Greater Kyoto, A Preview of the Route

1 day ago
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Most people plan a Kyoto trip around the cherry blossoms. Fewer know that the city's fiery show in November, when the maples along the rivers and temple grounds turn every shade from gold to deep red, is the one locals quietly prefer. We're taking a small group to see it properly this November, by Brompton, over seven days and six nights.

We rode every kilometre of this route ourselves in May, testing hotels, checkpoints, and the roads themselves before bringing guests along. The forests were green then rather than turning red and gold, but the shape of the trip, and the reason it works, doesn't change with the seasons.

Temple in Japan Kyoto with a small Purple flower

Day one starts gently. Riders land at Kansai Airport, take the high-speed rail into Kyoto, and by evening are on a warm-up ride through the city itself, bikes and legs getting reacquainted along the river paths before dinner.

From there, the week has a rhythm to it. Day two rides out to Wazuka, Kyoto's tea-growing hills, then on to Arashiyama, home to the bamboo grove everyone has seen in photos and, in November, a canopy of maples that turns the whole valley the colour of embers.

Day three follows what we've nicknamed the Forest of Kyoto, a quiet mountain road from Arashiyama to Fukuchiyama that runs alongside a jade-green reservoir with barely another vehicle in sight. Day four continues through forest to Miyazu Bay, where the group settles in for two nights at a stay built right on the water.

Day five turns to the coast for what we call the Sea of Kyoto, riding toward Tateiwa near Amanohashidate, one of Japan's three most celebrated views, a pine-covered sandbar stretching across the bay.

Along the way, the road passes through Ine, a fishing village where the boathouses are built straight over the water, boats parked underneath like garages. Day six continues along the coast before the group heads back to Kyoto for the final night. The last morning is unhurried on purpose, a short city tour before the transfer back to the airport.

Sea of Kyoto, Ine Fishing Village, with 2 tour participants

None of this needs you to be a strong cyclist. The days run 60 to 70 kilometres, broken by a proper lunch stop and a support vehicle that's never far away, and every rider is on the same Brompton with the same spare parts, so a small mechanical hiccup never becomes anyone's problem to solve.

What you do need is a week you're willing to give entirely to riding somewhere new, eating well, and being around people who'd rather be doing this than sitting on a tour bus.