Osaka Day Trip: Arashiyama Forest, Katsuo-ji Temple, Nara Park

Osaka, Japan

Great choice

10+ bookings last month.

11 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

What's Included

Air-conditioned vehicle
Driver / guide tip
Round-trip traffic

Personal Consumption
Meals and beverages

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

2 Chome-2 Umeda, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0001, Japan
Hilton Plaza West Shopping Mall - Exit 4B 〒530-0001 大阪府大阪市北区梅田２丁目２ウエスト

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.7:50 am

Itinerary

Katsuo-ji Temple

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Arashiyama

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Nara Park

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate

A minimum of 8 traveler(s) are required for the tour to depart. If the number of participants does not reach the minimum requirement, the tour will be canceled, and you'll be notified 4 days in advance.
Notice: Due to the rainy season and the characteristics of the mountain trails in the scenic area, Minoh Waterfall may be canceled if extreme weather poses a risk to visitor safety. We appreciate your understanding.
Available only from June through October: Minoh Waterfal
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 40 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Chiara_F

Our guide Nancy was amazing! Good trip, we got loads of free time to explore by our selves Really enjoyed it The views are stunning

Reviews

3.9

based on 37 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Awesome!

KaHei_L, Oct 2025

It's a full day of tour. Wish we had more time in each stop, but understand that in order to go to all the spots, it has to be done this way. Alex, our tour guide was awesome. Very attentive, helpful, friendly, and also humorous. Tour bus was big and roomy. If you do not like to hike steep roads, don't go to the waterfall, it was a 10 minute viewing allotment and it's ju alright in terms of bei spectacular. Overall I enjoyed the tour.

Great day out

Matt_G, Sep 2025

Was a great day out, the highlight is definitely Nara park and seeing all the amazing deer. Our tour guide Marco was fantastic, he was very informative and made everyone had a good time and was looked after

It is just a transportation not a guided tour

Dario_R, May 2025

They basically just provided a transportation to several places. The “tour guide” did not describe the background of any of these places; she just told us where we are going and what time we should meet.

Response from Host, May 2025

Thank you for your feedback. We understand you felt the tour was primarily transportation. We regret the guide didn't offer more background on the locations. We'll review our tour descriptions and guide training. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Not recommended

doan_p, Mar 2025

The guide did not go with us. Nancy our tour guide just tell us a little bit about the place and sit in the car. I feel like we just pay for transit which is expensive. Not recommended

Response from Host, Mar 2025

Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for your feedback, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused. We have reviewed this issue and will strengthen staff training and improve our processes to prevent similar situations in the future. We appreciate your input and look forward to the opportunity to provide you with a better experience next time.

Breathtaking Todaji

RahulKumar_S, Oct 2024

Very nice day spent. Arashiyama bamboo forest, Yasaka jinja Shrine, Nara deers... Lovely experience. But we were blown away by the Todaji Buddha... A must for every Indian or any Buddhist. What an impressive place. So heavenly. The trip hosts, the bus and the drivers were very helpful and understanding. If we come back here, will go to Todaji again 5 stars from us.

Response from Host, Nov 2024

Thank you for your review!

Self-Guided Tour

Aileen_F, Oct 2024

This is a great tour if you like to explore by yourself. You get dropped off at the sites advertised and are given between 1 - 2 hours to roam freely. It’s best to research the sites beforehand so you know exactly what to look for, otherwise you’ll waste time figuring out where to go or what to do. You could spend hours exploring at some of the sites, so having good time management is essential. If you’re looking for a guided tour, this is not the tour for you.

average guided tour not too engaging

Cristina_P, Aug 2024

it s an average lef tour not too much information provided about the places visited. Can recommend only if general style is more to visit independently than with a guide.

Response from Host, Aug 2024

Hello, may I ask which day of the itinerary you are participating in? We will convey it to the tour guide. Thank you.

Excellent service

Pascalina_L, Jul 2024

Nancy and her friend were very helpful not only throughout the tour. They took time after the tour to help me get some medication because I was unwell. Thank you so much to Nancy and friend ( sorry.. I did not get your name) .

Best tour ever.

Airis_M, Jun 2024

This is the best tour ive been so far. I like that you have freedom to roam and not follow a tour guide. They drop you off to the spots and give you time to roam around and come back after certain time. It was the best. Nancy was great. Thank you.

One day, a lot to see

Nicole_B, May 2024

Kyoto is always a wonderful place, and this tour gave us the opportunity to explore different areas. Nara is beautiful, and the deer are very well respected and comfortable with tourists

Very Nice trip.

JOSEMARTINLOZANO, Apr 2024

The bamboo trees are incredible. The excursion are very nice. Nara it's especial and funy. The bus is a litle small, but comfortable.

