PRIVATE Early Bird Tour in Kyoto: Fushimi Inari & Kiyomizu Temple

This excellent, private tour started at dawn from the easily accessed train station opposite Fushimi Inari. From there our friendly guide introduced us to Fushimi Inari & Kiyomizu temples - before the hordes of tour groups arrived. He managed the logistics & provided excellent information. This delightful private tour ended at a tiny, outdoor coffee shop - optional coffee - it was excellent. And the guide then made a number of really useful suggestions to enhance our stay in Kyoto & made sure we found the bus stop for our ride back to our hotel.

You may think it's crazy to get up early when you are on vacation, but this tour was certainly worth it. We met our guide Shanda and immediately headed to Fushimi-Inari, arriving before the crowds and able to score some fabulous solo photos. More important than the photos though was Shanda's positive energy and deep knowledge of the culture and traditions behind everything we saw. She added tremendous value to our experience providing deep insights and lessons that will last a lifetime. My daughters (late 20's) and I had a wonderful morning and think of this tour as one of the highlights of the trip. Kyoto Fun is great to work with and their guides are excellent English communicators.

We did two private tours in Kyoto with Kyoto Fun - both were fantastic! Kevin B. took us for a 6 hour tour in the west part of the city. He was a lot of fun and gave us great information. Two days later, we did the early bird tour with Shanda. This tour was about 3 hours long and she was an excellent guide, so full of knowledge about the beautiful shrines and temples we saw. Both guides were friendly and had a great rapport with our college age sons. We highly recommend them and the private tours - you get to see so much of the city!

Kevin gave us a great introduction to Kyoto. He showed us around the metro and took is to a lovely small restaurant for lunch which was delicious. He also followed up with an email with more suggestions of places and restaurants to visit and where to get good coffee! As a fellow European he understood our needs!!

Best way to see Kyoto!!!! Most delightful day riding around seeing the most gorgeous sites. Best tour guide too!

Nial is THE BEST guide we had in Japan. He knew soo much about Kyoto and the history and constantly feeded us with nice stories. We visited places where tourist never come and heard stroies you cant find on the Internet. Highly recommended!

Taking the Early Bird Tour was the best decision we made during our short stay in Kyoto. We went to the right place, at the right time, with the right guides. The Kiyomizu Monastery, the Fushimi Inari Shrine, and the thousand-gate trail are must-sees. The early morning start avoids the crowds and the morning light enhances photos. Niall and his team delightfully conveyed the history, culture, and customs of Kyoto for us newbies. We finished the tour smarter and smiling! We had so much fun that we booked the Nishiki Foodie Tour and Gion Night Walk (Geisha walking tour) too. Thank you Niall, Maya, Philipe, and Ai!

The bike tour of Kyoto was a superb choice! Niall's humorous and thoughtful explanation made for my daughter and I a memorable morning. My daughter said the bike tour was the most enjoyable part of the trip. Niall would choose the route and pace according to our situation. He also offered to take photos for us to keep our memories. Thank you so much! I will recommend to my friends!

Absolutely first class, we have been on a lot of tours around the world and this is up there with the best. Niall was the pefect guide, friendly, knowlegable and understanding of our delicate condition (self inflicted). We went to places that we would have never have seen otherwise, incuding coffee shop and a fantastic local cafe for lunch. If you do one thing when in Kyoto make sure it's the Kyoto Fun bike tour thanks again Niall