Arashiyama Bamboo Forest & Hidden Gems Cykeltur (Early Bird)

Rick was a well organised, thoughful and knowedgeable guide. It was magical exploring the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and more rural tucked away side of Kyoto by bike. One of the best experience I enjoyed in Kyoto. Highly recommend...and will look at going on the full day tour with Kyoto Bike Tours next visit.

Rob, our guide, was outstanding. His knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture and the local area were excellent. If being away from crowds and still seeing the highlights of Aryshiyama Bamboo Forest is your thing, this is the trip for you! Highly recommend Kyoto Bike Tours

Great bike tour with very knowledgeable guide. Biked out to countryside and stopped at uncrowded shrine. Highly recommend this tour. Bikes were not e-bikes but they were great and easy to shift and ride.

Awesome bike tour that included the bamboo forest, nearby shrines and gardens, and rice countryside. Had an amazing time and Yuki was a great tour guide — very knowledgeable and personable. Would recommend for anyone traveling to Kyoto.

Our Arashiyama and Monkey Park bike tour with Yuki was easily one of the highlights of our entire trip to Japan! Biking through the beautiful streets and scenery of Arashiyama was such a special way to experience the area, and Yuki made the day even more memorable. Yuki has an incredible knowledge of Japanese history and culture, but what really made him such a wonderful guide was his ability to connect with our three kids. He kept them completely engaged and somehow turned a bike tour into an experience where they were genuinely curious and asking question after question about Japanese history and culture — with plenty of conversations about video games mixed in! As a parent, it was so much fun to watch our kids learning, laughing, and enjoying themselves at the same time. Yuki was warm, patient, engaging, and so easy to spend time with. Between the beautiful bike ride, the monkeys, and everything we learned along the way, this was an experience our whole family will remember. We cannot recommend Yuki and this tour highly enough. If you’re visiting Kyoto, especially as a family, put this one on your list!

A great day riding with Peter and his group this morning around Kyoto’s Arashiyama area. Loved the variety of the ride through beautiful quite backstreets, to the flowing river and onto The Bamboo Forest, shrine and temple, then down through the ricefields and back into town for a cooling ice cream. Peter had some great stories, informing us of the local area, culture and history. Top hosting Peter- Thanks. Paula and Tim (Melbourne)

We had such a great bike tour with Rob this morning! He was friendly, knowledgeable, and made the whole experience fun and relaxed. A fantastic way to explore the city and discover places we would have otherwise missed. Highly recommended!

Great tour, relaxing, we did not expect it to be so informative. Friendly tour guide, (Rob), knowledgeable and shared personal details about his experience living in Japan; more than simple sightseeing. Thanks for a great morning!

As a family of three, travelling with our 11 year old son, we opted for the Early Bird Bike Tour to avoid crowds and the hottest part of the day. We took the train to the meeting point which we found easily thanks to the very clear instructions sent prior to the day (and Google Maps!) Our guide, Don, met us at the train station, pointed us in the direction of restroom! and provided ice cold water and a hydration tablet before setting off in the heat. The Bamboo Forest was a highlight, a number of tourists around but Don managed to navigate us through and snap some great family pics. We were on a small tour with just two others and we certainly got what felt like a personalised tour. A highlight for us was cycling through the rice paddle fields, seeing the pink lotus flowers and cycling across the bridge. Our 11 year old is an experienced bike ride and loved it - one of the best and most interesting bike tours he has done! I am an average cyclist and felt safe on the roads. The heat did get to me heading up a final hill but Don explained the group would be heading back so I waited half way up. The heat was intense but Don factored in plenty of rest and hydration stops. Don took photos throughout the morning which he shared promptly at the end of the tour. He also gave us some pointers for local eateries and we lived the curry! Highly recommended. Thanks, Don.

Highest recommendation! We had an amazing experience with Rick as our lead recently, based on recommendations from friends who loved a tour with Yuki in 2025. Rick was a friendly and knowledgeable guide. We did this our first morning in Kyoto and it really helped frame our whole visit there. He taught us about shrines and temples (customs, how to approach, etc) and that was super helpful for later visits on our own. Rick made the heat bearable with nice touches like breaks, water and snacks, and salt / electrolyte tabs. Our family tends not to do tours but he made it engaging for all of us (including two skeptical teens). Would definitely do this again.