(Full/Half Day) Kyoto Private Walking Tour with a Japanese Guide

Kyoto is Japan’s ancient capital with a thousand years of unique & rich history, religion and culture that is still alive today and easily accessible to people who live there and people who visit for a glimpse of the diversity that such a long history develops. This tour is perfect for visitors with a day to enjoy the city. You can quickly learn about why Kyoto is unique in the world. I will guide you to historical temples, shrines and also fun places to try local activities. Also, I love customizing tours to suit what your interests are, from copying of sutras, meditating at a Japanese temple garden or more. I’m a local experienced guide who loves traveling!

Note: If the tour start in the evening time, we need to reschedule our itinerary as some temple/shrine closes around 5pm. 10hours tour guarantee to cover all places mentioned in the itinerary.

Higashi Honganji (East Honganji) was built only eleven years after and a few street blocks east of Nishi Honganji as the head temple of the Otani faction of Jodo-shin Buddhism. Its main hall, the Goeido is Kyoto’s largest wooden structure and dedicated to Shinran, the sect’s founder. Next to it and almost as large is the Amidado Hall, dedicated to the Amida Buddha.

Gion Shirakawa is in the entertainment district near Yasaka Shrine. Traditional wooden houses, restaurants and teahouses along the stream create a special atmosphere. Especially in spring, pink flowers of cherry trees and fresh green weeping willows show a nice contrast. If you are lucky, you might see some wedding couples in kimono, geisha or maiko on the street. They have a light-up event in the sakura season.

Kiyomizudera is best known for its wooden stage that juts out from its main hall, 13 meters above the hillside. The stage affords nice views of the numerous cherry and maple trees below that erupt in a sea of color in spring and fall, as well as of the city of Kyoto in the distance. The main hall, which together with the stage was built without the use of nails, houses the temple’s primary object of worship, a small statue of the eleven faced, thousand armed Kannon.

Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari’s messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari Shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital’s move to Kyoto in 794. At the very back of the shrine’s main grounds is the entrance to the torii gate-covered hiking trail, which starts with two dense, parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii (“thousands of torii gates”). The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator’s name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate.

Nishiki Market is a narrow, five block long shopping street lined by more than one hundred shops and restaurants. Known as “Kyoto’s Kitchen”, this lively retail market specializes in all things food related, like fresh seafood, produce, knives and cookware, and is a great place to find seasonal foods and Kyoto specialties, such as Japanese sweets, pickles, dried seafood and sushi.

The Rokkakudo (Chohoji) temple is said to have been founded by Shotoku Taishi (Prince Regent Shotoku). Successive generations of Ikenobo headmasters have served as head priests of this temple and the site is known as the “birthplace of ikebana.”

A sprawling area in western Kyoto centered around the Katsura River and surrounding mountains, Arashiyama is an extremely popular tourist spot visitors to Kyoto won’t want to miss. Any given day you’re likely to see people in kimono or yukata enjoying local food, shopping, and pilgrimages to the local temples. Rickshaw drivers wait to carry you to your destination, whether it be the natural beauty of the bamboo forest or the man-made temples that have stood in Arashiyama for hundreds of years.

A sub-temple of Kodaiji Temple and Kenninji Temple known as the “Temple of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Nene”. Nene spent 19 years at this cosmetic castle (restored from Fushimi Castle) before her passing. The enshrined three-sided Daikokuten statue is a “Nenjibutsu”, a Buddha to remember Hideyoshi. The ink painting by Hasegawa et al. on the 32 sliding doors has been designated as an Important National Cultural Property. Currently a digital replica stands in its place. The North Garden has also been designated as a Special Site of Scenic Beauty. The beautiful, Ikeizuma-style (garden focusing around a pond) front garden of Fushimi Castle was changed to a dry landscape garden by Masakaza Kobori when was it was moved here. Additionally, visitors can also see Nene’s actual hand bowl, as well as enjoy Matcha in the tea room.

• Wheelchair accessible
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness

• 4hours Tour
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  Duration: 4 hours
  Pickup included
• 10hours full cover tour
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  Duration: 10 hours
  Pickup included

• Mobile Wifi Access
• Pre-Travel consultation Fee
• Power bank rental for the guest’s phone and devices
• Local Guide guiding fee

• Transportation (1650JPY per person if we travel by public transportation all the way)
• Kiyomizu Temple Entrance Fee (400JPY)

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Please be advised..

• This Tour is Provided by TonTon Travel.
• Tour Timezone & Starts at Asia/Tokyo.
• Mobile or paper ticket accepted.
• For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
• Minimum 1 Travelers is required to book.
• Maximum 6 Travelers is accepted for booking.