【Day4】North Biwa lake to Hikone(F-1)⭐⭐⭐⭐
'21.16th,Nov
This route(F-1) is in Area-F “Kinki". See Area-F map/ See Japan map
Sight & Entertainment ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Foods & Drinks ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Easiness ⭐⭐⭐
Road Condition ⭐⭐⭐
Safety ⭐⭐⭐
The final day of long Fukui & Biwa lake trip. Fortunately the weather was fine in 4 days. My guest house “Kiyomiso“, family owned homelike atmosphere, was located on the shore of Lake Biwa and I could see the sunrise from my room(pic.1). Starting at AM8:00, I took Route-558(pic.5) toward north.
In the west shore of Biwa, unlike east side, there seemed not special way for cycling. Basically the traffic was not busy, sometimes big trucks passed by. After 1.5hr, I reached Shirahige shrine which had been erected 2000 years before. It has a shrine gate in the lake(pic.6). After taking a little rest, restarted toward north. Up to 60km from Shirahige shrine, the route was almost flat(pic.7,8) and comfortable but when came to Route-557, shore side rode, gradually up and down started(pic.9).
Route-513&512 which are a hill-climb route in the small peninsula were closed and I was led to Route-303, main and busy route in the mountain, which was connected to the road I took from Fukui to Lake Biwa, from that point I turned right and finally came to the north-top of Lake Biwa(pic.10). It was interesting but the weather was quite different from south side of Lake Biwa, which is because Japanese sea is very close to this area.
Since Route-303 is not designed for cycling, the cyclists should take a side road(Route-514) before entering 600m tunnel under Shizuga-take mountain or cross the Route-303 road to opposite side(Lake side) to go on the pedestrian way in the tunnel. I had time so I took Route-514 which led me to a little hill climbing(pic.11,12). Now I’ve already done 1 round of Lake Biwa but I had to ride to Maibara Shinkansen railway station. So again I rode on a lake shore route with better condition than 2 days back.
I’ve already taken Ohmi beef in this trip, so I searched nice local cuisine restaurant in a historical city, Nagahama and found a good one, ”Yokarou”. Grilled mackerel with somen(thin noodle) or grilled mackerel sushi seemed to be a traditionally famous in this area, as well as Funazushi, old-style fermented crucian carp sushi which has strong smell like sour cheese. So I ordered the set menu which has all of them(pic.13,14). It’s tough to describe how tasty it was but I hope you to try when you come to this area since no other area has such cuisine. And Nagahama is a cozy traditional city, so staying here one night with drinking good Japanese Sake. The website is written only in Japanese but as you can see, this area has many good sakes, since Lake Biwa area has been strategically important place to govern East and West Japan and strong ruler governed this area in whole history of Japan.
Restarted at 2:00PM, I went for Hikone castle, passing Maibara station because I could not visit there on 2nd day due to too much fatigue. I could reach in 45min, then soon bought a ticket to enter the main hall(pic.18). This castle was built just after ending the age of civil war to rule this strategically important area. From this castle, the view of lake(pic.19) and main route from eastern Japan could be seen. You can enjoy Japanese style garden on the east side of castle(pic.20). I requires around 2hrs at least but I had to rush to Maibara station for my train. It was 3:30PM.
In 30min, I reached Maibara station(pic.21), where my long ride finally ended. Total riding distance was 470km for 4 days. I reached my home in Chiba prefecture around 8:30PM.
<Transportation info>
From Tokyo to Maibara: Taking Shinkansen Nozomi to Nagoya,then change to Hikari to Maibara 2hrs. \12,100-
<Other recommended spots near my route>
Pls refer to the guide “North Lake Biwa“. Many spots there since this area was historically important as I wrote in my article.
＜Connection routes>
F-1(Day3)： Lake Biwa & Mt.Hiei autumn leaves