partner biked for our last week, didn’t use the subway at all except to get back to the airport. It was really fun! Depending on our destination it was 1 to 3 hours one-way each day. We really enjoyed the sight seeing, even though it was exhausting. If you wanna bike I say go for it. I didn’t find Tokyo non-bike friendly at all personally.
As a tourist I think it’s dangerous for you to travel on a bike in Tokyo. Roads are narrow in Tokyo and assuming you are not familiar with the place and keep checking your phones for direction it might be a hazard to others. I suggest you stick to public transportation.
I did a bike tour in Tokyo with Magical Trip and it was one of the most fun experiences I had there. Started in Kuramae (south of Asakusa) and spent 5 hours going up to Asakusa, across the river to a shrine, then over to Yanaka Ginza for udon. It was excellent for the reason you said: it takes you off the regular path. We weren’t limited to the areas around train stations. We rode between major stops and got to see little shops and places that normally I’d skip over while on the train. It also meant we could see places that were a long walk away more easily, or things that would have taken an hour to do on foot like Yanaka cemetery + Yanaka Ginza. Having the guide there helped because we just followed him and didn’t have to worry about navigation while also on a bike. Plus we got to ride in the street for a lot of the trip which was really neat.
I think it would be difficult logistically to do the whole trip on bike for reasons people already said, and I know I’d also get sick of having to put in work to get back to my hotel vs just going down stairs to ride the train for 20 minutes. It was always nice to be able to relax on the way to/from my destination which saves me energy and focus for doing the thing I went there to do.