Top Kyoto Day Trips

Rin our Tour Guide was amazing! He communicated with us the day before via text to let us know what to expect. The day of the tour he guided us throughout the train stations to get to the destinations, explained the history behind every attraction, he gave us time to take photos, took very nice photos of us and he also allowed us to take a coffee break at a very nice coffee shop. We were very pleased with the Tour! Kyoto is a very busy city and public transportation could be confusing if you don’t know the system but he made it super easy. Thank you Rin!!!

Our guide was wonderful and really made an effort to educate us as we drove between sites, so we'd know just what sites to expect and how much time we'd have - she made it fun and had a sense of humor. You really must download WhatsApp if the guides recommend it - they use it to reiterate tourism destinations and info, pin where to find the bus or parking lost, what time to be back, etc. Two members of the tour put us all in a terrible position - they were not using their phones, who knows what they were doing in Nara, but they caused us to run 20 minutes late. She did everything she could but it's Japan - everything and everyone is on time! It's just common courtesy on a tour like this and frankly you should not sign up if you can't follow simple rules. We were forced to leave them behind due to the nature of those time-specific parking lots... but it was a happy ending, as the couple just caught up to us by taking a taxi to the next site. It was unfortunate, and she clearly did everything possible - but how can you help someone who won't answer their phone? Anyway as I said they just found us again, and they obediently stuck to her side for the rest of the day. All that aside - I loved Nara; I think I would spend a half day there to really enjoy the museums, the deer, the Buddha. 90 minutes was too short! Visiting Uji was very special as I'm a green tea fan and they had some great shops. You *must* have cash for their cafes. The trip to Kyoto and the gates was satisfying to see, though by the end of the day it was extremely crowded and a little unpleasant due to the heat. I'm very glad I did this tour as it allowed me to see a lot, and I only hope that I can come back to Japan to linger in these beautiful towns. Grateful to the guide for making this a smooth trip.

This was an absolutely incredible tour with a most knowledgeable, fun and engaging tour guide Yoshi. Prior to the tour Yoshi got in touch with me and we were able to customize the tour to our interests, Yoshi had wonderful recommendations for our free time including restaurants, shopping , sightseeing, a show and even photo recommendations. The tour was absolutely the best, i would book Yoshi for all of West Japan sightseeing in the future.. an added bonus - Yoshi is a great photographer!