From Tokyo 1-Day Kyoto English-guided Tour by Bullet Train
Tokyo, Japan
- 12 hours (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
See the highlights of Kyoto on a full-day tour from Tokyo. Learn about the history of the region from your guide as you visit top attractions including Fushimi Inari Taisha, Sanjusangen-do Hall, and Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Enjoy a delicious lunch in Kyoto, and take a round-trip ride on the super-speed bullet train.
- Visit Sanjusangen-do Hall, Fushimi Inari Taisha, and Kiyomizu-dera Temple on an afternoon tour
- Get great views over Kyoto from a hilltop temple
- Have your choice of standard or first-class bullet train ticket
What's Included
- Round-trip bullet train fare between Tokyo and Kyoto
- Afternoon sightseeing tour of Kyoto
- National Government Licensed English Guide Interpreter
- LunchLunch will be a vegetarian-friendly Western-style set menu
- Fees other than those listed in Includes
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Tokyo City iJapan, 100-7090 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Marunouchi, 2-chōme7２ ＫＩＴＴＥ B1F
Please meet at Tokyo Station Marunouchi South Exit "Tokyo City i", Tourist & Business Information on the 1st basement floor of the KITTE building by 9:20 a.m. The meeting location is on the 1st basement floor, please be careful not to confuse this with the 1st floor
End point
- Tokyo Station1 Chome-9 Marunouchi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan
Approximate arrival time: 8:30pm-9:30pm
Operating hours.9:20 am
Ticket Redemption Point
Tokyo City i, Japan, 100-7090 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Marunouchi, 2-chōme7２ ＫＩＴＴＥ B1F
Itinerary
Catch the morning bullet train (Shinkansen) to Kyoto. As you look out of the train window on a clear day, catch sight of revered Mt Fuji. After the approximately 2-hour journey, arrive at mid-day to Kyoto Station where your local guide welcomes you.
Upon arrival enjoy a Western-style lunch in an elegant hotel restaurant. Then, travel on foot to the nearby tour operator desk before beginning your comprehensive city tour. Travel by comfortable coach to the spectacular Fushimi Inari Taisha, located at the base of Mt Inari. Discover the head shrine to the god Inari and marvel at its numerous shrine gates.
Take a moment of quiet reflection within the temple and see the colossal size of the Thousand-Armed Kannon, an altar flanked by more than a 1,000 life-size statues dedicated the Buddhist deities. Afterward, visit Kiyomizu-dera Temple and hear the story behind the temple's construction from your guide.
After your city tour, return to the station for the bullet train back to Tokyo.
Upon arrival enjoy a Western-style lunch in an elegant hotel restaurant. Then, travel on foot to the nearby tour operator desk before beginning your comprehensive city tour. Travel by comfortable coach to the spectacular Fushimi Inari Taisha, located at the base of Mt Inari. Discover the head shrine to the god Inari and marvel at its numerous shrine gates.
Take a moment of quiet reflection within the temple and see the colossal size of the Thousand-Armed Kannon, an altar flanked by more than a 1,000 life-size statues dedicated the Buddhist deities. Afterward, visit Kiyomizu-dera Temple and hear the story behind the temple's construction from your guide.
After your city tour, return to the station for the bullet train back to Tokyo.
1
Tokyo Station
2 hours 20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Kyoto Station (Pass By)
2
Miyako Hotel Kyoto Hachijo
40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
JTB SUNRISE TOURS DESK KYOTO (Pass By)
3
Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Sanjusangendo Temple
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
5
Kiyomizu-dera Temple
1 hour 10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
6
Tokyo Station
2 hours 20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Infants must sit on laps
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Most travelers can participate
- If the tour is canceled, customers will be notified by the conducting company or their travel agent
- This is a special tour for international visitors. Please understand that residents of Japan cannot make bookings for this tour
- Train times may change due to timetable alterations or other reasons
- The order of activities and arrival times may differ depending on road conditions and congestion at destinations
- Seats may not be designated
- Children up to 5 years old may join free of charge, but will not be provided with bus and Shinkansen seats or lunch. If seats or lunch is required, please make a booking under the child rate
- Vegetarian-friendly Western-style set menu will be offered
- It will not be possible to bring large luggage whose total height, width, and length exceeds 160 cm onto Shinkansen. If bringing large luggage, please make use of a delivery service on your own
- Parental permission in writing is necessary for all tour participants under the age of eighteen. Any participant under the age of fifteen or not yet enrolled in middle school must be joined by a parent or guardian on the tour
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 40 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Teresa_M
Our guide was Yuki. She was excellent. So very nice and knowledgeable. Our bus driver was also wonderful. Yuk taught us a lot about Japanese culture. Would recommend this activity.
