Both Pedal Japan and Pedal Sicily launch in spring 2026. We’ve had a handful of riders ask us which one to do, and the answer is surprisingly easy: they’re aimed at different people and different moods.
Here’s the short version.
What’s the riding actually like
Hokkaido in May is wide-sky, big-pasture, long-and-rolling country. You spend most of your day in fourth gear at a comfortable cadence. The climbs are long but rarely steep — Hokkaido is volcanic, but the road builders avoided the worst of the gradients. You’ll notice you’re climbing for an hour but you won’t be in pain about it.
Sicily is twitchy. The coast is rolling-to-undulating with frequent short kicks. The headline climb (Etna) is a full-day commitment with 1,400 metres over 22 kilometres. The food in your legs after Sicily is different from Japan — more punchy, more fatigued in the calves than the lungs.
If you’re a rider who loves long, sustained tempo days with consistent rhythm: Japan.
If you like changing gears, accelerating out of corners, climbing in spurts: Sicily.
What’s the food
Genuinely different cases.
Japan is the most refined food country we run in. Hokkaido in spring is the start of asparagus season. The izakaya in the small towns are unbelievable. You eat well three times a day, and you eat differently every meal.
Sicily is more peasant, more bold, more obvious. Pasta you remember weeks later. Tuna so fresh you could weep. Granita for breakfast. Less restraint, more flavour-per-bite.
If your idea of a great food trip involves discovery, subtlety, and walking out of a restaurant five hours later quietly impressed: Japan.
If it involves walking out of a restaurant four hours later loud and full and possibly mildly drunk: Sicily.
Who you’ll be riding with
Both tours cap at 12 riders. Both pull a similar crowd: 30s to 60s, mostly couples and small friend groups, mostly experienced cyclists, internationally mixed. Sicily tends to attract a slightly more European crowd; Japan tends to attract a slightly more international one.
If you’d like to chat with riders who’ve done one or the other (or both), drop us a note. We’ll connect you.
Practical bits
Hokkaido in May runs around 12 to 18°C during the riding day. Mid-layer territory. Reliable weather, low rain risk.
Sicily in late May runs 18 to 26°C. Short sleeves, sometimes arm warmers in the morning. Slightly higher rain chance than Japan but still very low.
Both have dedicated guide vans. Both supply Giant TCRs in your size if you’d rather not bring your own bike. Both have a rest day in the middle.
So which one
If you’re newer to multi-day cycling tours, or you want a calmer pace: Japan.
If you’ve done European tours before and want one that’s punchier: Sicily.
If you have ten days of holiday and money for one tour and you want the most “different” experience: Japan, narrowly. The combination of language, food, and terrain is more unfamiliar to most of our riders than Sicily, even when those riders have ridden in Italy before.
If you can do both: do them in the order they happen. Japan first (May), Sicily second (also May, different week, doable), and then take the rest of the summer off. Several of our alumni have done exactly this.
