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The Shimanami Kaido cycleway curling above the Seto Inland Sea
Japan by bicycle · routes ridden, tours reviewed

Japan is best at 20 km/h.

The Shimanami Kaido’s sea bridges, Kyoto backstreets at dawn, a 200 km lake loop, the old Tokaido highway. Route guides written from the saddle, plus the guided rides worth your yen.

Start with the best rides Browse by city →
The shortlist

Seven rides that earn the jet lag.

First trip or fifth, start here: a guided spin through north Kyoto with a farmhouse lunch, Tokyo backstreets before the traffic wakes up, an e-bike so the hills stay friendly. Book the ride, then build the day around it.

Everything we’ve reviewed →
The ride most people book first

Bike Tour Exploring North Kyoto plus Lunch

Cycle North Kyoto with a small group, visit temples and shrines, explore Gion, and enjoy a Japanese lunch on this active half-day tour.

From $106 per person

Read the review →
★ 5.0Safe betTokyo Great Cycling TourFrom $99811 reviews ★ 5.0Sells out in seasonTokyo Top Highlights 3h Guided E-bike TourFrom $63714 reviews ★ 5.0Crowd favourite3h Tokyo E-Bike Tour: Hidden Gems, and Local Life with guideFrom $63670 reviews ★ 5.0Easy pedallingArashiyama Bamboo Forest & Hidden Gems Bike Tour (Early Bird)From $106613 reviews ★ 5.0Local favouriteHiroshima in a Nutshell: Morning Bike AdventureFrom $72524 reviews ★ 5.0Worth every yen5 Top Highlights of Kyoto Full Day Bike Tour (E-bike option)From $172511 reviews
The classic city

Kyoto was built for handlebars.

Flat, gridded and temple-dense, the old capital rewards two wheels like nowhere else in the country. The Kamo River path runs the whole length of the city, the bamboo grove opens early, and a farmhouse lunch waits in the northern hills. These three earn their places.

01E-Bike Tours of the highlights of Kyoto!!!★★★★★★★★★★291 reviews · from $109→ 02Afternoon Kyoto Bike Tour: Bamboo Forest, Monkeys & Hidden Spots★★★★★★★★★★283 reviews · from $106→ 03South Kyoto in a Nutshell: Gentle Backstreet Bike Tour!★★★★★★★★★★225 reviews · from $79→
Compare the Kyoto rides →
The planning question

Where should your first ride happen?

Each city rides differently, and the first day on a bike sets the trip’s rhythm. Three honest ways in; every option behind them is priced and timed.

Temples & backstreets Kyoto from $106 Flat lanes, a river path the length of the city, and more World Heritage stops per kilometre than anywhere in Japan. Most guided loops stay under 20 km at a cafe pace, so jet lag is no excuse. See Kyoto rides → The megacity, quietly Tokyo from $99 Tokyo by bike is a magic trick: the guide threads shrine lanes and shitamachi alleys between the towers, and the city goes quiet ten metres off any main road. Three hours covers what two subway days can’t. See Tokyo rides → Castle & kitchens Osaka from $87 Osaka rides run shorter, hungrier and louder. Castle grounds, riverside paths, then straight into the street-food wards while the takoyaki is still too hot to eat. Pick this one if lunch matters as much as the ride. See Osaka rides →

Compare every city ride →

After dark

The city rides differently at night.

Kyoto’s lanterns come on, Tokyo Tower glows over Roppongi, and the traffic that owned the streets all day goes home. Night rides run slow, stop often and end at food. Bring a layer; the river paths cool fast.

01Discover Kyoto at Night by Bike★★★★★★★★★★45 reviews · from $80→ 02Tokyo Night Bike Tour: From Shibuya to Tokyo Tower via Roppongi★★★★★★★★★★29 reviews · from $56→ 032-Hour Night Bike Tour of the City’s Hidden Gems★★★★★★★★★★25 reviews · from $73→ 042-Hour Night E-Bike Tour of the City’s Hidden Gems★★★★★★★★★★17 reviews · from $147→
See the night rides →
The Arashiyama morning

Beat the bamboo crowds.

The grove is a different place at eight in the morning, and a bike is the only way to fit the bamboo, the monkey park and the river in one loop before the tour buses arrive.

All bamboo rides →
★ 5.0Kyoto: Arashiyama Bamboo Forest Morning Tour by BikeFrom $103115 reviews ★ 4.9Kyoto: Afternoon Bamboo Forest and Monkey Park Bike TourFrom $10683 reviews ★ 5.0Kyoto Bamboo Forest & Golden Pavilion E-Bike TourFrom $9950 reviews
Pedal, then eat

Rides that end in lunch.

Osaka foodie loops, farmhouse soba north of Kyoto, market stops written into the route. The kilometres justify the second helping; the guides know exactly where to stop.

