Kyoto Private & Personalized Full-Day Tour with a Local Guide
Recommended by 94% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Kyoto, Japan
- 8 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
This personalized full-day Kyoto tour with a local is ideal for first-time visitors to the "City of Temples." You won’t waste a moment visiting places that don’t interest you as this tour is fully customizable based on your interests. Choose the neighborhoods you’d like to visit, and see many of Kyoto’s top sites. Exploring the city with a guide means you won’t get lost, and you'll learn lots of local tips that you wouldn’t discover otherwise.
- A great way to see Kyoto from a local’s perspective
- A personalized tour means you’ll visit only the places that interest you
- A walking tour takes you to places you couldn’t get to by car or bus
- See multiple top Kyoto sites on one tour such as Kinkaku-ji Temple
What's Included
- Private and personalized 8-hour walking experience with a passionate local
- Flexible start times - choose your preferred time when booking
- Pre-tour questionnaire to tailor the experience to your preferences
- Direct communication with your host for itinerary planning and local recommendations.
- Food, drinks and tickets to any attractions
- Transportation (primarily a walking experience, public transport may be used at an additional cost)
- Gratuities (optional)
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Itinerary
Kyoto (Pass By)
Kyoto Station Building (Pass By)
Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (Pass By)
Kinkaku-ji (Pass By)
Sannenzaka Ninenzaka (Pass By)
Kiyomizu-dera Temple (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- After booking, you'll receive a short questionnaire to share your interests, preferences, and must-sees. Your guide will personally reach out to craft a fully customized itinerary that suits your style—whether you love history, food, hidden gems, or cultural experiences.
- This private tour is a walking experience. A private vehicle is not included.
- Public transportation or local taxis may be used to transfer between sites. Exact transportation costs can be discussed with your host after your reservation is finalized.
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 31 reviews
carey_a, Apr 2024
Excellent and knowledgeable guide who very quickly and perceptively figured out our interests, how much ground we could cover, and what “extra” experiences we would like.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Providing personalized and memorable experiences is always our goal, and we're delighted that our guide could exceed your expectations. Thank you sincerely!
Aiden_F, Dec 2023
I had Alex as my tour guide and he was very knowledgeable and very friendly. Five stars all around!!
Response from Host, Dec 2023
Hey Aiden! I'm genuinely thrilled that you had such an awesome time with Alex. It sounds like it was more than just a tour – more like hanging out with a knowledgeable friend, right? We can't wait to have you back for another round of fantastic experiences!
Andrew_G, Oct 2023
My tour guide's name was Alex, and he was fantastic! I had very limited time in Kyoto during my trip to Japan (only about 48 hours), and he helped me maximize that time with this tour. While I wish I could have spent more time in such a wonderful city, Alex's tour helped make sure I left Kyoto feeling like I got a proper experience... wanting more time to go deeper into the city because it was so spectacular, but fulfilled where I feel like I had spent much more time there than I actually did. He picked out a great ramen spot for lunch and showed me all over the city. I highly recommend starting your visit to Kyoto with this tour... it's especially good if you want to fit a lot into a limited amount of time like I did!
Katherine_S, May 2023
We had a wonderful experience exploring Kyoto with our guide! The tour organizers provide a survey when you book, which you can use to specify the types of experiences you are interested in. We found this helpful, but our guide went above and beyond by emailing us separately to ask for more information about what we wanted to do during the tour. We were able to see lots of different areas of the city and got to use public transit -- very easy to use but it was helpful to have our guide show us how the bus/train systems work. We did the tour on the first day of our 5 days in Kyoto to get a sense of the city, and we got lots of ideas and recommendations for the rest of our trip. Definitely recommend!
Yelena_E, Apr 2023
We had an amazing experience with Eko, who took us around Kyoto for two days. He is very knowledgeable and very good at navigating public transportation. We were able to see many sights very efficiently. Eko was very thoughtful, patient and attentive to every request we had.
Dominic_W, Mar 2023
Great day and tour with Oussama! Oussama contacted me a few days ahead of schedule to organise the tour to maximise time so I could enjoy Kyoto !!! Great guide who suited my tempo and lead to a fantastic day! Also helped me takd tons of photos!!!
Victoria_K, Nov 2022
Vanessa was fantastic. Highly recommend a private tour. Custom itinerary was well thought out. Vanessa shared valuable information and brought meaning to the gardens and temples. We look forward to returning and booking Vanessa again. Thanks !
Kadian_W, Apr 2022
I had a most memorable day with Taibi! It didn't feel as if I was with a guide. I felt like I had known him all my life. He's Moroccan, but has lived in Japan for over 20 years so had extensive knowledge of Kyoto. He took me to the places where the locals hang out and made sure that I didn't feel like a tourist. Hands down the best experience I've had and I travel quite frequently. I legit didn't want to leave. Saw so much of Kyoto in 8 hours and now I'm planning my next trip back! 🙌🏾
Peter_E, Mar 2020
Excellent walking and public transport tour Helped us find spots we didn’t even know existed. Our guide was most informative about history and also everyday life in Japan.
Eric_G, Feb 2020
Juraj (pronounced “your I”) was an absolutely amazing tour guide. He catered the tour to the types of sites we wanted to see and was so knowledgeable about the sites, the history, and the legends. We had ample time at each location and learned so much about the area. In addition to the tour highlights, he showed us little local places to eat, to shop, and to explore. At day’s end, he recommended a fantastic local hot pot restaurant, which was both delicious and reasonable. Definitely ask for Juraj on your next tour of Kyoto, Tokyo, or Osaka. In addition to being a great guide, he is also a really nice and interesting person, which made the day fly by.
Robert_F, Jan 2020
Eko was outstanding! Kind, friendly, knowledgeable, and completely accommodating to our wish list of sites to see. Our first personal tour experience, and we will do nothing else in the future.
Response from Host, Jan 2020
Hi foglerbob,
We provide private and personalised experiences because we believe that this is the best way to connect with the city in your own way, and to get the most out of your limited time when you travel.
So happy to hear you loved your experience with Eko!
Hope to see you soon in one of our 46+ destinations!
Anna Kerekes
Co-founder | City Unscripted
Keith_M, Nov 2019
Justus was a great guide, knowledgeable and insightful on historical and cultural details. We used taxis to get round, not cheap but we saw a lot more of the city.
Kathleen_B, Jul 2019
When I book this private tour, my confirmation indicated that my tour guide would meet me at my hotel..However, the guide called me from Japan and indicated that he would require payment for his transportation to my hotel...I explained that my confirmation indicated that it was included in my price. The tour guide said he would have City Unscripted reach out to me about this. I waited 3 days and never heard back from them and I had to board the plane to Japan and the tour was scheduled for the next day.
Well, the tour guide did show up to my hotel the next morning, put required me to pay his transportation fees BEFORE the tour would begin. (I felt bullied and trapped). He also expected me to pay his entire day on transportation and lunch....which I did and included train and bus day passes..This was NOT indicated on the "what is included or NOT included" and really put my in a financially stressed position...Since I had only arrived late the night before, I only carried a small amount of Yen ($100 US dollars worth) with me..This, then, was spent on transportation fees for him that I was not expecting, did not allow for me to buy any lunch for myself. Luckily he was not a big eater and ate from the street food.
My guide was nice, but his english dialect was hard for me to understand. Though he talked alot-(mostly about western girls) he shared very little about the history, culture or information about the places and temples visited.
So... I feel this tour would be good if you are only expecting to get from one place to another.
From $244.83
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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