Nestled between the Seto Inland Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Shikoku is Japan’s smallest main island and a hidden gem that I highly recommend if you are looking for a peaceful trip. Known for its tranquil landscapes, ancient shrines, and delicious cuisine, Shikoku offers a travel experience that you will love. In this 7-day itinerary, we will explore several places in the prefectures of Kagawa, Kōchi, and Ehime that you can easily reach by train. So, whether you are looking for culture, nature, or gastronomy, Shikoku has it all!

Índice
1. How to get to Shikoku
2. Best time to visit Shikoku
3. 8-day Shikoku itinerary
4. Accommodation
5. Budget for two people in Shikoku
6. Fun facts
7. Internal transportation – JR PASS
8. Internet
9. Travel insurance
10. Money during the trip – N26 Card
11. Other blog posts about Japan
Ritsurin Park in Takamatsu

How to get to Shikoku

Shikoku can be reached by plane, train, and car. Takamatsu Airport is the main airport, although you can also fly to Matsuyama and do this itinerary in reverse. We travelled by train using the Japan Rail Pass to make things more comfortable, although the downside is that there are some more inland areas that you will not be able to reach. To get to Shikoku from Tokyo, you will need to do the following:

        • Shinkansen from Tokyo to Okayama on the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen: The Nozomi is the fastest option, but if you have a Japan Rail Pass, it is not covered, so you will need to take the Hikari or Kodama trains instead. The journey from Tokyo to Okayama takes approximately 3.5 to 4 hours, depending on the train service.
        • Transfer at Okayama Station to a limited express train: Once you arrive at Okayama Station, you will need to transfer to a Limited Express train heading to Shikoku. There are several Limited Express services available; for this itinerary, we will take the Marine Liner, which goes to Takamatsu. The journey takes approximately 1 hour.

Best time to visit Shikoku

    • Spring (March to May): Cherry blossoms (sakura) and pleasant temperatures.
    • Autumn (September to November): Mild weather and autumn foliage (momiji).
    • Avoid summer (June to August): Hot and humid; rainy season.

