Kyoto to Nara Bicycle Path

京都八幡木津自転車道線

The prospect of riding from Kyoto, the Japanese capital from 794 - 1868, down to Nara, its predecessor (710 - 784), is enticing.

Cruising along from temple to temple, through sylvan rice paddies, sounds idyllic.

The reality, however, is grimly different.

If one were to ride on roads, from south Kyoto onward to Nara, the entire journey would be exurban Japan: fast-food restaurants, used car dealers, tacky signage, trucks and cars belching fumes, telephone wires overhead, and nary a bike lane to be found.

However, there is an alternative:

The Arashiyama to Kizu Bike Lane

A 45 kilometer (27 miles) bike- and pedestrians-only lane runs from Arashiyama to Kizu, which is about 30-45 minutes outside of Nara. No cars, no trucks, no fumes.

Instead: lots of cyclists and river views and clean air.

The ride to Kizu follows the Katsura and Kizu Rivers and is flat the entire way. From Kizu, there is a climb into Nara if you take Route 754.

Highly, highly recommended.


© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags

Japan
Touring
Kyoto
Cycle
Nara Route

Kyoto to Nara Bicycle Path Sign

八幡木津自転車道線

It doesn't take much imagination to hate Japan's Ministry of Construction.

In several post-War decades, the Ministry managed to concrete over and dam up the landscape and rivers of what was a beautiful country.

The solution to every problem seemed to be: throw a lot of money at it, let the major construction firms run wild in the countryside and earn enormous sums (of which the yazuka took a sweet cut), and buildbuildbuild. The result was a Soviet style landscape. Bleak. Hard. Ugly. Concrete.

However, as cyclists, we must also take our hats off to the Ministry. The Men of Concrete have built a series of wonderful bike paths around the country. One of the best runs from Arashiyama, in western Kyoto, to Kizu, which is just outside of Nara.

The path is three meters wide and is for use for cyclists and pedestrians. In other words, there are no cars, trucks, or motorcycles for the 45 km of the route.

The path follows the Katsura River out of Kyoto, and then joins the Kizu River.

We will be making the ride in late March and will blog it.

Information in Japanese.

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags

Japan
Touring
Kyoto
Cycle
Nara Bike Path