Welcome to Kyoto! This is a private tour to cover the most popular sights in eastern and central Kyoto. Please also see "Western Kyoto" page if you wish to book highlight tour in two days. Longer tour request is welcome. Please contact me and I will customize the itinerary.
**Hello! My name is Lisa **
I am a government licensed tour guide offering tours in Kyoto, Osaka and Nara.
If you are looking for a guide who can take you to must-see sights in Kyoto, this tour will be perfect for you.
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
Meet up at your hotel in Kyoto city
Kiyomizudera temple
( Admission fee 500yen/person )
-Buddhist temple that belongs to "Kita-Hosso sect" which is derived from one of the oldest sects in Japan.
-UNESCO site
-Beautiful landscape of architecture and nature
-400 year-old wooden hall standing on a cliff with traditional architectural method called Kake-zukuri.
-Buddha statue of Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva
Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
-Headquarters of all Inari shrines in Japan.
-Shintoism which is Japan's two biggest religions along with Buddhism.
-Famous for vermilion Torii gates lining up along the path on the mountain.
-Fox statues
Lunch
Udon noodle, Soba noodle, Yakitori chicken skewers, Yakiniku beef BBQ, Ramen, Tsuke-men ( dipping ramen ), and more!
Please let me know your request.
*If you have any special dietary request please let me know in advance and I will propose delicious lunch recommendations accordingly.
Nijo castle Ninomaru palace
( Admission fee 1,300yen/person )
-Shogun's palace from the 17th century
-UNESCO site
-Ultimate meeting rooms with traditional architectural style called Shoin-zukuri.
-Screen paintings of auspicious animals, birds, plants, and seasonal flowers drawn by legendary painters from Kano art school. ( High quality reproductions )
-A Japanese garden designated as a nation's special scenic site, designed by a legendary garden designer from 400 years ago.
Note :
-We will take off our shoes to enter.
-No photo allowed inside of the palace.
-Honmaru-palace is NOT included in the tour. Please let me know if you are interested in visiting both two palaces in Nijo castle.
Ending Point
4PM : Tour ends at your hotel in Kyoto city
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
-Guiding Service
-Guide's local transportation fee
-Traveler's admission fees for temples and a castle : Please see the price in the itinerary. *Please have some cash available with you.
-Traveler's transportation fee : About 1,500yen-2,000yen/person each day depending on your hotel location.
-Taxi fare if used.
-Food and drinks
-Transportation
The primary mode of transportation is subways and trains, but I will recommend using taxis in some locations when it saves a lot of time or if you prefer to take a taxi over public transportations.
-Walkability
The tour includes a lot of walking. Please wear comfortable shoes. If you would like to avoid a lot of walking , slope and stairs, please contact me and I will propose a less-walking itinerary!
-Lunch
Your lunch request is welcome. If you have any special dietary request please let me know in advance and I will propose delicious lunch recommendations accordingly.
Please feel free to contact me if you have special requests on the days my profile calendars are off.
Hi everyone! My name is Lisa.
Thank you very much for checking out my profile.
I am originally from Osaka, Japan, and completed my Bachelor’s Degree from Kyoto Prefecture University in architecture. During my stay in Kyoto I volunteered as a tour guide for foreign visitors.
After graduation I moved to Tokyo and worked in the marketing and promotions field. On weekends I continued to work as a tour guide volunteer in Tokyo.
I have also studied at the University of California, Irvine and worked for a tech company in Anaheim California. It was great oppotuniay for me to see Japan from foreigner's perspective.
My happiness for meeting new people and learning my own culture through guiding foreign visitors kept increasing and that made me decide to become a professional tour guide.
I offer tailor-made tours for individuals or groups. I have met a lot of wonderful people through tour guiding and look forward to the many more friends I will make.
My strength is the stock of Japan's historical and architectural knowledge, which I believe makes your Japan experience fun and interesting especially when you are visiting Japan's old capitals.
During my tour I will share with you historical contents of places or structures you are visiting so that you can understand the reason why you meet present Japan. I have friendly and mindful nature which will make your Japan experience greater!
Please feel free to message me if you have any question about your Japan trip!
Hope to see you soon in my tour.
Best,
Lisa
Jennifer O.
“Wonderful tour for our group of 7! ”
Our family and friends had a fantastic time with Lisa. Our group ranged from young kids to grandparents and Lisa took great care in planning an itinerary that fit our group, as well as alternatives in case plans need to change at the last minute. She was super knowledgeable and we enjoyed learning about Nara and the history behind the locations we went to. We highly recommend Lisa and would definitely ask her to be our guide again the next time we’re visiting the area!
Nicolai L.
“Temples of Kyoto”
An excellent day in Kyoto, where Lisa took good care of us and should us the most important Shinto and Buddhist temples. An excellent way to experience Kyoto and get more hands-on information and guidance on how these two religions coexist in Japanese culture.
Tom C.
“Totally enjoyable and deserving beyond 5 stars with Lisa W.”
My family of 3 visited Kyoto during peak cherry blossom season in early April, 2025 and spent 4 wonderful days with Lisa. It's our first time vacationing in Kyoto so we spent a lot of time contacting tour guides for more information starting in October, 2024. After a few email exchanges with all of them, we decided to go with Lisa with complete confidence. She was very responsive, patient, flexible, and informative during our search for a tour guide. She helped us build a totally customized and very active itinerary for each of the 4 days and advised us with changes to optimize travel time and accommodate operating hours and open/close days of the attractions. She also recommended some off-the-beaten-path attractions away from the usual crowd of tourists and they were very charming and enjoyable that we would have missed if not for her recommendations. After we decided to go with her and finished building the itinerary, we continued to email her with additional questions and changes and she always replied quickly to acknowledge our questions. If she was busy, she would let us know that she could not answer our questions right now because she was guiding a long tour currently but promised to get back to us later and she always did and kept her promises. She managed to keep us to the very active itinerary we built each day without the feeling of being rushed and the amount of time we spent at each site was just perfect. She also recommended a car company whom we hired and she coordinated with the driver perfectly throughout the day to optimize drop off and pick up locations at each site to save time and minimize walking to and from the car. On our last day, she went out of her way to accompany us to the airport and all the way to the security checkpoint and waved us good-bye. We were very touched and appreciative of her extra effort and her caring up to the last step. Don't look any further and book with Lisa W. now before it's too late!
$480/ per group