Cycling Nakasendo
Day 1
1.1 Nakatsugawa Post Town (Nakatsugawa-juku)
We woke up around 7 (which is very early for me) to get ready and have some breakfast, even though I’m generally a brekkie skipper. The hotel provides a decent breakfast for guests for free. After the massive breakfast I had to resist the desire to get back in the bed. I took out my … Continue reading
1.2 Nakatsugawa-Magome
We started seriously riding from Kawakamiya in Nakatusugawa around 10:30 am. Our first target was Magome post town, which we hoped to reach for lunch and then go sightseeing. We crossed the bridge from where we could see beautiful Mt. Ena and, shortly after we left the block of traditional buildings, entered the modern, rebuilt … Continue reading
1.3 Magome Post Town (Magome-juku)
The last climb to Magome-juku We popped out on a busy intersection with many tourists right in front of the entrance of the post town. Magome was the 43rd post town from Nihonbashi in Edo. The sign at the intersection says 206 km to Kyoto and 324 km to Edo. Since use of bikes and … Continue reading
1.4 Magome-Tsumago
From Kamijinba the stone paving of Nakasendo turns into stairs so we backtracked along the stone pavement to take the two-lane road we crossed before for Tsumago, via Magome pass. The distance to Magome pass is approximately 2.2km with 138m to climb. The road declines for 430m and Nakasendo merges with the road from the … Continue reading
1.5 Tsumago Post Town (Tsumago-juku)
Strolling along Terashita district, Tsumago-juku We reached a sign at the outer boundary of the center of Tsumago that indicated riding was not allowed further in the town. We got off our bikes to comply with the sign and headed into the center of Tsumago. Eventually we reached rows of buildings on both sides of … Continue reading
1.6 Tsumago-Nojiri
Steep upslope in woods of cypress and cedar shortly after Tsumago-juku It was almost 4:00pm when we left the outskirts of Tsumago by riding down a gentle downhill slope as the vehicle restrictions ended. However, before we could take a breath and take in the countryside scenery, Nakasendo’s route diverted right up a hill into … Continue reading
Cycling Nakasendo 