Electric Bike Ride & Cooking (Half-day)

Electric Bike Tour with Farm Visit & Lunch Experience

How would you like to enjoy a day off in the ultimate tranquility of the countryside as you take a leisurely cycle along the serene shores of Lake Biwa?

Using electric bikes that provide an effortless, refreshing ride, this course follows beautiful lakeside roads up to stunning scenes of stepped rice terraces. You will enjoy a peaceful and relaxing day as a guest of Hira Village, a traditional village located at the foot of the Hira mountains, just a short hop from Kyoto. This is a slow-paced, off-the-beaten-track tour in the countryside showing a different side of Japan, where you can visit local shrines and wander along village streets free of tourist crowds.

Farm-to-table lunch cooking is always a particular highlight of our home visit tours, as you are welcomed into the traditional home of a local family. Instructed by the lady of the house, indulge yourself in preparing a delicious lunch using the freshest local ingredients. A vegetarian menu is also available.

We hope you will join us on this tour and its feast of discoveries!

Important Information for Our Cycling Tour

In the event of rain, the cycling tour will be changed to a walking tour instead.

As this experience includes lunch cooking at a local home and is designed to be enjoyable in various weather conditions, tours are generally not canceled unless there is extreme weather, such as a typhoon or a severe storm warning.

Please note that a minimum height of 152 cm (5 feet) is required to participate in this tour.

What will entertain and interest you ?

10:00AM

After a scenic 40-minute train ride from JR Kyoto station, you will arrive at JR Shiga station (KOSEI LINE). Meet our tour conductor in front of the ticket gate.

From here, you will ride electric bicycles at your own pace along the lakeside, admiring the beautiful combination of Lake Biwa, ancient villages, and the Hira mountain range.

Villagers who live around the lake have depended on Lake Biwa as their water source from ancient times. The lake water was used for drinking, washing, bathing, and farming. Fish caught in the lake were also a major source of protein. Therefore, people naturally worshiped Lake Biwa, used its water with utmost respect and ensured they did not waste or foul it.

In Hira district, the local people worshiped a huge array of Shinto deities from ancient times. As Buddhism gained more popularity, these Shinto deities merged with Buddhist beliefs. It is recorded that there used to be as many as 3,000 hermitages among the Hira mountains where the monks trained.

Learn about the local people’s beliefs and life as you slowly pedal through the peaceful neighborhood.

11:00AM

Meeting farmers and participating in their seasonal activities such as planting or harvesting rice and vegetables offers a great chance to learn about farming life in rural Japan.

Depending on the season, fresh vegetables that you harvest will be added to your meal at lunchtime.

12:00PM

For lunch, you will visit a local home and cook alongside your host using fresh seasonal vegetables and rice.

Using simple techniques and traditional Japanese seasonings, you will create a wholesome, homemade meal inspired by everyday Japanese cooking. Menus change with the seasons.

Enjoy an authentic glimpse of rural Japanese life in a traditional home.

*This tour will be hosted by a family from the local village community group. We carefully select our hosts to ensure the quality of the tour. We gurantee that you will have a wonderful experience with any of our hosts.

2:00PM

After lunch, we will gently pedal back to JR Shiga Station, enjoying the breeze from the lake and reflecting on the day's events before returning by train with fond memories of a special adventure.