Day 10 – Imabari (Imabari Station) to Matsuyama (Matsuyama Castle)
55km – The shortest leg of the journey and the perfect way for the legs to recover before the final push begins. A gentle ride along the Western coast of Ehime, before cutting through Shikoku’s largest city of Matsuyama and soaking in the waters of Dogo, one of the oldest hot springs in Japan. We’ll be exploring one of Japan’s lesser known regions and showing life off the Golden Route.
This gentle ride along the North Western coastline of Shikoku will be a good representation of life on Shikoku itself. A flat route that avoids the internal mountainous topography of the island, we’ll be pinned between the hills and water on this scenic journey.
Before leaving Imabari for good, we’ll stop at the Shiminnomori Flower Park, a great spot to view the Cherry Blossoms. We should be approaching peak season by this point of the ride, so hopefully we’ll get some amazing pictures under the beautiful pink petals.
Arriving into Matsuyama, we’ll have time to explore a city known for one of the oldest resorts in Japan: Dogo Onsen. First on our list will be Matsuyama Castle, before we check-in to our hotel and go visit the famous Dogo Onsen Tsubakinoyu, a bath house open to the public that will be the perfect place to soak our legs in the renowned regenerative waters of Dogo. We’ll finish with a stroll through Dogo Park to see more highlights of Sakura Season.
Highlights
- Imabari Shiminnomori Flower Park
- Seaside route
- Matsuyama Castle
- Dogo Park & Dogo Onsen
Food & Accommodation
Staying right by Matsuyama Castle, we’ll be a short hop from Dogo where we can explore the open baths. As well as the Tsubakinoyu public bath, many hotels also open their baths to visitors to experience. On the way to Matsuyama we’ll stop at a local Burger/Barber joint, an interesting little place. We’ll be visiting a local Izakaya to sample the Shikoku version of tapas.