- Hikone Castle - Hikone castle looks down the whole town from the east end, having beautiful moats around. Many unique water birds and plants are peacefully hanging out. As it is an old district and the center of the culture, residential and commercial area are situated along the moat, such as artcraft shop, pickle stand and temples. We will cycle through these parts in the beginning to understand the castle town vibe.
- Genkyuen - The foundation of Genkyu-in dates back to 1677 contributed by naooki Ii (Ii family is a lord of Hikone, their rule lasted 17 - 19th century). The garden has been appreciated through many generations as one of the most beatiful garden in Japan.
- Daishiji Temple - Shingon sect of Buddhist temple is one of the longest lasting skism of Japanese Buddhism. Although Taishi-ji is just about 100 years of history, they have a unique monk statue that is lying on a mattress!! And the current monk, the 3rd president is a good character, very friedly!
- Kitano Shrine - Lake biwa is the largest lake in Japan, that maintains high level of cleanliness of water. After enjoying Hikone castle and around the area, we wil reach out to the Lake shore to get some fresh air, releasing tensity and stress.
- 政所園 夢京橋店 - Mandokoro-en is a top-leading tea maker in Hikone. We will have tea ceremoney with Naoki, guiding us to make good tea. After a lesson about basic history of tea, we will blend and sip your preffered taste of tea, selecting from various ingredients such as Genmai, Gyokuro, Sencha.
- Sazanami Liquor Store - Do you have sake-tasting in your to-do-list in Japan? It is someting you can never miss. I personalily belive that trying alchohol is a very fun activity when I travel to other countries. Sazanami shop has a good variety of alcohol ranging from fruit base to farmented ingredient base alchohol. It is definitely helping you understand the map of Japanese alchohol.
- Iroha - You may assume that Kobe beef and Wagyu are the only beef brands that exist in Japan. But that is not true. Almost every prefecture/region has their own beef brand that is not necessarily below Kobe beef/wagyu. And here, in Hikone they have one called Ohmi-gyu. (Ohmi refers to the region east of Lake Biwa) This is slightly more chewy than Kobe but not too fatty unlike kobe and resonably priced. So I definitely prefer Ohmi and believe you will like it!
- Bicycle use
- Admission fee at each stop and activiaty
- Snacks
Aren’t you tired of running into many tourist traps in absolutely crowded cities? You don’t have to waste your time in a busy place. Instead, you can upgrade your mediocre plan wih our help! We have a bike tour in Hikone, small and pretty castle town by Lake Biwa. It is quick travel from Kyoto and Osaka!! Very niche place but fun to explore. Let me introduce Hikone to you!!
This town is known for Hikone castle, a national treasure. In Japan, only three original castle survived after Samurai’s era. Beautiful moat is double layer. We will cycle through these narrow paths with cross/electronic bike to the coast opened onto the great view of Lake Biwa. On our tour, it includs a variety of stops & activities, such as castle climbing, tea-blending experience, Genkyu-en (magnificent Japanese garden where they serve you matcha), local breweries’ sake-tasting set and Ohmi-gyu restaurant for lunch.
Entrust a portion of your time with us for no dissapoting tour!
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
