Tokyo Bike Tour: Three Hours Across the Middle of the City

It covers the gap the other formats leave

A walking tour does one district well. A coach does the whole city but spends an hour of your day in traffic and another queuing at the Skytree. A bike does the middle: nine landmarks spread across central Tokyo in three hours, at street level, without a single train.

The route runs along the Imperial Palace moat, which is flat, wide and quieter than any first-time visitor expects. Central Tokyo has far less through traffic than its reputation suggests, and the guide picks lanes and paths rather than main roads.

It rates 4.9 from 641 reviews, and 99 percent of travellers recommend it. Reviews mention Haru, Ken, Irene and Ray by name.

Bike or e-bike

Both are offered, and the e-bike is the one to take if you have any doubt about three hours of pedalling. One reviewer, 65 and recovering from a foot injury, almost cancelled and then rode the whole route, describing it as consistent but never too difficult.

The pace is slow enough for a group and the stops are frequent, so the ride works as sightseeing rather than exercise. Total duration includes travel time between the nine stops, which means you are not on the saddle for three unbroken hours.

Bike insurance is included. If your riding damages the bike, the side stand or the frame, the operator may charge for the repair.

From Shiba Park to Shinjuku

The route starts beside Tokyo Tower and finishes at the gate of one of the city's best gardens, taking in the political and imperial centre in between.

Zojo-ji is the temple next to Tokyo Tower, the resting place of six Tokugawa shoguns. The Imperial Palace and Sakurada Gate follow, then the red-brick front of Tokyo Station, opened in 1914 and rebuilt to its original design.

The second half turns west: Akasaka Palace, built as a royal villa and now the state guesthouse, then the grave of Professor Ueno and Hachiko in Aoyama Cemetery, where the dog is buried beside the owner he waited for. Then the Meiji Jingu baseball stadium, the National Stadium built for the 2020 Olympics from cedar sourced across all 47 prefectures, and the Olympic rings outside it.

• Zojo-ji temple, 5 minutes
• Imperial Palace, 15 minutes
• Tokyo Station Marunouchi plaza, 10 minutes
• Sakurada-mon Gate, 10 minutes
• Akasaka Palace, 5 minutes
• Grave of Professor Ueno and Hachiko, 10 minutes
• Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium, 3 minutes
• Japan National Stadium, 15 minutes
• The Olympic rings, 5 minutes, then Shinjuku Gyoen

The Hachiko detail

Most visitors photograph the Hachiko statue outside Shibuya Station and move on. Few know the dog is buried in Aoyama Cemetery next to Professor Hidesaburo Ueno, the man he met at the station every evening and kept waiting for from 1925 until his own death in 1935.

The operator calls it a hidden gem, and it is the stop reviewers single out most. One rider called it the highlight of the morning.

It is also a good illustration of what a bike tour buys: a stop like that is twenty minutes off any walking route and would never justify a coach detour.

In the price

The bike, bike insurance, a raincoat if it rains, a mini pouch mounted on the handlebars for your phone and wallet, and an in-person guide working in English or Japanese.

Food and drink are not included, and there is no hotel pickup. The tour runs in rain, which is why the raincoat is standard rather than optional.

• Included: bike, insurance, raincoat, handlebar pouch, guide
• Helmet: ¥1,000 rental, cash on the day
• Child seat: ¥3,000, arrange at least two days ahead and bring cash
• Not included: food, drink, hotel pickup

Meeting and finishing

You meet at the Statue of Commodore Perry in Shiba Park, by the Shiba Park Memorial, a stone sculpture with a hollow through the middle, right next to the Family Mart. Minato City, a few minutes from Tokyo Tower.

The ride ends near the old guardhouse gate at Shinjuku Gyoen, about a fifteen-minute walk from Shinjuku Station. The garden itself is worth the entry fee if you have the afternoon free, and the guide will point you at the gate.

Bring cash for the helmet, since the operator does not take a card for it at the meeting point.

Suitable for

Anyone comfortable on a bike with a moderate level of fitness. The e-bike option widens that considerably, and reviewers in their sixties describe the pace as manageable.

It suits travellers with half a day rather than a full one, people who have already done the landmark loop by coach, and anyone who would rather see the city at street level than through a window.

• Moderate fitness; the e-bike option takes the work out
• Riders 150 cm and taller
• Good for a second or third day in Tokyo
• Private: only your group rides with the guide

Not suitable for

The operator is direct about the exclusions, and they are worth reading before booking rather than at the meeting point.

Pregnant travellers are asked not to take part for safety reasons. It is not recommended for travellers with back problems or serious medical conditions, and it is not wheelchair accessible. If the guide judges at the start that a rider cannot cycle safely, they may refuse participation, and no refund is given in that case.

• Not suitable for pregnant travellers
• Not recommended with back problems or heart conditions
• Not wheelchair accessible
• Riders under 150 cm are not recommended
• Damage to the bike may be charged for