Onomichi

Onomichi squeezes along a narrow band of shore between three temple hills and the channel to Mukaishima, so the town climbs in stone steps and lanes from the waterfront. The port opened in 1168 and shipped rice and trade goods for five centuries, and the merchants' hillside villas still look down on the shipyards across the water. Film-makers often shoot here.

For riders it is the Honshu end of the Shimanami Kaido. Onomichi U2, the converted warehouse by the station, holds Hotel Cycle and a Giant store, and the ferries to Mukaishima leave from piers along the same waterfront. Winter is mild here, with January averaging about 5.7 °C, so winter suits a walk in the lanes and a cool ride over the bridges.

Eat Onomichi ramen, a soy broth with flat noodles and spoonfuls of pork back fat. Shukaen, the shop most people tie to the style, closed on 18 June 2019, and a relative of its owners opened Chuka Soba Shu in the Juyokka-motomachi area in November 2020.