8-day Shikoku itinerary

Day 1 – TAKAMATSU
    • Morning: once we arrive in Takamatsu, we will head to the hotel to leave our luggage and, afterwards, explore the lively streets around Takamatsu Station.
    • Afternoon: you can look for a place serving sanuki udon, as it is the specialty of the prefecture, and later visit the Takamatsu Castle Park area and the Symbol Tower.
    • Night: you can have dinner in the area and walk back to the hotel if you are staying in the city centre.
Day 2 – Takamatsu – Ritsurin Koen
    • Morning: we start the day with a visit to Ritsurin Koen and breakfast at the tea house. They also offer the option of taking a boat ride on the pond to enjoy a unique perspective.
    • Afternoon: you absolutely have to visit Tamura Jinja Shrine, it is my favourite! It is a little far away by bus, so I recommend dedicating a few hours to it.
    • Night: time to find another sanuki udon restaurant for dinner!
Tamura Jinja in Takamatsu
Day 3 – Kōchi
    • Morning: we travel to Kōchi, leave our things at the hotel and visit Kōchi Castle and the gardens surrounding it.
    • Afternoon: we explore the local markets and stroll through Obiyamachi, a long covered shotengai (shopping street).
    • Night: just a few minutes from Obiyamachi is the famous Hirome Market, with around 60 food stalls in a “food court” style. I highly recommend it for dinner to try local specialties such as Katsuo no tataki (seared bonito) or inaka-sushi (rural-style sushi).
Hirome Market in Kōchi
Day 4 – Kōchi
    • Morning: trip to Katsurahama Beach, which is around 35 minutes by bus from Kōchi Station.
    • Afternoon: around 40 minutes by bus from the beach is Chikurin-ji Temple (竹林寺). Founded in 724, it is the 31st stop on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage and houses Monju Bosatsu, the bodhisattva of wisdom, attracting students during exam season. For a small fee, visitors can also explore a 14th-century Chinese garden.
    • Night: we take another bus that will leave us in Kōchi city in half an hour to have dinner and return to the hotel to prepare for our move to Kotohira the next day.
Kōchi Castle
Day 5 – Kotohira – Konpirasan
    • Morning: we take an early train to Kotohira, leave our luggage at the hotel and head towards the Nakatado district, which will be the starting point of the route to Konpirasan Shrine. Before starting, I recommend having some more udon!
    • Afternoon: this plan will take up the entire afternoon. Konpirasan, formally known as Kotohiragu, is the main shrine dedicated to sailors and navigation, located on Mount Zozu in Kotohira. It is a popular pilgrimage site well known throughout Japan, and many local tourists come to complete the route. Visitors must climb 1,368 stone steps to reach the shrine, while the more adventurous can continue an additional 583 steps to the inner shrine. Although officially a Shinto shrine since the Meiji Period, Konpirasan preserves both Shinto and Buddhist elements.
Day 6 – UDON CLASS AND MOVING TO MATSUYAMA
    • Morning: one month before the trip, we signed up to take part in a udon-making class on the main street. We absolutely loved the experience! The place we went to is called Nakano Udon School KOTOHIRA, and you can make a reservation through their website. You can also choose to cook your own udon once you have finished the class, so you can leave with a full stomach 🙂
    • Afternoon: train journey to Matsuyama. It takes around two and a half hours, and you will first have to travel from Kotohira to Tadotsu or Marugame (15 min) and then from Tadotsu to Matsuyama (2h).
    • Night: we stroll around the Dogo Onsen area, the oldest onsen in Japan, and have dinner at a local restaurant. If you feel like it, you can enter the bathhouse and enjoy the hot springs without needing to stay overnight.
Climb up to Konpirasan
Day 7 – Matsuyama – Sightseeing Train Iyonada Monogatari
    • Morning: I love trains in Japan and we couldn’t resist joining the experience of taking the famous Iyonada Monogatari in Matsuyama. It is a scenic sightseeing train operated by JR Shikoku, offering a unique travel experience along the Seto Inland Sea coastline in Ehime Prefecture. The train’s name, “Monogatari,” means “story,” and the journey is designed to tell a story about the region’s culture, history and natural beauty. It is known for its retro-inspired interiors with luxurious wooden furniture and large windows.
        • Route: it runs between Matsuyama and Iyo-Ozu/Yawatahama. For the return journey, I recommend taking a regular train so you can save the cost of paying again.
        • Gourmet Food: Passengers can enjoy gourmet meals and snacks made with local ingredients. The menu changes depending on the season.
        • Reservations: Advance reservation is required, as the train is popular and seats are limited. The price per adult including breakfast is ¥8,900 (around €50). We made the reservation online, but it seems that they now only allow bookings at JR stations, so I recommend that when you arrive in Japan, you try to do it directly at a ticket office.
    • Afternoon: we return to Matsuyama and spend the rest of the day visiting Matsuyama Castle and its surroundings.
    • Night: dinner and getting ready for our return the following day!
Iyonada Monogatari, stop at Shimonada

Accommodation

Shikoku offers a variety of accommodation options, from luxury hotels to traditional ryokan. Here are some options for the different stops on our itinerary:

Slowpoke (yadon in Japanese) is the ambassador of Kagawa Prefecture

Budget for two people in Shikoku

Determining the exact cost of the trip can vary depending on individual preferences, travel style and the specific choices made during the journey. However, here is a summary of what our experience in Shikoku cost us. 1. Internal transportation – €1,100

    • 14-day JR Pass, as we combined this trip with other areas of Japan: €480/person (€960 for two people)
    • Iyonada Monogatari train: €50/person
    • Around €20/person for the rest of the trip, whether for buses not included, metro lines outside the JR network, etc. 1100

2. Accommodation – €405

3. Entrance fees – €15.5

    • Ritsurin Park in Takamatsu: ¥410, around €2.35 per person
    • Kochi Castle: ¥420, around €2.40 per person
    • Matsuyama Castle: ¥520, around €3 per person

4. Other – €425

  • Food (supermarket shopping for dinners at the apartment and some restaurants or fast food): €300
  • IATI Insurance: this always depends on the length of your trip, but a two-week insurance policy costs €47.10 per person (5% discount with my link!)
  • eSim, SIM card or Pocket Wi-Fi: approximately €30.

APPROXIMATE TOTAL PRICE FOR 2 PEOPLE (INCLUDING JR PASS) – €1,945* (€980 per person)

*Not including souvenirs and all the little things you end up buying while you are there.

Konpirasan in Kotohira

Fun facts

Some interesting facts about each of these specific places in Shikoku:

    • Udon Capital: Shikoku is famous for its delicious udon noodles.
    • Matsuyama Castle: One of the twelve original castles in Japan.
    • Dogo Onsen: It is said to have been the inspiration for Studio Ghibli’s “Spirited Away”.

