I recently learned about the Shimanami Kaido and would love to do it. I unfortunately learned too late to do it over this long weekend (everything I could find was booked, even the bikes) so I’m planning forward for a future weekend.
I’m NOT a big biker at all so my idea is to do the trip over two days – that way I can take my time and really enjoy the views. That means though that I’ll need to find a place to stay on the way. Ideally it’d be great if I could just find a place on the fly depending on how far I go, but with my luck everything would be booked. So I need to try to find some place near the midway point. Anyone have any recommendations? (I’d prefer cheap but if a place was really fantastic I’d be open to hear about it).
Also, to (hopefully) ease my mind could anyone tell me how hard it would be, if I got too tired or it got too late, to catch a bus on the intervening islands back to Onomichi. From what I’ve been able to find, the last bus (from Imabari) looks to be around 7:30 pm?
THANKS!
13 comments
Hi! I did this in July (I’m a resident)
For staying half way – Big recommends for Wakka on Omishima island. They also have a bike taxi, support if you get a puncture and they are genuinely such nice people. More on the bike taxi – you can pay them to take you and your bike to Imabari or onomichi if you want to finish.
More info: you can take your time, the route is fun and not too hard. The hills are steep for beginnings but you can take breaks, walk or even get an E-bike. Also buy cycle shorts with the padding and some bike gloves.
I did it this year. Stayed at Ikadane Hostel which is mid way and highly recommend. Really clean and big hostel with a restaurant. you can buy the bus ticket at imabari. It requires a transfer to get back to onomichi and some point mid way, and the bus is really infrequent so you may have to wait. I highly doubt you will be too late if you are doing it over 2 days; if you leave in the morning at like 8 or 9am; you will prob finish the half by 2pm…
I did it with my partner in one day but we were both very sore and tired after. The bikes we rented were okay but I would have preferred a well sorted mountain bike.
We nearly were caught out trying to catch the bus back from Onomichi. We were travelling with luggage and decided to just stay Imabari rather than have our luggage sent ahead to Onomichi which is apparently something you can do.
I would like to do it again with my own bike.
I went last March and stayed at [Ikoi No Ie](https://www.ikoinoie.co.jp/). It’s a really awesome old elementary school that was recently converted into a hotel/hostel/b&b. I highly recommend it! Food was delicious, owners were warm and friendly. It also has a free open air art installation you can visit on site, relaxing large communal bath with bay windows literally overlooking the ocean…man I wanna go back already!
edit: didn’t realize you asked for somewhere near the midway point. It’s on Omishima island which is midway but the location is tucked way off in the southwestern tip! Worth the time investment but if you’re just for somewhere inexpensive to crash overnight it might be a little too far off track.
editx2: So just a tip! i went with my 65 year old dad and he’s relatively healthy. We spread it over 3 days to give him ample rest time and he said it was just fine. Just remember that for every fun downhill cruise there’s a pretty rough uphill battle once you lose momentum 😂. Great workout though! Highly recommend splurging on a good bike rental. Do not get a cruiser or mamachari. Trust me. We saw some people absolutely struggling on the bridge inclines while others on Giants glided by.
Oh man, Shimanami Kaidō. One of the most beautiful bike routes I’ve ever done. Did this one about two years ago with my girlfriend and son (9 months old back then). We did the tour in two days as well.
We stayed at Nagisa on Ōmishima Island. Very basic Minshuku, with a family Onsen. Food was great. And of course, the hospitality outstanding.
And if you’re planning on staying in Imabari. We stayed with an elderly couple who rented a room through Airbnb. The name of the house is Joyatō, run by the Tokunaga family. They were the most generous people we had ever met. We were treated as family. Yes, we cried when we had to leave for Onomichi. Took the boat back, which was fun.
Might also be fun to take a trip to Matsuyama. Have fun!
I want to do this too! My one question is what do you do with luggage? How do you get it to the midpoint hotel and the final one on day 2
I did this last year August (Onomichi to Imabari) and I definitely recommend 2 days to take in all the little attractions of each island. Lemon Island, Ikuchijima was super nice! Try those lemon cakes!
