Komuso
Cruising
- Oct 6, 2010
- 21
- 11
Hello folks. Looking for suggestions on the following route.
The tour is planned to go for ten days, from April 30 - May 12, 2019. We will be a group of up to ten cycling nuts on roadies, plus a driver and support car. I previously lived in Japan for ten years, and speak Japanese.
The tentative plan is:
Ferry from Tokyo > Tokushima, where the cycling begins
Tokushima > Mt. Tsurugi
Mt. Tsurugi > Imabari
Imabari > Fukuyama
Fukuyama > Kobe (hopping on the local train for this)
Kobe > Kyoto
Kyoto > Toba
Ferry from Toba to Irago > Kakegawa
Kakegawa > Fuji River
Fuji River > Lake Yamanaka
Lake Yamanaka > Tokyo
Map attached (day numbers are provisional only).
Questions I have are:
1. Ferry tickets for Ocean Tokyu Ferry service (Tokyo to Tokushima) only become available from one month before departure date. The thing is that we will be traveling in Golden Week. I made an inquiry with OTF, and they said that tickets sell out within half an hour during GW. Does anyone have any experience with booking OTF for travel during GW, who can verify this? I'd be straight onto booking as soon as they were open, but there could always be complications. I have never traveled during GW while I lived in Japan, so I don't really know what it's like during that period. If we miss out on tickets, the plan B will simply be to do the whole thing in reverse, but I'd prefer plan A.
2. Will accommodation for a group of our size during GW be an issue?
3. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions on the sectors I have listed above? I can provide Strava route info if anyone is curious, or feeling particularly helpful! Any such help would be most appreciated.
4. Do hotels generally allow bikes in rooms if they are packed in a rinkobukuro?
It'd be great to link some other cycling activities in there too, such as doing a crit race in Tokyo when we're done, or watching keirin during or after. Haven't yet had a hard look into these activities though. Suggestions more than welcome.
Thanks!
The tour is planned to go for ten days, from April 30 - May 12, 2019. We will be a group of up to ten cycling nuts on roadies, plus a driver and support car. I previously lived in Japan for ten years, and speak Japanese.
The tentative plan is:
Ferry from Tokyo > Tokushima, where the cycling begins
Tokushima > Mt. Tsurugi
Mt. Tsurugi > Imabari
Imabari > Fukuyama
Fukuyama > Kobe (hopping on the local train for this)
Kobe > Kyoto
Kyoto > Toba
Ferry from Toba to Irago > Kakegawa
Kakegawa > Fuji River
Fuji River > Lake Yamanaka
Lake Yamanaka > Tokyo
Map attached (day numbers are provisional only).
Questions I have are:
1. Ferry tickets for Ocean Tokyu Ferry service (Tokyo to Tokushima) only become available from one month before departure date. The thing is that we will be traveling in Golden Week. I made an inquiry with OTF, and they said that tickets sell out within half an hour during GW. Does anyone have any experience with booking OTF for travel during GW, who can verify this? I'd be straight onto booking as soon as they were open, but there could always be complications. I have never traveled during GW while I lived in Japan, so I don't really know what it's like during that period. If we miss out on tickets, the plan B will simply be to do the whole thing in reverse, but I'd prefer plan A.
2. Will accommodation for a group of our size during GW be an issue?
3. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions on the sectors I have listed above? I can provide Strava route info if anyone is curious, or feeling particularly helpful! Any such help would be most appreciated.
4. Do hotels generally allow bikes in rooms if they are packed in a rinkobukuro?
It'd be great to link some other cycling activities in there too, such as doing a crit race in Tokyo when we're done, or watching keirin during or after. Haven't yet had a hard look into these activities though. Suggestions more than welcome.
Thanks!
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