Shikoku Pilgrimage with Walks

Adventure Travel, Apr 25, Mar 25, Shikoku, Trekking

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Shikoku Pilgrimage with Walks

Season: All Year Round
7 day itinerary

Shikoku Pilgrimage with Walks

Season: All year round
Duration: 7 days, 6 nights
Japan: Shikoku [From Matsuyama to Kotohira]
Land Price: from $ 2880
Size: Min 2/ Max 8

Tour Code: JP-AH-WALK-07-B

7 Days Guided tour
Level: Moderate
Season: All year round

Join-in Date: 17-23 Mar 24, 24-30 Mar 24, 31 Mar – 6 Apr 24, 7-13 Apr 24, 21-27 Apr 24

Location Ehime, Kōchi Prefecture, Tokoushima and Kagawa Prefectures in Shikoku Island
Main activity: Sightseeing and hiking

Catch the most beautiful and interesting temples of the Shikoku Pilgrimage in seven days, visiting all four prefectures of the island. On each day, you undertake one of the most challenging walks on the pilgrimage trail, including the steep parts called ‘henro korogashi’ or pilgrim killers. These are also the most attractive parts of the pilgrimage trail, offering superb views as you make your way up and down the mountains of Shikoku.

*Advance booking required
  • Sight Seeing 90% 90%
  • Food 70% 70%
  • Transportation 50% 50%
  • Activities 80% 80%

Who is this tour for?

  • This tour is for those who like to travel with a guide and a small group of like-minded people.
  • The focus is on the most challenging trails of the Shikoku Pilgrimage. The walks are tough and so you must be fit enough to maintain a good tempo through the daily ups and downs.
  • You’ll also need to have appropriate clothing and footwear.
  • We stay one night at accommodation that has ensuite toilets, but only a shared bath, so you need to be OK with getting naked with strangers, or flannel bathing in your room.
  • If you like to walk slowly and don’t enjoy hiking hills, this tour is not for you. If you don’t relish a long hike every day, then the Best of Shikoku Pilgrimage tour will suit you better. The temple compounds themselves are large and involve a certain amount of walking.

Itinerary

Subject to changes

We will travel by private vehicle seeing the best of the Ohenro and staying in the main cities of Shikoku. Our vehicle will take you to the start of the walk and picks you up at the end. You’re accompanied by a knowledgeable guide, and there are places where you can end the walk midway if you’re tired. Your accommodation includes temple lodgings, modern hotels, and onsen ryokan for variety and a taste of what the island has to offer.

Day 1 Matsuyama

The tour starts in Matsuyama, in Ehime Prefecture. Your first temple visit is to Yokomine-ji. Located in the foothills of Mt. Ishizuchi, it’s renowned as one of the most difficult to access. You hike up to the temple, then beyond to the Okuno-in on Mt. Hoshigamori, which affords an iconic view of Mt. Ishizuchi, the highest mountain in western Japan if the weather cooperates. Then you hike down to Kōon-ji Temple. Time permitting, you visit No. 58 Senyū-ji on a mountainside outside Imabari with its magnificent temple guardians, and No. 52 Taisan-ji whose belfry has remarkable scenes of heaven and hell. Your accommodation is a luxurious onsen ryokan hotel in the spa town of Dōgo.

Hike Distance: 11.8 km Gain: 871 m Loss: 588 m

Day 2 Kuma

The day starts with a drive up to Kuma Highland where you hike from No. 44 Daihō-ji in a forest of massive trees to No. 45 Iwaya-ji built into a rocky mountainside. The beautiful Niyodo River rises in the highland, and you follow it down into Kōchi Prefecture. Time permitting, you visit No. 36 Shōryū- ji located on a peninsula jutting out into the Pacific Ocean and No. 35 Kiyotaki-ji. The day’s journey ends in Kōchi City, with dinner at the popular and convivial Hirome Market. Your accommodation is a smart, modern hotel in the centre of town.

