Shimanami-kaidô

しまなみ海道

Crossing a sea by bicycle on a motorway – sounds unbelievable, but it is possible – on the Shimanami-kaidô, the “Nishi-Seto Expressway”, a combination of motorway and bridge system, which went into operation in 1999. Together they provide a seamless transport link between the main islands of Honshû and Shikoku. The bridges of the Shimanami-kaidô were built wide enough to allow a bicycle path to run parallel to the road. The island-jumping cycle route starts in Onomichi (Hiroshima Prefecture) and ends in Imabari (Ehime Prefecture) – or the other way round. The highway crosses the Seto Inland Sea on a total of nine individual bridges and six islands.