1 day

Private

About this activity

The tour starts at 9am from the Hotel Granvia Kyoto in the JR Kyoto Station building. You are requested to select one of two different courses, Northwest-bound course or the Southeast-bound course.

The Northwest-bound course visits the Bamboo Grove, the Rock Garden (Ryoanji Temple), the Golden Pavilion and the Nijo Castle or the Nishiki Market. The Southeast-bound course visits the Sake Brewery, the Fushimi Inari Taisha, the Sanjusangendo Temple, the Kiyomizudera Temple and the Ninenzaka or Sannenzaka Slope.

Tour ends at 4pm near the Gion area, the Geisha district of Kyoto.

As for the guide in charge, you will have three different choices, apprentice guide (reduced rate), normal guide and well-experienced guide (premium guide) for different prices.

Northwest-bound course itinerary:

9am -
• Kyoto Station, Hotel Granvia Kyoto
• Bamboo grove in the Arashiyama area
• Rock Garden at Ryoanji Temple

12pm -
• Lunch break
• Golden Pavilion
• Nijo Castle or the Nishiki food market

4pm -
• Tour ends in the Gion area (the Geisha district)

Southeast-bound course Itinerary

9am -
• Kyoto Station - Hotel Granvia Kyoto
• Gekkeikan Sake Brewery
• Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine (thousands of red torii gates)
• Sanjusangendo Temple

12pm -
• Lunch break
• Kiyomizudera Temple
• Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka Slope

4pm -
• Tour ends in the Gion area (the Geisha district)

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Included

Private professional guide
Public Transportation
One-day city bus pass (can be used continuously after the tour)
Entry/Admission - Kinkakuji Temple
Entry/Admission - Kiyomizu-dera Temple
Entry/Admission - Nijo Castle
Entry/Admission - Sanjusangendo Temple
Entry/Admission - Arashiyama
Entry/Admission - Sannenzaka Ninenzaka
Entry/Admission - WaRaiDo Guide Networks

Not included

Food and drinks
Lunch
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Additional

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
Not wheelchair accessible
Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
Children must be accompanied by an adult

Features

Tourism

95%

Cultural

80%

Reviews

4.7

26

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Diana S

5 | 2018-06-23

An excellent day trip with the bonus that it ended up being a true 'private' tour with just me and my husband joining this one on the day whereas normally it is small groups - our guide was excellent in terms of her knowledge and adaptability to small or larger groups as she was heading off to a larger tour that night a real hard worker. We were fortunate that all of the smaller tours we took felt like we were out with friends and we treated it like that - having lunch together and sharing small gifts. Our guide also went above and beyond helping me at the train station and on the phone when I needed to make bookings for upcoming train travel and additional hotel accommodation given that I was having trouble explaining myself fully.

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septoffs

5 | 2018-06-13

This was a perfect introduction to Kyoto first-time visitors. Our guide Mie was caring, knowledgeable, and professional. We felt like we had a friend showing us around her country. We saw all the highlights listed, plus Mie gave us so much additional information during our in-between travel times. We weren't sure which level of guide to book, and decided on the most experienced for a little extra money. We were very happy with our decision. Thank you, Mie, for a great day!

M

Matthew M

5 | 2018-05-18

The tour was absolutely amazing! The sights were great, but what set the tour apart and made it great was the guide. Yuri, our guide, completely exceeded our expectations. She was extremely knowledgeable about the history and significance of all the sights we saw during the tour, but her knowledge and expertise went well beyond. She never tired of our endless questions about Kyoto, Japanese culture and Japanese history. She seemed to be able to answer anything we asked and was constantly enlightening us with fun facts AND doing so in excellent English. In a word, she was outstanding! My only complaint is that we didn't have another day or two in Kyoto to do more tours. Has we had at least one more day I think we would have tried the Southeast tour and we would definitely request Yuri by name. On our Northwest tour we had the option of Nijio Castle or Nishiki Market. We chose the castle and I'm glad we did. It is so nice having a guide with you at the castle explaining the historical significance of what your are seeing. Yuri was nice enough to ride the bus with us to Nishiki Market at the conclusion of our tour. Once she got us there I think we were able to get the flavor of the market without a guide.

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diane k

5 | 2018-05-07

Tour takes in a lot, so you dont spend a lot of time at the venues. But you can go back and visit the sites you particularly liked on another day. Lots of good information given while on the bus. Lunch was OK.

k

karist5506

5 | 2018-04-17

Loved this tour! We had an amazing time and an awesome guide! It aws great to be with a person who had such great knowlege and communication skills! She showed us the sights we asked to explore, plus a few others as well. It was nice to have a private tour as well.

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Becky B

5 | 2018-03-28

Our guide was fabulous and the gardens were BEAUTIFUL

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