Internal transportation – JR PASS

JR PASS! That great friend of tourists travelling to Japan, and it is very important that you get one for your trip. It can be requested by anyone travelling to Japan for tourism purposes who has a “Temporary Visitor” visa. It is a personal and non-transferable discounted pass specially designed for tourists, allowing you to travel throughout the country. You will have access to unlimited travel on all national trains operated by the JR Group, some metro services (such as the Yamanote Line in Tokyo, the green circular line, or the Osaka Loop Line), buses, ferries, and even airport transfers. You can find all the information in another article on my blog here.

Walk through the streets of Kōchi

Internet

I consider having Internet while travelling important, especially if you want to check train schedules, find your way around, or know how to get somewhere. In Japan, you have several options, and I’ll tell you a little about the two I have used:

    • eSim: nowadays, the most common option is to get an eSim, so I’ll leave you a link with a 5% discount for Holafly. If the discount is not automatically applied, you can use the code “WHERETOFINDJESS” during the purchase process.

    • Data SIM card: If you prefer a physical SIM card, you can buy one online before arriving in Japan and pick it up at the airport or have it delivered to your hotel. You can buy one through this link. You will also find shops selling SIM cards when you arrive at the airport, but I am used to always getting this one and the price is very good. They can be a little more expensive there. Another option is to buy one through Amazon JP and have it sent to your hotel.
    • Pocket Wi-Fi: This is a small portable device that you can rent and that will provide you with Internet access until its battery runs out. It is very small and easy to carry, allows you to connect several devices, and you can pick it up at the airport. You can rent yours through this link. The only downside is that you have to keep an eye on the battery level.

Travel insurance

For this type of trip, I always book IATI travel insurance to feel more relaxed in case anything happens. In Japan, we had an incident once and it was extremely helpful. We usually choose the “IATI Básico” or “IATI Estándar” options, although depending on the country you should also consider the “Estrella” or “Mochilero” options. Additionally, you can add or purchase cancellation insurance. There is an option called “IATI Anulación Premium”, which has been specifically designed to cover costs associated with trip cancellations (flights, accommodation, excursions, among others), up to a limit of €6,000, in case you are unable to travel for any of the reasons covered by the policy. By clicking this link you can purchase any IATI insurance policy with a 5% discount: https://www.iatiseguros.com?r=81717716852618.

Ritsurin Park in Takamatsu

Money during the trip – N26 Card

In Japan, they use the Yen (¥), and you can get an idea of its value by keeping in mind that ¥100 is around €0.64. We used our credit card to pay for everything during this trip and had no problems. I got this card for travelling to Iceland and since then it has worked wonderfully for me on all my trips. As I have travelled quite a few times to Japan and other countries that do not use the euro in recent years, I was getting tired of having to deal with exchange fees at airports or exchange offices, the approximately 3% commission my bank charged me for every card purchase, or for withdrawing money… So I tried to find a solution to this problem because, although it may seem like a small percentage, when you add it all up, the amount of money wasted on fees really adds up. So, when I travel, I pay for everything with my N26 prepaid card. You can request it through this link. A few things to keep in mind:

    • I opened an account for free at Spanish and eurozone ATMs, as long as they are contactless.
    • If you want the physical card, you can request it for €10.
    • Adding money to the card is very easy, as it is done through a bank transfer.
    • Some important points to keep in mind while travelling with this card:
        • You can pay in any currency other than the euro. N26 does not charge fees for making payments abroad, even when another currency is involved. The exchange rate applied is the one provided by Mastercard.
        • If you have a standard N26 account and want to withdraw money from an ATM outside Europe, you will have to pay a 1.7% foreign exchange fee (but nothing for the transaction itself). With an N26 You or Metal account, this fee is not charged. I use the Standard account.

All the payments I have made in countries with currencies other than the euro have had a very good exchange rate (in this case, the Visa rate is applied). I kept comparing it every now and then with a currency converter to check the daily exchange rate, and the rate they used was even better than the one shown online. If you have any questions about this topic, send me an email and I’ll help you, but the process is very easy. Here is the link again: N26.

Other blog posts about Japan

Iyonada Monogatari interior and breakfast
Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama
Udon class in Kotohira
 
Tamura Jinja in Takamatsu
Udon in Takamatsu and a walk around the city