Japan Bike RentalsMotorcycle rentals and tours Japan
Bicycle Guided Tours 2025 Schedule
The Best of Hokkaido: September 6-13 | September 13-20
7 days | 7 nights | Rider price: 273,000 ~ 329,000 yen
The Best of Hokkaido: September 6-13 | September 13-20
Furano
Cape Kamui
Otaru
Shikotsuko lake
Toyako Lake
Trip Information
Tour highlights
Sapporo city, Ishikari River valley and farming district, Furano and Biei regions, Unkai Terrace, Shikotsuko National Park and Lake Toyako, Mt Usu & the volcanic region of Showa-Shinzan, Niseko & Mt. Yotei (Hokkaido's Mt. Fuji), Shakotan Peninsula & Cape Kamui, Otaru canal district. And 7 days of great riding along the way!
What's included
- Bicycle rental for 7 days
- Helmet & handlebar bag rental for 7 days
- bicycle insurance
- twin-share accommodation for 7 nights (breakfast every morning; dinner 4 evenings)
- bicycle guide
- support vehicle with driver/guide
- trip preparation & planning
- onsen entry fees, lift ticket to Unkai Terrace, van transport between certain locations along the riding route
- some snacks/fruit each day
- consumption tax
What's NOT included
- flights to/from Japan
- transport to/from Sapporo (before & after the tour)
- travel insurance
- lunches, additional snacks & beverages
- dinner x 3 evenings
- rental of riding gear
- other miscellaneous trip expenses
Difficulty
- Day 01 - morning
- 40.7km...Up: 268m; Down: 234m
- Day 01 - afternoon
- 31.3km...Up: 141m; Down: 182m
- Day 02 - morning
- 63.4km...Up: 247m; Down: 180m
- Day 02 - afternoon
- 33.2km...Up: 249m; Down: 167m
- Day 03 - morning
- 47km...Up: 450m; Down: 384m
- Day 03 - afternoon
- 25.9km...Up: 194m; Down: 235m
- Day 04 – morning
- 16km...Flat (optional 100m climb)
- Day 04 – afternoon
- 34.7km... Up: 138m; Down: 454m
- Day 05 – morning
- 41.2km... Up: 478m; Down: 390m
- Day 05 – afternoon
- 16.9km... Up: 203m; Down: 122m
- Day 06 – morning
- 34.3km... Up: 469m; Down 701m
- Day 06 – afternoon
- 23.9km... Up: 125m; Down 126m
- Day 07 – morning
- 40.8km... Up: 221m; Down 166m
Sep 6 - Sep 13
Start: Saturday, Sep 6 at 10am ~ Finish: Saturday, Sep 13 at 10am
Sep 13 - Sep 20
Start: Saturday, Sep 13 at 10am ~ Finish: Saturday, Sep 20 at 10am
Rider price (twin occupancy)
273,000 yen
Rider price (single occupancy)
329,000 yen
Tour Details
This tour includes 7 nights accommodation. We will be staying at a wide variety of wonderful hotels, Japanese-style ryokan and onsen, a highrise resort, a ski-style lodge, and a small family-run minshuku (Japanese-style bed and breakfast). As we will be traveling from the center of a large city into the middle of nowhere, the style of accommodation will naturally be quite varied, and will depend on our particular location. Each night will be a unique and high quality experience.
Breakfast is included each day, and dinner is included 4 evenings of the tour. Meals will range from light (and not so light) breakfasts to buffet-style dinners. Some nights will be truly Japanese in style, while other days there will be western-style options available. Lunch stops have been planned each day, and restaurants have been selected for their quality food and nice atmosphere, as well as for being at ideal locations along our riding route. Lunches, snacks and beverages are not included in the set tour price, so please make sure to bring some cash with you. There will be some additional stop-off points each day (one in the morning, and one in the afternoon). These stops will usually be at cafes and bakeries on route, but where there are none, we will have plenty of fruit and snacks available for you in the support vehicle.
Hokkaido is famous for its many wonderful natural onsen 'hot springs'. We will be sampling these traditional onsen most evenings of the tour. After a long day's ride, there is nothing better than to relax in a hot bath, and soak those weary muscles. Some of these hot spring onsen also have sauna and massage services available. The onsen experience is a large part of the overall tour experience. If you haven't tried an onsen before, we are sure you will grow love it. You'll be provided with a small 'courtesy towel', so no need to be shy. You'll be able to cover up if you're a little nervous. By the end of the tour, you will be thoroughly immersed in onsen etiquette and will be wondering why something similar doesn't exist back at home.
We have been touring Japan by bike for many years, and have a very sound knowledge of the terrain, scenic riding routes, and the most interesting overnight stop-off points. For this tour, we have put together a fantastic scenic riding route, which includes the best of Hokkaido. You will be riding through fertile farming country, along winding river banks and designated cycling lanes, around the shores of caldera lakes, past volcanoes, and down roads where mountains touch the sea. Riding distances vary each day of the tour, as does the elevation. The route has been designed to start out with a flatter course, before getting into some hill climbing on days 2 & 3. Day 4 is our rest & recovery day. The morning of day 4 is flat (with an optional climb for those so inclined), and the afternoon is a 30km downhill ride. Days 5 & 6 will be back into the hills, before finishing off with a fairly flat and easy day 7. This 7-day ride is fairly challenging, so it is a requirement that you cycle fairly regular and can handle distances of 50-100km per day, and elevation gains of 300-700m/day.
We will be using standard touring road bikes. All bikes are near new and in very good condition. Each bike will come with a front handlebar bag for storing camera, snacks, and other personal belongings. The rest of your luggage will be kept in the support vehicle. We will not be providing you with cycling gear, so please make sure to bring all necessary riding gear with you to Japan.
There will be at least two staff members traveling on this tour. One will be leading the group by bicycle, while the other will be driving the support vehicle. All luggage, daytime snacks/fruit, water, first-aid equipment and repair kits will be traveling with us in the van.
This tour starts in Sapporo at 10am on Saturday morning, and officially ends in Sapporo on Friday evening. Accommodation is included on Friday evening in Sapporo and checkout is at 10am on Saturday morning. Staff will be saying farewell to everyone on Friday evening. Tour participants will be notified of the start location after signing up for the tour.
This tour will be on regardless of the weather. Expect a little rain along the way, so please make sure to have good rain gear with you. You will appreciate it if we do cycle into some bad weather. Sitting out the day is not really an option. If you are injured, then obviously riding in the van is fine, however we do not want people hitching a ride whenever a storm cloud appears on the horizon!
This really is an action-packed 7-day cycling adventure. Riding days are quite long and challenging. Check the 'Difficulty' tab to check daily riding distances and elevation information. Whenever we are not on the bikes, there will always be something to do. Meals are always a highlight, as is the onsen experience. But in addition, there will be a wide range of other activities. For example, we will be enjoying a Japanese fireworks display, visiting a lavender farm, taking a cable car up above the clouds first thing in the morning to see the 'carpet of clouds' below, we'll come up close and personal with a smoldering volcano, and we'll hike out to the end of the magnificent Cape Kamui. You can paddle a swan boat on Japan's clearest lake, and if time allows we will visit a couple of museums, galleries and arts & crafts shops along the way, as well as stopping in at a grape fruit juice factory to sample some fresh juice and ice-cream (for ice-cream lovers, we will likely be having one each day somewhere on route). And last but not least, we will wander along the scenic canals of Otaru town. And that's all before returning to Sapporo again one week later.