Reviews
4.0
based on 386 reviews
Tamara_M, Apr 2026
The directions were clear, but my Google Maps had me thinking I was in the basement when I wasn’t. I called the support number and they were incredibly helpful — they sent someone to meet me right away and got me in with no stress.
My day in Kyoto was unforgettable. I visited the temple with the thousand Buddhas, walked the path of the 10,000 gates, and spent time between the shrine and the temple — just a magical experience. Kyoto is such a special, beautiful city. I only had one day there, and I wish I had given myself a couple more.
Lottie_D, Apr 2026
Great sites. Great service staff. However, the trip is far too rushed. With traffic and the three sites we had to visit, we didn’t get any time to enjoy the atmosphere of any single one. My recommendation would be for the day trip to only visit two of the three, the Shinto shrine and the last Buddhist temple. The trip should also start earlier to allow for more time at each. At least 2 hours at each shrine/temple is a must. This allows for both admiring the temple itself and to interact with the Kyoto street vendors.
Another gripe was the western lunch at the beginning. A trip to Kyoto requires a Kyoto lunch. Maybe provisioning that time to a shrine with food stalls would be a good compromise.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Thank you for sharing your valuable feedback. We truly appreciate your detailed observations regarding the tour's pace and the lunch experience. This tour is designed for those who wish to efficiently explore Kyoto from Tokyo in the shortest possible time. Your insights are incredibly helpful as we continuously strive to refine our offerings and enhance the overall satisfaction of our guests. We are committed to taking your suggestions into careful consideration for future improvements. Thank you again for joining our tour, and we look forward to seeing you again in the future.
Teresa_M, Mar 2026
Our guide was Yuki. She was excellent. So very nice and knowledgeable. Our bus driver was also wonderful. Yuk taught us a lot about Japanese culture. Would recommend this activity.
Francis_G, Mar 2026
The tours were great. Disappointment in the included lunch. Any type of beverage was not included.I had to pay for a coke. We were not offered any coffee or desert. Just water. For the price I paid a little disappointed.
Svitlana_U, Mar 2026
Great tour of Kyoto temples .train tickets included, but food was not as advertised, cheap alternative, they ask you pay even for a coffee , compare to another tour , this food /lunch experience was very disappointing. Overall this tour is ok if you have only 1 day in Kyoto.
Chris_S, Mar 2026
Not knowing anything of Tokyo and Kyoto, having someone handle the logistics is just a massive weight off of my shoulders and allowed me to enjoy my time more with my wife!
Danielle_M, Mar 2026
Great from start to finish. Lunch was fabulous and guide was awesome. I found it to be a bit on the pricy side but when you are limited on time this is the way to go. Bullet train was soooo awesome to experience. Highly recommend the green car!
Gary_P, Dec 2025
Wonderful ride on the bullet train tonKyito and all of the hosts were exceptional and took great care of me, ensuring I got on the right train and met the guide in Kyoto. Very nice day.
JOHN_S, Oct 2025
It was a great way to travel and the Temples were awesome. The guide was phenomenal and the lunch was fantastic
Lisa_J, Oct 2025
A very well organised day. We were throughly looked after from start to finish. Despite being a very long day it was worth it to ride the bullet train on a return trip & to see iconic Kyoto (despite the huge crowds) try to ride the green (1st class) train car if budget allows as the journey over 2 hours each way.
todd_b, Oct 2025
Long rushed day. Only gives you a small snap shot of Kyoto. It is very well organized overall though. Kyoto temples can be very overcrowded during the best of times but when time is so compressed it becomes a larger issue overall this is not a fault of the tour just the nature of Kyoto. The bullet train is a little bit of a unique experience if you've never ridden it but again trying to wrap it all into one day is a lot for the first time traveler to Japan.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback about your Kyoto day tour experience. We truly appreciate your honest review and understand that the compressed timeline made it challenging to fully enjoy each temple visit, especially given Kyoto's naturally crowded conditions.
