Nikko One Day Tour: Shogun's Legacy
Joined 2023
This tour offers you an opportunity to appreciate incredible artisanship in majestic nature, which is a very unique experience to Nikko. We will visit Toshogu Shrine, Rinnoji Temple, and Taiyuin to observe the magnificent architecture and marvelous sculptures. We will open our imagination to the Edo Period and speculate on what Shogun's legacy means to our present day.
Itinerary
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
Your hotel in Tokyo or Nikko
- I will meet you at your hotel in Tokyo or in Nikko. I will help you buy tickets for limited express train to Nikko. If you are staying in Nikko, the meeting time will be 9:00 or 10:00.
Tobu Nikko Station
We will take a local bus from Tobu Nikko Station.
Lunch
At one of the restaurants close to Shinkyo (the red bridge), we will enjoy early lunch because there is practically no place to eat in the shrine/temple area.
Shinkyo
This is a quaint, cute little bridge in traditional style. Many tourists take photos of the bridge. It has an interesting legend.
Toshogu Shrine
The Magnificent memorial to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate (the Edo Period). Admission fee: 1,600 yen.
Taiyuin
The mausoleum of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the 3rd Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate and a grandson of Ieyasu. You can tell how much he respected and admired his grandfather by its similarities with Toshogu.
Rinnoji Temple
The most important temple in Nikko. You can enjoy its beautiful Japanese garden, Shoyoen. Admission fee: 500 yen.
After seeing the shrines and temple, we can either take a bus or walk for about 20 minutes to the station. There are many sweet shops and souvenir shops on the street.
Tobu Nikko Station
We will take limited Express train back to Tokyo. I will navigate your way to your hotel so that you can take a nap on the train!
Ending Point
Your hotel
Want to personalize this tour?
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
Inclusions & Exclusions
Guide fee, hotel pick-up, and the guide's transportation fees to/from home.
Transportation fees for you and the guide between your hotel and Nikko and during the tour (about 7,000-8,000 yen/person), lunch for you and the guide (1,000-2,000 yen/person), your admission fees (1,600 yen per person for Toshogu Shrine and 500 yen for Shoyoen Garden; admission for a licensed guide is free).
Tour Important Information
1) I will customize the tour according to your needs and preference. I can make the tour shorter by skipping one or two sightseeing spots. In that case, I'll lower the price. Please let me know by message before booking the tour.
2) Usually it is about 5 minutes by bus from Tobu Nikko Station to Shinkyo. But on holidays and weekends, and during October/November, the traffic in Nikko is very heavy, and it can take more than half an hour. I recommend you choose a weekday for Nikko.
3) We will walk a lot, so please wear comfortable shoes for walking.
4) You can't avoid stairs. Threre is a long and steep stairway in Toshogu, before the grave of Ieyasu.
5) You have to take off your shoes when you enter the main building at Toshogu Shrine.
6) It is colder in Nikko than in Tokyo. Please be prepared.
Cancellation Policy
- Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
- 50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
- No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time
Joined 2023
About Tour Guide Junko Y.
Hi there! I'm Junko, a government licensed tour guide and interpreter. I was born and bred in the Tokyo area. I can customize my tour or create a tour any way you like, so please send me a message if you are interested. I have spent a year as a graduate student in the US, and traveled in several countries. I've made friends with non-Japanese people throughout my life, and I have a pretty good knowledge of what they want to know. I love goofy jokes and having fun. I will do my best to make our clients' stay in Japan a wonderful one.
Reviews
Shannon Y.
“Junko does an excellent job!”
Please see detailed review written on other post. Booked two full days with Junko (two one-day, customized, private tours). Excellent tour guide, wonderful experience. Made a huge difference to have a customized, private tour with a tour guide who is knowledgeable and cares about giving you a tour that meets your needs. Junko did an excellent job.
Junko Y.
Thank you so much!! It was a great pleasure that I was able to guide you for two days in a row. I really appreciate it. You two were amazing guests! I'm so happy that you enjoyed my tour because I had so much fun and also I was able to learn many things from you two! I really hope to see you and your mother again.
Shannon Y.
“Wonderful tour with a wonderful guide!”
Our customized, private tour with Junko was a really great experience. We booked two full days with her to sightsee in Tokyo before taking a cruise. From the beginning, Junko was always responsive to messages. We proposed a number of places to visit, and she helped ensure the timeframe to get around was doable. She also checked that there were no duplicates between our tour with her and what we would see on the cruise. Before we arrived, Junko made sure she was familiar with the current conditions of all of our planned stops and worked with us on whether or not to purchase tickets in advance. She also determined whether to use the subway, bus or taxi. We agreed in advance to cover transportation costs and lunch for her so that we could all be together. As a tour guide, Junko is very knowledgeable about the area and helped us navigate the subway, bus and taxi. It was helpful that she spoke Japanese because we did not. She explained common customs that we did not know, such as which side to stand on an escalator. She was also prompt on both days, meeting us at our hotel early. Her English is strong. Junko is very pleasant and polite, especially with my mom who was 80 years old. When my mom got tired, we ended up taking more breaks. When we ended up liking a particular place, we spent more time than planned. Junko was always patient and flexible when we wanted to adjust. This is a great benefit of having a customized, private tour as opposed to a larger one that chooses the itinerary and timeframe for you. We were able to see what we wanted to see, at our own pace, without impacting others if we were slower than expected. We also received a lot of helpful information from Junko and could ask as many questions as we wanted. Also, Junko helped us find and use transportation efficiently (such as subway stations) so we would not get lost. We highly recommend a customized, private tour with Junko - if we do return to Japan, we will request her again!
Junko Y.
Thank you so much for your wonderful review!! Honestly, I really enjoyed showing you and your mother around Tokyo and I'm so glad that we had a great time together. It was so interesting to listen to your work experiences, since I found them really relatable. Your mother's experience in Tokyo 50 years ago was fascinating, too. I could spend hours just chatting with you two. I will be more than willing to guide you again when you come back. I trully hope to see you and your mother again. Untill then, see you!
Sandra B.
“Excellent tour guide!”
Junko was a very friendly, knowledgeable and very organized tour guide. Junko personalized our tour exactly how we wanted it. We loved our tour and highly recommend Junko!! She was wonderful!! Thank you Junko for an unforgettable tour of Nikko!!
Junko Y.
Thank you so much, Sandra!! I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed our tour. You and your friend were so nice and I wanted to spend more time with you! I hope you will have a great time for the rest of your stay in Japan. See you again!!
$360/ per group
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