Matsuyama to Oboke

What's the cheapest way to get from Matsuyama (Ehime) to Oboke (Tokushima) via public transport for someone who isn't a foreign visitor? Also does anyone know where I can get the bus timetable from Oboke Station to Iya Valley? Thank you.

p.s: Also looking for the bus timetable from Awa-Ikeda station to Oboke. Thank you!

You'll have to be more precise...

1. "Matsuyama to Oboke": define "Oboke". If you mean Oboke station, say that.
2. "Oboke to Iya valley": where in the Iya valley?

Awa-Ikeda to Oboke is easy... http://yonkoh.co.jp/pdf/timetable/014.pdf

Assuming Matsuyama station to Oboke station, the cheapest seems to be...

1. Matsuyama to Tokushima highway bus, get off at the Yoshinogawa service area. About 2 hours, 2800 yen. http://www.jr-shikoku.co.jp/bus/businfo/yosino_ex/tokushima.htm

2. Higashi-Miyoshi town bus from Highway Oasis to Awa-Ikeda station. About 20 minutes, 530 yen. http://www.town.higashimiyoshi.lg.jp/profile/img/zikoku03.pdf

3. Awa-Ikeda to Oboke as above. About 40 minutes, 660 yen.

This works out to 3990 yen. If you take the 8:00 or 9:40 bus from Matsuyama, you can be at Oboke at 14:08, so it can take as little as 4 1/2 hours. By contrast, by local train it takes over 7 hours and costs 4160 yen, and by limited express 3 1/2 hours and 8140 yen.

Oops sorry everyone, I made a mistake. I need to know how to get to Iya Valley from Awa-Ikeda. I read online that I need to get off at ‘c’J‰·�ò‘O but the links to the bus timetable are broken. From what I read, I assume that this bus stop will take me to one of the main tourist spots in Iya (the gorge), is this right? How do I access the kazurabayashi from here? Either Oku Iya Kazurabayashi or Iya Kazurabayashi? I'll be coming on a weekday, I read that the local buses are infrequent. I also read that there's a tour bus that goes there on weekends and takes people around the valley for 5 hours, does anyone know if there's a similar thing for tourists during weekdays? I'll be coming during spring vacation (early April) if that helps.

Sorry if my questions are vague. It's hard to get information on just how big Iya Valley is and which tourist spots are located close together.

Kazurabayashi is on the same bus line as Awa-Ikeda/Oboke, whose timetable I gave above. Pay attention to the operation days of the buses marked with a circle.

3. Awa-Ikeda to Oboke as above. About 40 minutes, 660 yen

Actually, better do this by local train (30-40 minutes, 450 yen).

 1. Matsuyama to Tokushima highway bus, get off at the Yoshinogawa service area. About 2 hours, 2800 yen. http://www.jr-shikoku.co.jp/bus/businfo/yosino_ex/tokushima.htm

Firas, thank you so much for your help. Yes I did mean Oboke Station. Do you know how far Oboke Station is from the Yoshinogawa Service Area?

Also Firas, I can't see any bus stop listed on this website that says Yoshinogawa. Am I looking at the right timetable?

http://www.jr-shikoku.co.jp/bus/businfo/yosino_ex/tokushima.htm

Sorry, the stop is called Miyoshi BS (not sure what it stands for; Bus Stop?) on the bus timetable page. Note that after that the bus to Awa-Ikeda leaves from Highway Oasis, so you'll have some walking to do.

http://www.jr-shikoku.co.jp/bus/businfo/img/tokusima-map/t-miyosi.gif

Firas, please forgive me but I'm still a bit confused. Sorry, please bare with me.

So I need to get the bus from Matsuyama (�¼ŽR‰w) to Miyoshi (ŽO�D‚a‚r), walk from Miyoshi Bus Stop to another bus stop called Oasis (ƒIƒAƒVƒX‘O) then catch that bus to Awa Ikeda (ˆ¢”g’r“cƒoƒXƒ^�[ƒ~ƒiƒ‹), is that right? How do I get from Miyoshi to the Oasis bus stop? Are they far apart? I can't imagine that the bus stop is listed on Google Maps so I don't know how I'll be able to find it if it involves walking. And are passengers allowed to embark/disembark at these stops? Sometimes if they're just rest stops they don't let people get on or off, so I want to make sure.

Firas, I just checked out these places on Google Maps, it makes a lot more sense now. Oasis is a theme park right? The Oasis bus stop would be located on the tollway right? It doesn't say where the bus stop is on Google Maps. Now I just need to make sure that I can disembark at Miyoshi as it looks like a rest stop. Are you sure they let passengers off here?

You can look up ‹g–ì�ìSA on Google Maps, Highway Oasis is right next to it, to the south-west. And the bus stop to Awa-Ikeda is there somewhere; I don't know where exactly but it can't be too hard to find. Worst case, ask the staff there.

And yes you can disembark there.

And by the way, if you take a train to Oboke better get off at the station (’r“c‰w‘O), the bus terminal is 200-ish meters away.

Thank you so much Firas, there's no way I would have been able to find this information on my own. You've just saved me 5,000 yen. Cheers!