Your insights about the pacing are valuable to us, and we'll consider ways to enhance the experience for first-time Japan travelers. We're glad you found the tour well-organized overall and that the bullet train provided a unique experience.
We hope you'll consider joining us again for a more leisurely exploration of Japan's beautiful destinations.
Arleen_S, Jul 2025
From beginning to end was excellent. The assistan greet us a took us to the train and waited for us to leave giving us the necessary information to meet the person waiting for us in Kyoto. Me Yamamoto epwas waiting and took us to lunch. We waited for the tour guide, Tammy, to pick us up. The experience was wonderful and she was very knowledgeable of the history. She took us to the point of pick up and Mr Yamamoto arrive on time and took us to the train. He also waited until we left. I highly recommend all of them, 100%.
Matthew_A, Jun 2025
There was too much waiting time. We took the bullet train, which was nice. But, we had extra time after lunch and had to wait on the tour bus for the other people to arrive from their morning tour. After the tour, we got done by 5:30pm, and had to wait for our train that didn't leave until 6:45pm. It was a long day! We met at the meeting point at 9:15am. We like private tours better. This tour had about 30 people on it.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Thank you for your detailed review and feedback. We appreciate your honesty about the waiting times and group size. We're glad you enjoyed the bullet train experience. Your comments about the schedule and group dynamics are valuable, and we'll use them to improve our tour planning. We hope you'll give us another chance to provide a more tailored experience that better meets your expectations.
Michael_M, Jun 2025
Yumi was an excellent tour guide. She was very knowledgeable about all the shrines and temples visited. The tour operators were excellent making sure the group of participants made the connections to the bullet train connections in Tokyo, meeting us in Kyoto to take us to lunch, and for the return trip from Kyoto at the end of the day. It was a full day and the bullet train made for great transportation to make the trip possible in one day. I definitely recommend.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Thank you for your wonderful 5-star review! We're thrilled to hear you had such a positive experience on our tour. It's fantastic that you enjoyed the expertise of our guide and the efficiency of our operators. The bullet train journey and the visit to Kyoto's shrines and temples sound like they were highlights for you. We appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you on another exciting tour in the future!
Louise_C, May 2025
When your travel plans are such that an overnight in Kyoto cannot be done, this tour is the way to go. The escort to the train in Tokyo is followed by the leisurely bullet train ride and when you arrive in Kyoto another escort appears and takes you to an elegant delicious lunch at a hotel followed by the tour to world reknown shrines- seeing cherry blossoms quite enjoyable as well.
James_F, Apr 2025
Very long day. Most of the time spent on the train. Train ride an experience of sorts but time limited in Kyoto.
Rachel_B, Mar 2025
This was our first time in Japan so we were grateful to have someone get our train tickets in advance and show us how to get to the train. Our guide literally walked us to the train car door. The train station is very, very busy and my ticket didn't work through the gate, so it was nice to have someone help translate and get me through.
Once we got to Kyoto, we had someone meet us and go to a nice hotel to have a buffet lunch. The main dish was beef and it was really, really good! We boarded a comfortable coach bus that drove us around Kyoto.
We went to three major temples and shrines: Fukajusairiommaecho, Sanjusangen-do (MUST SEE!) and an extremely busy Kiyomizu-dera Temple. It was really helpful having our main guide, Kasey (KC?), who was both an entertainer as well as a knowledgeable guide. He was able to see the highlights of each visit as well as maneuver the huge crowds we experienced. At the last stop, he explained the tradition of the springs, let us hang a prayer/wish and told us some items that would make good souvenirs from Kyoto.
It is really important to note that the time in Kyoto is very limited considering the 2.5 hour train ride. (I recommend splurging for the first class...it is worth it). It's important that you are back on the bus when the guide says to be there. One couple was left behind after being 15 minutes late. Those 15 minutes are precious. Kyoto was very crowded this time of year, so if crowds bother you, this is not your trip. My one recommendation would be to shorten lunch. We really only needed 30-35 minutes at the most. I would have rather have had that time to explore the last temple. Other than that, I'm glad we got to see Kyoto.
