Japan
Shimanami Kaido
Six islands strung across the Inland Sea on a bicycle lane suspended over blue.
The bridges soar. Seven of them link six islands across Japan's Seto Inland Sea, and a dedicated cycle route runs the full seventy kilometres from Onomichi to Imabari. The Shimanami Kaidō is not a road with a cycling path attached — the bridge ramps were built at gentle gradients with cyclists in mind, and the route stays separate from the traffic on the toll road above.
The route crosses Mukaishima, Innoshima, Ikuchijima, Ōmishima, Hakatajima and Ōshima, each different in character — citrus terraces, fishing villages, hilltop temples, beaches reached by a detour from the main line. The bridges opened in 1999, and CNN has named the ride one of the seven best cycle routes in the world. Ten rental terminals along the way let you drop a bike at a different point from where you took it, a same-day luggage service moves bags between Onomichi and Imabari, and ferries shorten or extend the day. Ikuchijima's Setoda district is where lemon growing in Japan began, and lemon turns up in soda, cake, sushi and salt-pickled peel.
Solo
Seventy kilometres across an inland sea, stopping wherever the view demands — the Shimanami Kaidō is freedom condensed into a handlebar.
Couple
Tandems are available, and the island stops — a temple here, a beach there, lemon ice cream at the next — build a shared journey with its own rhythm.
Friends
Group rides with island detours, beachside lunches, and the collective satisfaction of crossing the last bridge make this one of Japan's best group days.
- A seventy-kilometre cycle route across six islands, carried over the Inland Sea on seven bridges.
- The bridge ramps were built at gentle gradients for cyclists, and the route runs apart from the road traffic — CNN counts it among the world's seven best rides.
- Ten rental terminals let you pick up a bike at one end and drop it at another, with bags forwarded between Onomichi and Imabari.
- Island stops offer citrus terraces, fishing villages and hilltop temples, and Ikuchijima's Setoda is where Japan first grew lemons.
Setoda lemon everything — soda, cake, lemon-leaf sushi, salt-pickled peel — at the island stops.
Red sea bream from the Inland Sea, filleted on Ōmishima minutes after the net comes up.
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