Here’s our trip report for our cycling trip on Awaji Island. Apologies if the formatting is wonky, trying to make it look a bit easier on the eyes using some online tips but no idea how it will come out.
**How we travelled**
We came in from Osaka and took a train to Sannomiya. There we transferred to the express bus taking us to Higashirua Bus Terminal on Awaji. The trip costs us around ¥1650 per person.
**Where we stayed**
Our hotel was the Fairfield by Marriott Hyogo Awaji Higashirua and we paid ¥18.000 per night. This is the most expensive hotel we stayed in during our stay and I think we got lucky scoring a lower rate as they were just opening when we booked. The hotel was great, king bed, big room, communal area below with free coffee and tea, toaster and microwave. I’m sure there are other great accommodations on the island but for us, not having a car and public transport on the island being limited, the proximity to both the bus terminal and the bike rental we used was a big plus. There’s a few restaurants around and a big supermarket where we got most of our foods as we were too tired after cycling to go out to eat.
**Where we rented**
We got our bicycles from Bicycle Hub Awaji. A roadbike with helmet costs ¥5.000 per day and you can also rent for half days. They have other bike types as well. Prices around the island seem to be the same so you can rent where it is most convenient for you but I would certainly recommend this place. The bikes were in great condition, very well maintained and adjusted for us before we left. They also speak some English so communicating was doable.
I will admit I have no experience with road bikes myself so I have no reference point on the quality of the bike, but my boyfriend has and he was really happy with what we were provided with.
**Where we ate**
As I mentioned we mostly stuck to supermarket snacks for the evening but we did have a few things along the way.
– Kuruma28: nice stop with some sandwiches and burgers and good sea view. Homemade lemon squash was really refreshing.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ThMk2n6Xy9AdA26M8
– Clover: cake shop with a nice selection, made for a good dessert after our ramen
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bf2cFzcEH2jJxY3t8
– Boulangerie Fleur: awesome bakery where we had breakfast. As is common in Japan you take a tray and prongs and you fill it with all you want. Loved the tomato-cheese pastry so much I went in for seconds.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/DNDpecYveNyJJ1Up6
**Cycling report**
Awaji presents itself as a cycling paradise and doing the 150km roundtrip of the island is probably what most cyclists come to do. The northern part is quite flat but on the south there (supposedly) are some more challenging climbs. As we are not avid cyclists and it was my first time on a road bike we did not go for this loop but chose the more manageable Izanagi course which is shorter and mostly flat (https://www.awajishima-kanko.jp/cycling/en/modelcourse_3.html). I would recommend this one for beginners. There’s plenty of coffee shops (and I mean PLENTY) you can stop at, we passed by a few foodfair-like places, restaurants, supermarkets so no need to bring anything along except for some water. You also pass by some of the Hello Kitty-attractions on this route (as well as on the 150km loop) so if that is your thing you can stop there too. All in all it was a really nice way to spend the day.
But, and this is a major but, for all its boasting about being a cycling paradise I did feel the cycling infrastructure on the island was severely lacking. This may be due to my inexperience with road cycling, and it might be my expectations being entirely naive, but I wanted to highlight it anyway. For the most part of the route we took (and as it is one third of the full island loop I am going to assume this counts for it all) you are cycling along the highway which means you are sharing the road with cars, busses and trucks. Now these drivers are quite accustomed to having cyclists on the road and there’s no high speed driving allowed anyway but there’s still times when they whizz pased you at very close range. I fully understand that there may be stretches where this is unavoidable, but for a destination touting itself as a cycling paradise I expected at minimum to have separate cycling lanes where you can just enjoy the ride and views rather than constantly having to focus on traffic. In my mind I imagined this trip being a leisurely ride next to my boyfriend, but in practice we barely got the chance to ride together. In full transparancy there are parts where separate lanes are available and cyclists and pedestrians share the boardwalk but these were usually either short and then you had to get back on the road and then 100m further back on a boardwalk or the quality of the asphalt was just subpar, with a lot of bouncing around as for every driveway or sidestreet the boardwalk has to be interrupted. So all in all we barely saw anyone use those.
All of this (and my very sore body) is why on the second day we decided not to follow any of the courses, but just make our way through villages along the seaside, doing some sightseeing and relaxing, which was a great way to spend the day.
The above is not to imply that you should not go cycling on Awaji, despite my comments I genuinly enjoyed our time there, but this way you can go in with the right expectations from the start, making sure the trip is worth it for you.
Happy to answer any questions, and you can find some pictures of our trip on my Instagram (https://instagram.com/scratchingtheworld?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==).
