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Let's enjoy Lake Biwa cruise and National Treasure Castle!

Shrine Gate at the small island

Three-story pagoda at the small island

Scenery from the island

Hikone Castle with "Hiko-nyan"

Old temple in the island

Let's enjoy Lake Biwa cruise and National Treasure Castle!

Day Trip

Joined 2018

Yuriko S.

4.96 / 5

(68 reviews)

Identity Verified

Interview-Based Quality Checks

Shiga

English

7 hours

Private tour (only you and Yuriko S.)

Up to 15 people

Hikone Castle is one of the five National Treasure castles. The castle is on the hilltop and you can see beautiful scenery of Lake Biwa and castle town. Beside the castle, there is a beautiful Japanese garden, named "Genkyu-en". If you like, you enjoy a cup of green tea with Japanese sweet. After lunch at the castle town, let's enjoy cruise to a small sacred island, Chikubu-jima. In the sacred island, there are a famous temple and a National Treasure shrine. I'm sure you like it!!

Itinerary

This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!

09:30 AM

Meeting Point

At your hotel or Hikone Station

10:00 AM

Hikone Castle

Let's enjoy National Treasure castle and beautiful Japanese garden!

12:00 PM

enjoy lunch time at nostalgic castle town

You can choose your favorite Japanese food at many restaurants at nostalgic castle town.

02:00 PM

Hikone Port for Lake Biwa cruise

Let's enjoy cruising for 40 minutes to Chikubu-jima island.

02:40 PM

Chikubu-jima island

strolling around the sacred small island, you can see beautiful shrine and temple.

04:30 PM

return to Hikone Port

You can ride the shuttle bus from the port to Hikone Station

Ending Point

Hikone Station

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

What‘s included

guide fee, hotel pick-up fee, transportation fee for guide

What‘s not included

transportation fee for you, lunch for you and guide, cruise fee and admission fee for you and guide

Tour Important Information

admission fee for Hikone Castle and Japanese garden include cruise fee is 3300 yen per a person

Important message from the supplier

I will guide you every day except for the day that my schedule is not vacant.

I'm a local guide of Gifu, Nagoya and Aichi, but I can guide you around Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Kanazawa, Takayama and Shiga if you pay my transportation fee.

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 2018

Yuriko S.

4.96 / 5

(68 reviews)

Identity Verified

Interview-Based Quality Checks

About Tour Guide Yuriko S.

I am Yuriko from Gifu Prefecture. I was an assistant English teacher at junior high school. I started to work as a National Certificate tour guide in 2019.

I'm very interested in kimono, tea ceremony and Japanese castles. I sometimes guide in kimono. There are so many nice places to visit in Gifu and Nagoya! I also guide around Takayama, Shirakawago, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Kanazawa if you pay my transportation fee from my hometown. Let's enjoy Japan with me!

Reviews

Kent D.

5 / 5

Feb 19, 2026

Kyoto Full-Day Tour

Feb 19, 2026

Kyoto

7 hours

Customized

“Gotta Go Kyoto with Yuriko”

Yuriko provided our family of 5 with a delightful tour of the Arashiyama district, Tenryu-ji Temple, and the Kinkaju-ri Golden Pavilion. She took us to a fun conveyor belt sushi spot (which she selected to accommodate my wife’s gluten intolerance). We highly recommend Yuriko!

Yuriko S.

Dear my guest, Thank you choosing me your tour guide. I also had a wonderful day in Kyoto with you and your nice family. I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed Kyoto Tour with me. Today, we enjoyed golden route of Kyoto UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Tenryuji, Ryoanji , and Kinkakuji. Kyoto has other hidden nice places to visit, so please come to Kyoto again. I'm looking forward to seeing you and your family! Your guide, Yuriko Suematsu(Lily)

Corrine P.

5 / 5

Feb 10, 2026

Nagoya Full-Day Tour by route bus

Feb 10, 2026

Nagoya

7 hours 30 mins

Customized

“Highly recommend ”

Yuriko is amazing, she is very knowledgeable and friendly. She explained to us about the histories of place of interest and we learned something new. Oh! Lunch is very nice and tasty. Thank you once again.

Yuriko S.

Thank you for your nice comments and excellent review. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed Nagoya Tour. Nagoya has other interesting places to visit. Also, there are beautiful places in my hometown, Gifu, such as Gujo-Hachiman, Mone's Pond, Seki City, Gifu Castle, Takayama and Shirakawago Village. Please come to Nagoya and Gifu again. I'm looking forward to seeing you. Your guide, Yuriko(Lily)

Linna W.

5 / 5

Dec 31, 2025

Nagoya Full-Day Tour

Dec 31, 2025

Nagoya

8 hours

Customized

“Amazing Guide”

She could accommodate our last minute change. Our guest had a wonderful trip with her. Thank you so much Yuriko san, hope can work with again!

Yuriko S.

Thank you so much for an excellent review and nice comments!! I'm happy to hear that our guests enjoyed Nagoya Tour with me. You supported me a lot. Thank you for your kindness.I also look forward to working with you again, Linna san!