A mixture of paved town roads and forest trails. Sometimes strenuous, this trip features days of up to 8 hours of hiking.
A mixture of paved town roads and forest trails. Sometimes strenuous, this trip features days of up to 8 hours of hiking.
Shikoku is Japan's fourth-largest island, home to some of the country's most spectacular and undeveloped scenery. The island is also the setting for an ancient walking trail, the challenging Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage. The trail connects 88 Buddhist temples and the full walk covers more than a thousand kilometres.
Pilgrims known as ohenro traditionally covered the journey on foot over many weeks, staying overnight at shukubo temple lodgings. Most modern travellers now travel from temple to temple by tour bus, but we have found sections of the original route which can still be enjoyed on foot.
On your final day, you may wish to try your hand at Sanuki udon noodle-making. Please ask for information about tour extensions to the mountain-top temple town of Mount Kōya with its monastery lodgings, the art island of Naoshima or the UNESCO World Heritage of Miyajima Island, and Tomonoura Bay on the Setouchi inland sea.
Read about luggage options here.
4 nights at Japanese inns on Shikoku Island | |
4 breakfasts and 3 dinners | |
Round-trip transportation from Kyōto or Ōsaka and 3 pre-paid taxis | |
Detailed day-by-day itinerary and walking directions and Shikoku Island guidebook | |
Topographical maps | |
Local support by telephone | |
Our Preparing for your trip and Travelling in Japan guidebooks |
Flights | |
Airport transfers | |
Drinks and meals not included in itinerary | |
Local bus journeys which must be paid directly to the bus driver and the cable car journey on Day 3 | |
Single room supplement(s) for solo occupancy | |
Daily Luggage Transfer |
Tour itineraries are subject to change. We will inform you of any amendments as soon as we become aware of them.