It is a little off the cycling route but I stayed at the Ohana Guesthouse at Omishima Island. There wasn’t anyone so I had the entire place to myself. Real clean and comfortable interior, I think the prices are reasonable too. It is located near a small dock with wonderful views if you are into sea views, pretty surreal local place imo.
I managed to rent a white hybrid/mountain bike with a belt drive and it was honestly the best bike rental I ever had, smooth af. I even cycled up to Kirosan, YMMV though. Oh and remember to get your helmet, I forgot mine and did the entire thing without one… Do take some precautions and it should be relatively safe. Try to start early for better views/feels and avoid cycling in the dark. Prep a head lamp to be safer though, the provided bike lights are meant for indicating presence and are not spotlights. P.S going downhill from Kirosan in complete darkness is not fun.
I am somewhat of a cyclist (30-70km no issues) so I do not think it is particularly difficult (uphill climbs to bridges between islands are crushing though) but I would really suggest some training at home first to maximise your enjoyment. I deviated a lot from the blue-marked cycling routes to do my own exploration and was still fine, though I definitely felt tired by the end of those 2 days. Not sure how tough it would be if you just sticked to the main route, I think half leg is about 30-40km-ish.
Equipment wise, I did it with normal travel shorts, long sleeves and covered shoes. Weather was cool, generally overcast with little rain thankfully. I hope yours will be lucky too.
I stayed at Setoda Tarumi Onsen 4 years ago. They have a pretty nice onsen with a sunset view!
This isn’t as cheap as it’s a Ryokan and not a hostel, but Fujimien on Omishima was amazing. Onsen, dinner, and breakfast included. All the staff are super sweet.
Hey! I did this myself last year, and did a trip report on it [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/dkqo7s/shimanami_kaido/). Included a lot of links I used to plan for the trip, and there are also come comments there from others who did the trip themselves. Hope it helps you!
I did this with my boyfriend last August. We cycled from Imabari to Onomichi. The views were amazing! Neither of us are big cyclers but we split it across the 2 days and managed fine.
We stayed at the Setoda private hostel. It’s about half way and on the main route. Our room was overlooking the beach and the sunset was amazing (its called sunset beach for a good reason). The onsen also overlooks the beach and it was perfect for relaxing after day 1 of the cycle. It’s a family run hostel and both the staff and the food were lovely. I couldn’t recommend it more!!!
http://setodashimanami.web.fc2.com/eshimanami.html
Unfortunately I can’t help with the buses. We got a ferry from Hiroshima to Matsuyama. Then went from there to Imabari, did the cycle then travelled on to Osaka from Onimichi afterwards with a few overnights in between. We got our bags shipped from Hiroshima to Osaka. Super handy, they just picked them up from our hotel and dropped them off at the hostel we were staying at in Osaka.
Not a hostel recommendation but an often-overlooked shrine along this route: Oyamazumi shrine in Omishima. This shrine has the biggest collection of samurai weapons and armor in the country. And these are not pieces made for display – all of these saw battle in some form. Nicks on the blade from hitting steel, armor, or even bone. Corrosion on the blade surfaces that looks like dried blood. Holes in the chain mail due to arrows. All the fun stuff. The story is that warriors pray in the shrine before heading to battle and if they survive, they give the weapons and/or armor to the shrine as offerings of thanks to the gods.
They have various kinds of weapons – swords of all kinds, bows and arrows, spears, polearms – and armor, including a rare suit of armor made for a warrior princess (no seriously). There are also other artifacts from the feudal period such as bronze mirrors and statues. All in all it’s well worth the two or three hours you’d spend inside, and hanging out under the shade of the two thousands-year-old camphor trees makes for a good break from cycling.
Did it in 2 days, stayed at Guesthouse Yadokari. Lovely owners and awesome housemates, but it’s not quite in the middle of the route (it’s like… maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the way from Imabari to Onomichi).
If you’re not used to riding, I would definitely agree on others’ recommendations of bike shorts. Also, be prepared for disappointment if you end up with rain (that’s what we got).