10 Must-see Spots in Kyoto One Day Private Tour
Description
If you have only one day in Kyoto and want to see all the top 10 must-see spots of Kyoto, this tour is the best for you. A professional local guide shows you the best, comfortable and convenient way to the spots. And you can enjoy walking along with the beautiful sceneries, paths, and back alleys only the local people know. We use taxis 3-4 times to save you time and energy. This tour is a mixture of public transport and taxis. Thanks to taxis and a friendly local professional guide, you can visit the 10 most famous attractions such as the Fushimi Inari shrine (thousands of Torii gate), Golden Pavilion, Kiyomizu temple (with huge balcony), bamboo forest, Geisha district, and so on. If you check the spots you can visit on this tour, you can notice that all must-see points in Kyoto are included!! Please enjoy the top ten spots with the beautiful stories of your guide.
Tour Options
Itinerary
You can see the shining golden pavilion which used to be the political center of the Shogun(the head of Samurai warrior).It is one of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites in Kyoto.
You will go through the Bamboo forest. This beautiful bamboo forest appears many times in the advertisement poster of Kyoto.
Tenryu-ji Templet has an outstanding pond garden which was made by one of the greatest gardeners in Japan.It is also the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
Togetsu Bridge is a representative scene of the Arashiyama area. Please take a photo of it !!
Kinomo forest is one of the most popular Instagram spots because of its' picturesque 600poles of 36 designs of Japanese kimonos.
Fushimi Inari Shrine is the most popular place in Kyoto nowadays. It was selected as No1 place In Japan 5 times by TripAdvisor. You can go through the One thousand Torii gates. It will become a precious experience for you. The gods of business are enshrined here
Kiyomizu-dera Temple is registered as a World Heritage Site. It is famous for its vast balcony. Enjoy the panoramic view from there!
Ninenzaka & Sannenzaka slopes are lined with traditional wooden buildings. They are souvenir shops. Please enjoy finding out the presents to your friends!!
5 story pagoda is the landmark of Kyoto. Don't forget to take pictures here. We just look at it from outside.
Gion Geisha district has many party- places with Maiko and Geiko. You can go through the beautiful traditional alley.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- You will visit so many places only one day so you can not change the itinerary, lunch place and starting point.
- If you have some food you can not eat, please inform us when you book this tour
- This tour will take you to not only tourist attractions, but also to nice Japanese-style streets and back alleys. Please wear comfortable shoes.
- Many places in Kyoto such as temples and taxis do not accept credit cards. Please be sure to have some Japanese yen ready before joining the tour.
- ＊On very hot summer days, it is recommended to change to Plan B course, which requires fewer steps and takes you to Chishakuin Temple( a hidden gem indoor temple) and Sanjusangendo Temple(famous for a forest of Buddhist statues).
- The cab can accommodate four people. 3 guests + a guide, so if there are 4 guests, two taxis are required.
- Important: Guests arriving by cruise ship must be able to travel to Kyoto Station on their own.
Reviews(1,308)
Mailan was an outstanding tour guide. She made the entire day interesting and fun. Mailan has an incredible knowledge of the history of Kyoto and customs in Kyoto and Japan. We all felt that we would have seen only a small part of Kyoto without her. Our family thoroughly enjoyed the day.
We loved Kyoto and our tour guide Mikie! This is a long tour but it was worth every minute - was one of our favorite tours in Japan.
Mailan was very accommodating and gave us a very detailed and good tour of Kyoto in a day. I highly recommend her and this tour
I highly recommend this full day tour of Kyoto! My whole family of 7 enjoyed it and we have kids from 8-21 years old. Mieko, our guide, was patient, delightful and very knowledgeable. Her English was excellent, too. She gave us lots of history and information about all the sites we visited. We never felt rushed or pressured to do anything. Mieko even went above and beyond when my husband lost his water bottle on the train. She went to the lost and found at the train station, located it and offered to ship it to us-so kind and considerate. Overall, this tour was a great way to see all of Kyoto and well worth the money. I highly recommend!
This is an absolute must! We were staying in Tokyo and only had a day in Kyoto and were able to make the most of it with Olive, our private guide. She was very knowledgeable and was able to show us things that you would not know to look for in the various temples/shrines while providing interesting background about each location. She even let us pick our lunch and continued to provide helpful recommendations for our dinner while we waited for the trip back to Tokyo. Kyoto is truly beautiful and we would not have had the same quality experience without Olive. Just don't forget Yen and bring your walking shoes before embarking on this gorgeous day!
Thank you so much for making the trip all the way from Tokyo just for this day trip and for your wonderful message. I’m so glad you enjoyed the tour and that you liked all the places we visited and the restaurants. I also had a wonderful and happy time with you all. Thank you for listening so attentively and for appreciating Kyoto. You can enjoy cherry blossoms in the spring and autumn foliage in the fall. Please come back to Kyoto in a different season. I look forward to seeing you. Olive
Mutsumi was amazing- kind, knowledgeable and very gracious. Highly recommend her as an experienced guide that provides a unique experience. (And amazing photos and videos).
Our Tour Guide, Yoshi, was amazing. I highly recommend him and this experience. I think there was a way for almost every activity to be adapted to people that have a harder time walking, but there are still some steps and slopes.
Chihiro was an incredible tour guide! Despite the rain we got to see all 10 sights and they exceeded our expectations! Outside of Kyoto itself, Chihiro was an incredible guide who made our day so special.
Great tour with Taka! A quick way to see Kyoto!
An unforgettable Kyoto experience. Every place we visited was absolutely breathtaking, and seeing the city through a local’s perspective made it even more special. My guide was incredibly kind and so easy to talk to — it genuinely felt like spending the day with a friend rather than someone I’d just met. We ended the tour with a fun little self‑care stop to pick up face masks and pain‑relief goodies, which was such a thoughtful touch. Overall, a beautiful, warm, and memorable day that I’d recommend to anyone visiting Kyoto.
