Tips and Advice for Biking the Shimanami Kaido – Onomichi to Imabari

During our travels around Japan, we wanted to get out and experience some days of nature in between visiting bustling cities.

The Shimanami Kaido trail caught our eye as it is one of the most popular cycling routes in Japan and connects several islands together over an approximately 70 kilometer route between Onomichi and Imabari (plus numerous side trails for those who want to explore each island in more depth).

As avid bikers, we knew we had to check out this route. So we booked our dates several weeks in advance, said a little prayer to whatever spirit controls the weather, and made our way to Onomichi to get ready to ride.

Thankfully, we got lucky with mostly great weather for our ride and only had to rush to Imabari quickly in the final legs of our ride before a larger storm came in. So in this one, we thought we’d share more about what you can see when biking from Onomichi to Imabari on the Shimanami Kaido, and give some tips we learned along the way to have a great time!

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Going on an Onsen Crawl at Kinosaki Onsen in Japan

When visiting Japan, odds are good you have soaking in the natural hot springs of an onsen on your must-do list.

But did you know there is a town with not one, not two, but seven onsens open for visitors to enjoy? And, perhaps important to many, are also tattoo-friendly? Enter Kinosaki Onsen, a beautiful mountain coast town in northern Japan that is just a 2 1/2 hour train ride from Kyoto.

While we have an entire article dedicated for how many days in Kinosaki Onsen (read: more is always the answer), in this one we thought we’d share a little bit about the seven onsen you can find in town- what they’re like, which ones we liked, and which ones we did not spend much time in at all.

Although all the onsen here are quite fun and you should check each out on a visit, a few were standout favorites.

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How Many Days Do You Need in Kinosaki Onsen?

We decided to visit the aptly named Japanese onsen town, Kinosaki Onsen, halfway through our 16-day journey around Japan as we thought it’d be a welcomed escape after nine busy days in some of the country’s largest cities.

As expected, it was everything we hoped for and then some.

Between hopping around six of the seven tattoo-friendly onsens found in the town (the seventh was closed for construction during our visit), enjoying incredible food and drink, and checking out some of the other non-onsen sightseeing activities, we really wished we had stayed for more than two nights as we only really got a brief teaser of what this town has to offer!

So, in this one, we thought we’d share more about what there is to do in Kinosaki Onsen and nearby and why you may want to book more nights than you think here!

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Our Top 10 Travel Experiences From Around the World

Easter Island

When you head out on a long-term trip, every single person you meet will ask you what your favorite experience has been. We have been asked this question hundreds if not thousands of times, and for several months it was very hard to answer as we have had just too many great experiences to pick the very best.

As a way to share our favorite experiences and give you inspirations for activities to do on your own long-term trip, we decided to put together a ranked list of our Top 10 experiences, destinations, restaurants, and moments from around the world.

When reading, keep in mind that we haven’t been everywhere. This list represents our favorite experiences, from all of the destinations we’ve been to, and will be updated as we travel more and find great experiences that make the Top 10.

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