Hike Distance: 13.1 km Gain: 626 m Loss: 548 m

Day 3 Konomine-ji

Your first stop today is No. 31 Chikurin-ji, a lovely leafy temple with a tall red pagoda. After a drive down the Muroto Peninsula, you hike up to No. 27 Kōnomine-ji, one of the difficult to reach temples situated 632 m above sea level. Beyond this is Kōnomine Shrine, and the Sky and Sea Park with its lookout offering a remarkable view over southern Shikoku. The last stop of the day is Hotsumisaki-ji and the nearby lighthouse at the end of the Muroto Peninsula. Tonight’s accommodation is an old hotel on the peninsula popular with pilgrims, where a locally-sourced dinner is provided.

Hike
Distance: 5.5 km Gain: 559 m Loss: 5 m Distance: 3.8 km Gain: 167 m Loss: 156 m

Day 4 Tokushima

The first stop is at Mikuro Cave where Kūkai lived when he sought enlightenment. Then you head up the eastern side of the Muroto Peninsula into Tokushima No. 20 Kakurin-ji is a beautiful mountaintop temple, featuring several statues of sacred cranes. From here you hike down into a valley and up the other side to No. 21 Tairyū-ji, situated high up in the mountains with a view over much of Shikoku. You take a dynamic cable car ride down and stay at a comfortable onsen hotel.

Hike
Distance: 5.6 km Gain: 438 m Loss: 428 m

Day 5 Tokushima

The walk from No. 11 Fujiidera to No. 12 Shōsan-ji is the most challenging on the pilgrimage. We walk it in reverse. Here Emon Saburō finally caught up with Kūkai and perished. Time permitting after this long hike, you can visit Temple 6, Anraku-ji. Your accommodation is a modern hotel beside the Inland Sea.

Hike
Distance: 11.6 km Gain: 871 m Loss: 588 m

Day 6 Kagawa

The mountains of Kagawa Prefecture have a distinctive shape, and today you hike among them. From No. 80 Kokubun-ji, you hike up to the Goshikidai plateau to No. 81 Shiromine-ji, and thence to No. 82 Negoro-ji. Time permitting, you visit No. 75 Zentsū-ji, a very large temple complex and the place of Kūkai’s birth. Your last night is spent in a luxurious onsen ryokan in Kotohira. This is the end of the tour, where you part with your guide and driver. Hike Distance: 11.3 km Gain: 1,123 m Loss: 479 m

Day 7 Kagawa

If you like, you can walk to nearby Konpira Shrine and hike up to the Okusha. You can take convenient public transport from Kotohira to Takamatsu Airport or Station for your onward journey.

Hike
Distance: 5.2 km Gain: 332 m Loss: 334 m

Shikoku Pilgrimage with Walks

Book Now
PRICE

Tour Code: JP-AH-WALK-07-B

Join-in Date:  17-23 Mar 24, 24-30 Mar 24, 31 Mar – 6 Apr 24, 7-13 Apr 24, 21-27 Apr 24

Size: Min 2 pax; Max 8 pax

Price per person in SGD

Pax2345678
Price6180468039803580328030802880

Single supplement: + $680

Price is subject to changes without notice.

Includes

  • A professional local tour guide for the duration of the trip
  • All accommodation
  • All meals, and drinks, including alcoholic drinks as per itinerary
  • All activities as per itinerary
  • Transport as per itinerary
  • Local insurance during the walk
  • 15% for gears from X-Boundaries

Price excludes:

  • Airfare + taxes
  • All other transfer not mentioned
  • Expenses of personal nature
  • Visa fees if applicable
  • Tips to guides
  • Personal gears
  • Travel Insurance covers medical evacuation back to Singapore (Compulsory)
  • Other tours not mentioned

ADVISED You are strongly advised to purchase your own comprehensive Travel Insurance.

DEPOSIT/ CANCELLATION FEES

Deposit/ Refunds

  • Deposit Per Person: $1500
  • Balance full payment MUST be received at least thirty (30) days prior to arrival, failing which the Company reserves the right to release all slots for the said confirmed reservation without any or prior notice

Please refer to our terms & conditions.

Confirmation of this reservation is acceptance of these conditions.

GETTING PREPARED
  • You will find in this section links to the products of our partner X-Boundaries, a Singapore shop & e-commerce site, your partner in adventure.
  • In your luggage
  • Nice to have
    • A map app that works in Japan.

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