Sean_C, Oct 2024
Fantastic day trip to Kyoto. We had limited time in Japan and had to limit our Kyoto time to one day and this was fantastic. We got to visit shrines, had plenty of opportunities to shop, and have snacks. The meal that came with the tour was delicious and our guide was phenomenal. Recommend this for anyone looking to get some of Kyoto in on limited time.
Yen_R, Oct 2024
We really recommend this one-day Kyoto tour. Our tour guy was so informative & entertained. We chose our tour with a meal included and the food was full bar fresh seafood, pastries & desserts.
Tips: ensure to book your seat reserve as there are little non-reserved seat and you don't want to risk not having a seat to return to your destination. Its really worth it. This tour is one of the highlight of our trips.
Umber_A, Oct 2024
Amazing tour ! The guides escorted us to the train and received us on the way back . The afternoon in Kyoto was very well organized. We saw three amazing shrines . Despite the crowds the guide kept us together. Lunch was nice at the hotel restaurant.
Jeff_M, Sep 2024
Extremely well organized and just the right amount of time at each stop. The one day trip to Kyoto was easy. Our guide gave a very detailed detailed and fun tour of 3 major temple sites…
Sophia_T, Aug 2024
My favorite tour in Japan so far! I spent most of my time in Tokyo so this tour was perfect - Kyoto is a beautiful, serene, cultural city. If you’re in Tokyo and debating on whether or not to take the trip to Kyoto, I’d say do it! Tour guides were very helpful and knowledgeable. The buffet lunch was also delicious!
Maximiliano_M, Jun 2024
An amazing trip to Kyoto! Loved riding on the bullet train to visit this beautiful city. The tour guides were nice and friendly. They shared a lot of interesting historical information. Totally worth it!
Cassandra_S, Jun 2024
Temples’ history. Maybe allow time for a brief tour around the city, to point out customs and routine living activities.
Helen_B, Jun 2024
The guide who met us at the meeting place did an excellent job of filling us in on all the details of our excursion and she stayed with us until we boarded the bullet train - great ride. Our new guide at Kyoto found us quickly and escorted us to a delightful lunch at the hotel across the street from the train station. She then accompanied us for part of our tour to the 3 famous sites. Another guide met us at the hotel and got us back on the return bullet train trip. It was an excellent trip adventure. I highly recommend it-never dreamed I’d get to visit Kyoto but dreams do come true. Thanks!
Raynald_C, Jun 2024
Experiencing to ride on the bullet train was awsome however the Temple just overrun with visitors. Could hardly find pace to walk on the sidewalks. I guess this is just too popular an attraction.
Doodnauth_N, Apr 2024
I did not get tyo go on this trip as the location of the tourist company was hard to locate. I would not reccomend this one unless you can speak Japanese. The company and Viator is reluctant to give me a refund.
Pam, Apr 2024
Seeing Kyoto. Traffic was horrible though. Would have liked starting earlier so we weren’t at the last shrine at 5pm.
Sandrine_A, Apr 2024
This day trip to Kyoto was great! KC our tour guide was very knowledgeable, funny and energetic; exactly what we needed for the heavy touristy areas. The Fushimi Inari Shrine was beautiful to see but we only had 10 mins to take pictures at the start of the Orange gates and then we headed back to the bus (wish we had more time here). We then went to the Sanjusangendo Temple where we learned a lot about Buddhism and archery; we were not allowed to take pictures here but it was a great experience. Our last stop was the most popular, Kiyomizu, a beautiful temple on a hill overlooking the city of Kyoto. The views from the too were amazing! We had about 40 mins at this stop which was also not enough. There are awesome souvenir shops all the way up to the temple. Kyoto should definitely not be done in a day but if you are pinched for time like I was, this tour does a great job of taking you to the highlights and history and it was fun! I highly recommend our tour guide, KC! He was great!
Gary_H, Apr 2024
A rushed day full of waiting was a bit disappointing. Was looking forward to an authentic lunch and was simply in a hotel at the station, but it was good food but not authentic.
Might be better to stay in Kyoto and not do it in 1 day.
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