We’re delighted that our self-guided Shimanami Kaidō tour was recently featured in the Australian Financial Review’s Life & Leisure travel section, in a piece by Andrew Cornell exploring why Japan has become one of the world’s great cycling destinations.
Cornell rode our Cycle the Shimanami Kaidō route with his wife Sally in October, taking the self-guided three-day journey from Onomichi to Imabari. The article captures much of what we try to build into every trip — unhurried days, good food, and the kind of small encounters that only happen when you’re moving slowly through a place.
One of the highlights from the piece was a detour around Oshima Island to Yoshiumi Rose Park, where the AFR described stumbling on “an eccentric group of shops near the park entrance” and being welcomed in for fish cakes and rice balls by a local cafe owner whose father wanted to know all about Australia. Love those moments of serendipity!
The article also captured the contrast with how the route has changed over the years. Cornell, who first cycled the Kaidō more than two decades ago, noted that the route is now well served by bike rental shops, packaged group tours, and self-guided trips with luggage transport — a far cry from the days when little English was spoken at the inns along the way.
What struck us most was this observation about rural Japan more broadly: even as the Shimanami Kaidō has become busier, the rural areas largely remain untouched by the kind of tourism that overwhelms Japan’s better-known destinations. That’s exactly the experience we set out to offer — roads that feel like they’re yours, traditional accommodation, and a pace of life that’s increasingly rare to find.
If you’d like to experience the route for yourself, you can find full details — including pricing, itinerary, and what’s included — on our Shimanami Kaidō tour page. We also offer a range of other self-guided and group cycling tours across Shikoku and the Seto Inland Sea.
Read the full article: Why Japan is one of the world’s great cycling destinations — Andrew Cornell, Australian Financial Review
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