Kyoto Highlights Private Tour with Pick and Drop

Excellent - best driver - wonderful day Very accommodating Great English / great knowledge of area Very happy customers

Yama was a wonderful guide. Very punctual and efficient and easygoing. My 12 year old took an instant liking to him and worked him overtime! We say so many shrines and historic places. He took us through the best routes to see the absolute top places in Kyoto. He’s a great guide. Highly recommended. Im the 12 year old and i gotta say he is a great listener and a great person he is very nice and kind and great taste in humor he is also very funny .If i had a chance to meet him again i would. I became friends with him on the first stop and he is the best tour guide i’ve had in my life and i highly recommend him.

Great tour, well organized, nice structure, very professional, friendly guide, interesting and exciting day trip, five stars

Had the most fun day with Imran our driver. He picked us up from the hotel at 8am as scheduled and took us straight to Arashiyama. He showed us which way to walk to see the Monkey Park, the walkway Bridge and also showed us how to get to the bamboo forest. He let us know roughly how long to stay at each destination also. We then went to the Golden Temple and he gave the same advice. For lunch he recommended us a few restaurants to suit any dietry needs we may have and it was delicious. He then took us into Kyoto to see the food market and finally took us to Mount Inari shrine. The highlight of this tour for me. He helped us take photos and showed us the best routes up and down. Really enjoyed our day and would highly recommend.

Small vehicle for a full day tour for 5 guests and driver. Bad start to the day. The heavy smoke smell was no fun as we are non smokers. We asked for a larger non smoking vehicle we’d pay to upgrade and he said nothing else was available. Driver used phone on lap while driving. He seemed lost and had to use gps maybe not doing this before. Driver was fairly silent the entire ride. Super odd. Not friendly or accommodating. Not a people person. When he would say anything I had to lean all the way forward to hear and it was just asking about the car temperature. He was unable to answer any questions about the first 2 stops so we googled information with ease. I asked about kimono rentals and he said all places need reservations and it takes 2 hours. We’ve walked into places before with no reservations and it wasn’t an issue but we thought maybe Kyoto is different. After the beautiful shrine we returned to the vehicle and asked to be driven to the Nishiki market which was on the itinerary. He said it was closed. He insisted it was closed. He pulled up Google search and abruptly showed me it was closed. I couldn’t believe it as we were meeting family there for lunch and shopping. Luckily my family’s driver said the shops are open and was driving them there. I got a text that it was in fact open and asked the driver to take us. He said “well if you want to waste my time” My family member asked “isn’t this your job? To drive to these spots?” He shook his head complaining under his breath. This is happening in the tiny car he’s driving. When we arrived I asked to be dropped off at a specific spot. He could not find it. He wanted to drop us off .74 miles away and told us to walk. I refused and said we’d like to be dropped off closer as we have been walking this amazing country for 7 days now. A little reprieve would be appreciated. He complained under his breath whispering some slang. Finally when we were close enough to where we requested drop off he said this isn’t easy. So my family member asked again confused “this is your job right” the driver, Ali was visibly upset and said don’t tell me how to do my job get out. He was kicking us out in Kyoto after picking us up in Osaka at the Conrad. As we got out I asked if he was seriously not gonna complete the driving tour I paid for. He said just go and as I was moving the seat forward so my family in the third row could step out Ali the driver slammed the chair forward breaking my nail completely off. I mentioned it to him and he looked at me and said just close the door. I decided to leave the doors open and walk away from his unprofessional non sense This is happening in front of my family. I reached out to Viator and while on hold got to a safe area while my family collected themselves in shock Viator customer service says the driver claimed he ended the tour because someone SLAPPED him I can’t believe the blatant lie. At no time was anyone violent. Ali did not want to do his job that day. Instead he escalated things to an insane level. He’s unwilling to do what was paid for and was unable to answer most questions. The tour company should take this seriously as it’s such a bad look for them. We’ve been to beautiful Japan only 3 times and this was the strangest experience. This leads me to believe it was the driver, not the tour or the company. He is just a miserable person. Hopefully the tour company and viator take the necessary steps to assure their customers are safe and having a great time. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!! STAY SAFE WHEN TRAVELING ABROAD ❤️

Ali was so helpful and guided us with the tour throughout the day. He even helped us with picking the restaurants and sightseeing spots.. I would recommend Ali to any tourist