Bike Tours & Cycling Holidays in Japan

The Shimanami Kaido Bike Tour. Its riding days are short, and a separate path for bikes runs the length of the island chain, so most riders who manage a few hours on a bike at home are fine.

Add the Tobishima Kaido for quieter islands and two more nights by the sea. The Kyoto to Wakayama and Shikoku tours ask more: one climbs 21 km to Kōyasan, the other has a long coast day with steep ramps. Each tour page lists every day's distance and climbing.

No. The route is in our app, so you never need to ask the way, and a translation app on your phone reads a menu or a sign. Three words go a long way: sumimasen (excuse me), arigatō (thank you) and onegaishimasu (please).

Three things catch European riders out:

1. Japan is 8 hours ahead of Central Europe in winter and 7 in summer, so make the first day an easy one.

2. Family-run inns and village shops may want cash. The cash machines in 7-Eleven stores take foreign cards.

3. Visitors must carry their passport, the book itself and not a copy, under Japan's immigration law.

Not for a holiday on a UK, US or Australian passport, or most European ones: stays of up to 90 days need no application. Other passports differ, so check the visa exemption list of Japan's foreign ministry.

Yes, or ride one of ours. Box it for the flight. JR trains carry a bike only taken apart and packed in a rinko bag, so most riders send the box ahead and start riding at the hotel.

A throttle turns an e-bike into a motor vehicle under Japanese law, needing a licence and number plates, so bring pedal-assist only, and check the battery rules with your airline.

From crime, very: JNTO counts it among the safest countries anywhere, and a locked bike outside a shop is almost always still there when you come out. The care goes into the road.

Switch on a rear light before a tunnel, not inside it, and keep to the left edge. Bears live mostly in the north, and the islands have none. The Kii mountains on the Kyoto route hold a small group, so ring a bell on forest roads at dusk, as Wakayama Prefecture advises.

As early as your dates allow. Blossom and autumn-colour weeks fill first, along with Japan's own holidays: Golden Week in early May and Obon in mid-August.

Some island inns have only a few rooms, so the sooner your dates reach us, the wider the choice.

Yes. Every tour starts and ends at a railway station, so city nights slot in at either end and the shinkansen joins one route to the next. Tell our agents your dates and cities, and they book it as one trip.