This is a full day tour of western Kyoto, ancient capital for over 1,000 years. We will visit must-see places in western Kyoto such as Nijojo Castle, Kinkakuji Temple, Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, and Nishiki Market.
Nijojo Castle and Kinkakuji Temple are World Heritage Sites. It will literally be great fun to stroll along Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, and Nishiki Market as well where you’ll see a variety of Kyoto's signature foods/crafts.
At your hotel in Kyoto or Tourist Information Center at JR Kyoto Station, 2nd floor
Visiting World Heritage
Kinkakuji Temple, built in 1397, is world famous for its gold foiled straucture on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
Kinkakuji Temple and Arashiyama Bamboo Forest are both located in the western part of Kyoto.
Arashiyama, located in the south-western part of Kyoto, is the time-honored beautiful place where you will feel the atmosphere of the Heian Perion aristocrats from the 8th to 12th centuries. You will surely feel the elegance and grace of the ancient nobility.
Visiting World Heritage
Nijojo Castle was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1st shogun in the Tokugawa shogunate government, in 1603 as his residence in Kyoto. The last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, announced the return of government power to the emperor here in 1867.
Exploring "Kyoto's Kitchen"
Nishiki Food Market, narrow arcade in Kyoto's central part, is so-called "Kyoto's Kitchen" with a bunch of local foods. There are some eat-in corners, so you can try anything you like. 100%!
At your hotel in Kyoto or your convenient place in Kyoto
guide fee, hotel pick-up in Kyoto
Transportation fee (about 2,000 JPY per person, you and guide), lunch, dinner, entrance fee (2,000 JPY per person, you only)
This tour is subject to change due to traffic congestion especially in the tourist season.
We will walk for several hours on this tour. So sneakers might be recommended. Plus please take out insurance in preparation for a possible injury.
Please check my availability before you ask me in oder to save your precious time. Also note insurance is excluded.
I can also guide you in Hiroshima (Peace Memorial Park, Miyajima), 1-day tour. My transportation fees to/from Hiroshima cost about 20,000 JPY, return.
“Perfect introduction to Kyoto ”
Ahogo met us at our hotel promptly. Since our tour was utilizing public transportation he had travel cards ready for us to use, the cost to be settled at the end of the tour. He had the stops well planned by area in order to avoid too much crisis crossing around the city. Ahogo gave us very in-depth explanations of the correlation between Shinto and Buddhism, and showed deep knowledge of historical events. He is a soft spoken man with great passion for sharing information about his country. His command of English is perfect and was always eager to share his knowledge with us. We definitely recommend you book with Shogo.
Shogo K.
(30 reviews)Dear Gigi, Thank you for the wonderful review. I'm so grateful to know that you enjoyed exploring inner reaches of Kyoto's historical sites. Because of your thoughtful cooperation and early blooming cherry blossoms coming out, I felt as if I were strolling in a beautiful paradise with good and old friends of mine.:) Many thanks to you, Gigi, your generous husband, and lovely friends.:) From "Henpecked"
Simona I.
Bustling Osaka & Ancient Nara Full Day Private Tour
“Very knowledgeable guide”
Shogo was an excellent guide. We enjoyed very much the itinerary prepared for us and the fact that he provided short documents for us to refer to for the trip. Very good! Thank you Shogo
Shogo K.
(30 reviews)Dear Simona, Thank you for the lovely review. I'm so grateful. Indeed it was a fun two-day tour in Osaka and Nara. It's always my great pleasure to do tours with such a cheerful and beautiful sisters, especially guiding with hand in hand among a herd of dear. Looked a bit envious of me? Again thank you for everything. Warmest regards, Shogo
Angus M.
Bustling Osaka & Ancient Nara Full Day Private Tour
“Very Hot Day”
The weather was very hot in Osaka and we had a good visit to Osaka-Jo. We then took the train to Nara, all well planned but there everything declined. The guide lost his way around the town and appeared ill prepared for this section of the tour. After wandering for some km we eventually found the restaurant but with the heat and exhaustion from the additional walking we abandoned the remaining part of the tour which was very disappointing.
Shogo K.
(30 reviews)Dear Angus, Thank you for writing a review full of useful suggestions. Indeed with heat wave into a third straight day across the country, Nara was sweating as well. We were having to take caution to not get dehydrated. We went rather slowly than usually and taking a water break/shade frequently, for which I think we might have lost enough time in Nara. Meanwhile, I understood early on that my guests' priority is Japanese cuisine. I booked a good restaurant for lunch with their consent. The lunch basically lasts as long as at least 1.5 plus hours. After arriving in Nara, I was focused on how best to get to the restaurant to save time for sight seeing. I tried taking a shortcut through historic Naramachi district, in vain. We accordingly ended up losing time for visiting a temple/shrine, and making them get exhausted. I'm very sorry for that. I felt like I learned a lesson ....."If you run after two hares, you'll catch neither." Hopefully my guests caught one of the best ever "hares" at the restaurant.:) Thank you so much for your huge patience and understanding. Best regards, Shogo