Tsuchiura
土浦市36°05′ N 140°12′ ECityPop. 140,804Ibaraki and Tsukuba
Tsuchiura suits riders who want to start the Ring-Ring Road from a station with rentals, showers and a cyclist hotel under one roof 50 minutes from Tokyo, and the town itself is a quiet lakeside stop with more lotus fields than sights.
Photo Miyuki Meinaka · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Stay at the station to start the Ring-Ring Road with no transfer, or by the lake at Kohoku for a dawn start on the shore.
Eat in Tsuchiura
Things to do in Tsuchiura
Tsuchiura sits on the western shore of Kasumigaura and is the main base for the Tsukuba-Kasumigaura Ring-Ring Road. Limited expresses on the JR Joban Line reach it from Tokyo in about 50 minutes. Ring-Ring Square Tsuchiura opened in the PLAYatre station building in 2018 as the prefecture's cycling base, with a bike shop, rental counter, showers and lockers, and BEB5 Tsuchiura occupies the third floor.
From the station, blue arrows painted on the road lead you to the route. Turn north along the old Tsukuba Railway path for Mt. Tsukuba, or follow the lake shore east past the lotus fields that supply Ibaraki's renkon. The prefecture's cycling site sends hungry riders to the Fukuraiken diner for lotus-root ramen.
On weekends and holidays the Joban Line cycle train lets you roll your bike on at Ueno without bagging it, if you book online. In 2026 it left Ueno at 7:02 and 7:53 and came back from Tsuchiura at 17:00 and 17:28.
Quick answers about Tsuchiuraよくある質問
Is Tsuchiura a good place to stay?
Stay at the station to start the Ring-Ring Road with no transfer, or by the lake at Kohoku for a dawn start on the shore.
Within 12 km
Places to stay nearby宿
Within 12 km