Visiting One of Japan’s Most Underrated Destinations

Plus our final instalment from winter in the Canaries

We’ve just returned from a magical trip to Japan’s Shikoku Island. Well, it was mostly magical. As shared in last month’s newsletter, we undertook the Shikoku Pilgrimage, a 1,200 year old route that visits all 88 Buddhist temples dotting the island. For purists looking to complete the entire pilgrimage on foot in one go, this involves setting aside a daunting 40 to 60 days to hike through forests, villages, and across highways, sleeping wherever a bed can be found.

For lightweights like us, the best approach was a highly curated sampler with a handpicked selection of the best hikes and most picturesque temples. We spent our days hiking from temple to temple, over mountains, and through towering pine forests. At night, we stayed in a wide range of accommodations, from an arty boutique inn to quirky business hotels to luxurious, once-in-a-lifetime onsen hotels. Each stay gave us a fascinating view of Japanese culture.

Where things got complicated

The magic ebbed a little when it came time to travel either to or from the trail. We regularly started or ended our days with a combination of taxi, trains and buses, often spending a couple hours on the commute to our next stop. In fact, the logistics of this trip were so unwieldy that I eventually commissioned a Japanese freelancer from Fiverr to call local taxi companies on our behalf. On the upside, we ended up having a very memorable dinner with that same freelancer in a small town on our route, which was one of the highlights of our time in Japan.

We have two main takeaways from this trip. First, Shikoku Island and this pilgrimage have yet to be discovered by the international crowds, making this adventure feel even more special. We did encounter a handful of other international tourists on the trail but the majority of fellow pilgrims were Japanese. In fact, locals always seemed to be surprised but pleased that we had found our way to their island.

Second, planning the Shikoku Pilgrimage independently is not for the fainthearted. Booking Japanese accommodations and transit can be a bewildering experience for a foreigner. I can see why most people fall back on the handful of travel companies that offer this as a self-guided tour. However, by planning it ourselves, we were able to select the routes and accommodations that suited our tastes while saving thousands of dollars in the process.

We decided not to shoot a video as we felt that would detract from our experience. But we will have a blog post ready next month sharing our complete Shikoku itinerary—along with a recommendation of where to go instead if it’s your first visit to Japan.

Closing out winter in Tenerife

We’ve already shared highlights from our month in Gran Canaria and our five-day hiking adventure in La Gomera. But there’s one final chapter in the story of our winter escape to the Canary Islands: our stay in Tenerife, the largest and most popular island of the archipelago.

We based ourselves in Puerto de la Cruz, a city known for its dramatic black sand beaches and busy resorts. Naturally, we gravitated away from the most heavily touristed areas and settled instead in the neighbourhood of Punta Brava, a former fishing village with narrow streets and colourful houses. While this area still receives its share of crowds, it also feels authentically Canarian with a buzzy neighbourhood square where locals enjoy their morning cafe con leche. Here we stayed in a small apartment on the edge of a cliff with a 180° view of the Atlantic. At sunrise, sunset, and really any time of day, the view was truly magnificent.

Similarly to our time in Gran Canaria, it was a month for slow exploration. Each week, we hopped on a bus and tackled an excursion or two across the island. Highlights included wandering through the picture-perfect historic towns of Tenerife, most notably La Orotava, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, and Garachico.

We also took on a couple ambitious hikes through Anaga Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with ancient laurel forests and steep trails that seem to tumble right into the ocean. In between, we enjoyed a relaxed lifestyle that included morning runs along the coastline, afternoons working on our remote volunteer jobs, and the occasional menu del dia. Catch all the highlights in our last video from the Canaries.

As for our final verdict on the Canary Islands? It’s hard to imagine a better winter escape. Mild weather, endless hiking opportunities, fascinating towns, and spectacular scenery made this one of our favourite getaways yet. The Canaries have officially set a very high bar for future winters. Fortunately, we’ve already started dreaming up where next year might take us...

See you on the road,

Stephanie & Gillian