All food rides →
★ 5.0Eat, Drink & Cycle: Osaka Foodie Bike TourFrom $99224 reviews ★ 5.0Tokyo West-Side Cycling & Food TourFrom $99214 reviews ★ 4.85-Hour Osaka Highlights Bike Tour with LunchFrom $85146 reviews
Old roads

Every temple has a bike rack.

Fushimi Inari before the crowds, Nara’s deer park and Todaiji by e-bike, the Philosopher’s Path at rolling pace. Japan’s heritage sits closer together than the train map admits, and a saddle stitches it into one day.

01E-Bike Nara Highlights – Todaiji, Knives, Deer, Shrine★★★★★★★★★★186 reviews · from $90→ 02Kyoto: Fushimi Inari Shrine and Tofukuji Temple E-Bike Tour★★★★★★★★★★75 reviews · from $83→ 03Naha: Guided E-Bike Tour of the 12 Zodiac Temples★★★★★★★★★★50 reviews · from $95→
Ride the heritage routes →
Where to ride

Pick a city, clip in.

Kyoto for temples and river paths, Tokyo for backstreets, Hiroshima for the coast road, Nara for deer-dodging. Every tile leads to rides already reviewed and priced.

Kyoto28 tours Tokyo24 tours Osaka11 tours Hiroshima9 tours Nara6 tours Kanazawa2 tours Okinawa3 tours
How to ride it

Twelve kinds of day in the saddle.

E-bikes for the hills, night loops for the lanterns, mountain trails outside Sapporo. Choose the shape of the day; the options behind each tile are priced and timed.

E-Bike41 tours Bamboo Forest6 tours Night Rides5 tours Temples & Shrines7 tours Mountain3 tours Food Rides3 tours Backstreets20 tours With Lunch8 tours Hokkaido2 tours Private8 tours Guided21 tours
From the saddle

The route guides.

Self-supported classics ridden and written up in full: ferry times, bike hire, konbini gaps, where the climbs actually bite. Read before you commit a whole day to one road.

All route guides →
RoutesTsukuba Kasumigaura Ring Ring: Japan’s 180km lake loop you’ve never heard ofTake the JR Joban Line out of Tokyo Station, change at Tsuchiura, and you can be on the Ring Ring…23 min read RoutesSazanami Kaido: cycling Hiroshima’s coastal road east of KureForty kilometres in, the road bends inland near Aki-Tsu and the noise drops off all at once. The articulated lorries…19 min read RoutesKibi-no-michi: 17km of cycling through Okayama’s ancient capitalThe mistake people make on Kibi-no-michi is starting at Okayama Station. The bike-rental desk is hard to walk past, the…26 min read RoutesKeinawa Cycling Road: Kyoto to Wakayama by bikeAt first light the Togetsukyo Bridge in Arashiyama is empty enough to ride down the middle of. The painted blue…25 min read RoutesTokaido cycling: Tokyo to Kyoto by bikeSixty-six thousand five hundred yen. That's what one careful Japanese cyclist spent riding from Kyoto to Tokyo over seven days…25 min read RoutesFurano and Biei: cycling Hokkaido’s panorama roadThe official Furano-Biei cycling network is 256 kilometres long. It runs through six towns, every kilometre is numbered in paint…22 min read
If you only pack three ride days

Three days, three gears.

A gentle spin, a guided city thread, then the big one. This is the order we’d ride them in, with recovery udon in between.

Day 1 Spin up in Kyoto Backstreets, bamboo and the Kamo River path at conversation pace. Legs moving, camera full, and nothing over 25 km. Pick the Kyoto ride → Day 2 Thread Tokyo An e-bike morning through shrine lanes and shitamachi markets. The distances are honest; the hills aren’t, so let the motor help. Pick the Tokyo ride → Day 3 Cross the Shimanami The big one: 70 km of sea bridges and island roads between Onomichi and Imabari. Book the bike ahead, start early, take the detours. Read the route guide →
105guided rides reviewed & priced
10routes ridden and written up
8cities with wheels waiting
Fresh tarmac

New on the site.

Everything we’ve reviewed →
★ 5.0Tokyo Night E-Bike Tour with Tokyo Tower and Dolphin ShowFrom $10415 reviews ★ 5.0Half day Osaka Bay Area Cycling with E-Assist Bicycle TourFrom $7815 reviews ★ 5.0Start from Kyoto Station: Early Morning E-Bike Tour with KyotoiteFrom $8415 reviews ★ 5.0Lake Kawaguchi Explorer: E-Bike Guided TourFrom $8415 reviews ★ 5.0eTour de Matsumoto – Electric Bike TourFrom $8816 reviews ★ 5.0Nopporo Forest Mountain Bike Tour from Sapporo, presenting a retro Cycle capFrom $5216 reviews ★ 4.5Okunoshima Rabbit Island Cycling Tour with Local GuideFrom $5917 reviews ★ 5.0Private E-MTB guided cycling around Mt. Aso volcano & grasslandsFrom $20316 reviews