Response from Host, May 2024

Thank you for your positive review.

Day trip from Osaka

Nicole_B, Apr 2024

It was a perfect way to see the sites around Osaka. We had ample time on each place to explore and even have a snack. Our guide gave us enough information about each place and even gave us some recommendations on where to eat.

Great day spoiled by poor booking experience!

andrew_j, Mar 2024

This would have been a 5 Star review as the tour itself and the tour guide were amazing HOWEVER Be very careful when booking this tour as there appears to be a mandatory kimono experience if you pick the wrong option when booking… which is 5000 yen per person… I had no idea I had booked this option and was forced to pay 2000 per person cancellation not to do an experience that I had no idea I had booked in the first place!!!! Very very misleading and almost did but didn’t spoil our day Check and double check what you are booking!

Response from Host, Mar 2024

We are so sorry to hear this situation. We offer different option to the customers for meeting different needs, so we highly suggest customers to double check their chosen option before making payment. Thank you!

Don’t recommend - shuttle bus service

Georgina_W, Feb 2024

Firstly, the meeting spot was difficult to find. This tour was not a tour - just a shuttle bus service. The guide drops you off at the arrival point and tells you what time to meet back at the bus. Very disappointing as we expected a guide to tell us facts about the places visited and show us around when it was self guided. We would have been better off taking the trains and doing it ourselves. I do not recommend.

Response from Host, Feb 2024

We are sorry to hear that, we will follow this situation immediately. We always hope to offer the best service to our valued customers.

Nara /kyoto 5*

John_S, Feb 2024

One of the best trips on our visit to Japan. Our tour guide Nancy was very knowledgeable and helpful, 5* for the whole trip, highly recommend.

Response from Host, Feb 2024

Thank you for joining our tour! Hope you enjoy your trip in Japan~ Looking forward to seeing you again!

Ripped Off!

William_M, Jan 2024

Warning! Be very careful when booking this tour via Viator. There is no mention of an extra cost for a ‘kimono experience’, however according to the tour guide we had to pay 5000 yen each (in cash) for a pre booked kimono experience during the tour. When we said we knew nothing about it we were told the cost to cancel is 2000 yen. We booked for four people so we had to pay minimum 8000 yen in cash to the tour company on the day. This is clearly illegal but Viator told us it’s between us and the local tour company. They would not help us at all.

Response from Host, Jan 2024

It is a little bit pity to hear that. However, we have already notice our customers in advance or even written in the description! Maybe this make you feel confused, but sorry again! We hope you enjoy your trip in Japan! Thank you!

Enjoyable Experience

Kiki, Jan 2024

We loved our tour! Our guide Nancy was very kind and knowledgeable. We loved that there was a lot of freedom to do as you wanted, but still be part of a group and the ease of getting to each location. Thank you for a wonderful tour!!

Great experience

Chiara_F, Dec 2023

Our guide Nancy was amazing! Good trip, we got loads of free time to explore by our selves Really enjoyed it The views are stunning

Best way to visit Kyoto and Nara for a day!

Joshua_R, Nov 2023

There would have been no way to possibly visit and experience these many places without a tour like this one. Our guide was great and made the day more fun with her knowledge and spirit. Each location had plenty to offer and the schedule of the day was just right.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Gald to hear that you love our tour! Hope you enjoy you whole trip in Japan ~

Super !!

Adriana_B, Oct 2023

We enjoyed it a lot ! Our guide Pohey was so kind explaining everything and switching English to Chinese language to accommodate everyone ! Highly recommended

Well organized Kyoto tour experience

LindaWarfel, Oct 2023

The guide, Alice, provided great maps to show each tour stop details. No one got lost so the tours was well organized. Visiting times per stop were a reasonable duration.

Disappointing day out

Bridget_S, Sep 2023

Unfortunately we didn’t have the best tour/ day out. Our group was mixed languages so half our tour was in a different language. We found this was tricky as we didn’t get as much knowledge out of the tour that we may have had with one English tour guide. We also found that the ‘tour’ was more of a bus dropping us off at locations for independent exploring time rather than a guided tour. Our tour guide tried to take us around but didn’t have much knowledge and unfortunately we came away from the tour not learning anything about the history or culture. We loved being able to see different locations but found we were at the locations for too long and our time was spent waiting for our pick up times.

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Thank you for you opinion! We will keep trying our best to provide good service to our customers!

Spiritual journey

Jing_D, Aug 2023

Enjoyed the tour together with my son. Bus left a bit late but was still able to catch up with schedule. Tor guide spoke English and Chinese. She made sure to keep everyone comfortable. Highly recommended at best price!