Wave from the cycle path on the Kurushima-Kaikyō Bridge
Park the bikes in view of the Ikuchi Bridge
Look across the mandarin groves to the Tatara Bridge
Look along the Kurushima-Kaikyō Bridge to the islands
Loop up the spiral ramp to the Kurushima-Kaikyō Bridge
Meet one of Onomichi's street cats
See the Tatara Bridge in autumn colours
Wander the red halls of Kōsan-ji
Visit the Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture on Ōmishima
Look along Ōmishima's coast to the Tatara Bridge
Try Onomichi ramen under a heap of spring onion
Pedal a seaside lane on the Shimanami Kaido
Ride under a bridge with the family
Rest the bike with the Tatara Bridge behind
Follow the green cycle lane along the sea
Walk Setoda Sunset Beach on Ikuchijima
Ride under cherry blossom on the Shimanami Kaido
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🌱 Beginner friendly

Shimanami Kaido Bike Tour

5 days / 4 nights

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A self-guided Shimanami Kaido bike tour over six island bridges, Onomichi to Shikoku, in short riding days with your bags sent on ahead.

Starting Point

Onomichi

Finish Point

Imabari

Fitness Level

2/5

Season

From January to December

Bike Type

Trekking Bike / E-Bike

Accommodation Level

Comfort

Daily Distance

17 – 32 mi

Daily Elevation

394 – 2001 ft

Highlights

  • 4 km over the Kurushima Strait on the world's first triple suspension bridge
  • Kōsan-ji, built by an industrialist for his late mother, and its hill of Carrara marble
  • Ride inside the Innoshima Bridge, under the cars
  • On Ōmishima, a shrine holding about 80% of Japan's listed historic arms and armour
  • From Hiroshima into Ehime on the Tatara Bridge, past a border sign
  • Lemon groves above Setoda, in the prefecture that grows 48% of Japan's lemons
PricePrice on request
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What’s included in the price?

Accommodation levelComfort

Carefully selected town hotels and a ryokan, all with private en-suite rooms and breakfast included. Expect comfortable, well-appointed rooms with attentive hospitality, typically in convenient and scenic locations — some properties also offer on-site dining.

These are examples of the type and standard you can expect. Actual properties may vary depending on availability.

The Shimanami Kaido can be ridden in a day, and many riders do just that. They hire a bike in Onomichi, hand it back in Imabari about 70 km later and remember mostly the bridges. This tour takes two days over the same road, with a night on Ōmishima, and adds a third on Ōshima, so the islands get the time the bridges usually take.

The riding is easy, and the longest day is 44 km. A blue line painted on the road shows the way across every island, and each bridge has a lane for bikes. The ramps up to the bridges climb at about 3% for half a kilometre to a kilometre and a half, and the descents off them are steep. Choose an e-bike if a headwind on a 4 km bridge sounds like hard work.

Your bag goes ahead to Ōmishima and on to Imabari, one per person, while you ride with a day bag. The first night is in a converted 1943 warehouse on Onomichi's waterfront, the second in a ryokan beside Ōyamazumi Shrine, the last two in a city hotel with a hot-spring bath.

Three bridge routes link Honshū and Shikoku, and only the Shimanami Kaido has a path for bikes. Its last two bridges, the Tatara and the Kurushima-Kaikyō, opened on 1 May 1999, 24 years after work began on the first.

Two longer tours start the same way. The Shimanami and Tobishima Bike Tour adds a second island chain to the west, and the Shimanami to Shikoku Bike Tour rides on from Imabari into Shikoku. For the route itself, bridge by bridge, read our Shimanami Kaido guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Activity level 2 of 5, easy, on our activity levels. The two island days are 44 km each, with about 300 m of climbing, most of it on the ramps up to the bridges. If you ride 30 km at a weekend without trouble, you will manage. The one steep road, up Kirōsan on day 4, is optional.

Yes. The riding is easy, so there is no fixed minimum age: children are welcome if they can ride 44 km in a day on their own bike. Send us their ages and heights, and we'll check bikes in their size.

No. The ferry from Onomichi to Mukaishima is in the price, and the bridges are free for bikes until 31 March 2028, when the current toll waiver ends.

In Onomichi on the day you arrive, and in Imabari on the last morning; the guidebook gives both addresses. Bringing your own bike? Tell us when you book. The hotels in Onomichi and Imabari let bikes into the room.

Our tours come with breakfast as standard. For everything else, the restaurants, cafés, grocery and convenience stores along the way are marked in the detailed guidebook we send you before you set off.

On this tour dinner on Ōmishima is included too, served at the ryokan. In Onomichi and Imabari, you pick your own restaurant.

By train, and by bus if you head back to Honshū:

  • From Osaka: the shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Fukuyama, about 65 minutes, then 20 minutes on a local train

  • From Hiroshima: 23 minutes to Fukuyama, then the same local train

  • Imabari to Matsuyama: about 35 minutes by limited express

  • To Matsuyama airport: about 80 minutes by limousine bus

  • To Fukuyama: about 1 hour 25 minutes on the Shimanami Liner bus

Flying into Hiroshima instead? Its airport is about an hour from Onomichi by airport bus and local train.

Any month: the bridges, rental bikes and hotels stay open all year. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable. January highs average about 10 °C at Matsuyama, the nearest weather station, so winter is cool, quiet and clear. The rainy season averages 6 June to 19 July, and August highs reach 33 °C, so ride early in summer. Book ahead for cherry blossom and Golden Week, from late April into early May, when the island inns fill first.

Yes, in Onomichi before the start or in Imabari after the finish. Send us your dates.

Hassle-Free

We handle itineraries, accommodations, and anything else you prefer not to deal with, so you can enjoy a carefree holiday.

Tried & Tested Adventures

Our cycling routes are hand-picked & tested, to ensure breathtaking landscapes, smooth roads, and maximum safety - giving you the perfect ride every day.

Support in Japan

Call the number in your guidebook for a missed train, a room that is not what you booked, or a change of plan.

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Price on request