Top Kanazawa Day Trips

Despite the wind and rain we loved this experience with Liam as a great guide. The wood carvers village was probably our favourite - fascinating and peaceful. Watching skilled carvers at work was amazing. The Gokayama village areas were very old and very intriguing and it was fun making our own piece of washi paper. Shirakawa-go was bigger and definitely more touristy but fascinating to find out about the history of silk making and how the houses were set up to facilitate this. Thanks for a great day exploring, Liam

We had a wonderful time on this tour, largely thanks to our guide, Yasushi-san. He was incredibly friendly, personable, and knowledgeable. The highlight was definitely Shirakawa-go. The tour is timed perfectly—we arrived earlier than the bulk of the crowds, which allowed us to experience the historic village in a much quieter, more peaceful state. Seeing the thatched roofs covered in snow was a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience. Yasushi-san also stationed himself inside one of the house museums to provide extra context and history, which added a lot of value to the visit. The afternoon in Kanazawa was very enjoyable, though the craft activities were a bit underwhelming for us. The daruma painting was unguided, and the gold leaf postcard activity felt very brief. Despite the crafts being a little simple, the overall experience and the quality of the guiding made this a trip well worth taking!

This one-day tour from Kanazawa to Shirakawa-go and Takayama was one of the most memorable experiences of our trip through Japan. The journey itself is part of the pleasure, travelling through the dramatic landscapes of the Japanese Alps before arriving at the remarkable village of Shirakawa-go. The traditional gassho-zukuri houses, surrounded by mountains, create a scene that feels almost timeless. Takayama offers a different charm. Its beautifully preserved old town, wooden merchant houses, sake breweries and small shops provide a wonderful glimpse into historic Japan. The tour was very well organised, the coach comfortable, and the guide professional and attentive. The schedule allowed enough time to explore each destination while still keeping the day relaxed. For travellers staying in Kanazawa, this tour is an excellent way to experience two of central Japan’s most atmospheric places in a single day.

Kayo was an awesome guide. We met her at the Kanazawa train station and took a bus to the Samarai district. We got to go in an upper Samarai’s house that was beautiful. We walked through the castle area over to the Kenrokuen Garden. It was spectacular! Last we made a quick stop in the Geisha district. We fit in a lot as Kayo was a perfect guide. Since this was a day trip for us, we arrived to Kanazawa early and walked through the Omicho Market on our own. Overall, it was a wonderful day!

Ai, our guide from Kanazawa Tours, met us at the train station. She spoke excellent English. She explained our itinerary and we were off to catch a bus to our first stop. As we discussed before, when we booked our tour, we paid for her transportation and her lunch. She showed us the morning market where they sold fresh seafood and other products. She explained about the tea they have which uses the stems of the tea plant, not the leaves. We toured the Samurai section and she had so much knowledge about this area it was amazing! Someone even tried to tag along with our tour. She firmly told them that this was a private tour. If we had gone on our own we wouldn't have learned so much about the area and the Edo period. Also, she pointed out that during WW2 Kanazawa was spared from the bombings so a lot of the area retained it's historic buildings. We visited the geisha district and Ai was again so knowledgeable. She also asked if we wanted her to reserve a gold leaf activity which is located in the geisha district. Thank you, Ai, for such a great tour and we learned so much from you! For anyone else booking this tour I hope you are lucky enough to have Ai be your tour guide.