Shimanami Kaido & Imabari

The Shimanami Kaido is an expressway that strides across six islands of the Seto Inland Sea between Imabari in Ehime and Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture. What makes it famous is the cycle path that shadows it: a blue line painted on the road leads riders over every bridge on dedicated lanes, with rental terminals, rest stops and ferry bail-outs all along the way. Three of the islands — Oshima, Hakata and Omishima — belong to Ehime.

Imabari, the Shikoku gateway, is a working port city known across Japan for towels and shipbuilding. It has a handsome seawater-moated castle, a distinctive food culture and the route’s most spectacular structure on its doorstep: the four-kilometre Kurushima-Kaikyo Bridge. You can ride the whole way in a day, split it over two with a night on an island, or simply cycle out over the first bridge and back.

Shimanami Kaido & Imabari highlights

• Pedal across the Kurushima-Kaikyo Bridge, three linked suspension bridges high above one of Japan’s fiercest tidal straits.
• Watch the sun set over the bridge and islands from Kengo Kuma’s Kirosan Observatory on Oshima.
• Visit Oyamazumi Shrine on Omishima, guardian of an extraordinary collection of samurai armour and swords.
• Stop at the Cyclists’ Sanctuary monument beneath the swan-like Tatara Bridge.
• Refuel on Hakata salt ice cream, island citrus and seafood grilled at the roadside stations.
• Back in Imabari, walk the sea-moated castle and pick up the softest towels in Japan.