Kyoto, Nara and Osaka private up to 9 pax picked up from Kyoto

Embark on a Northern Kyoto car tour and uncover hidden historic heritage with stunning semiprofessional DSLR photos. Enjoy a personalized, private experience with an English-speaking guide.

Duration: 7 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine - This shrine will immerse you in the remarkable view of thousands of tri-gates. Surprisingly, one whole mountain is the shrine premises, including long stretch of bamboo forest taril and peaceful birds chirping. Some giant gates and buildings in the entrance are very clean and beautiful, but as it goes deeper, more abandoned but solemn shrines appear, which look being depicted in some anime.

It is a way to go to this huge shrine with guide’s help to reach out to those mentioned above unless you are good with hitting to massive crowd.

  • Rengeji Temple - Extremely gorgeous moss garden in this temple will astonish you. The temple is not visited by many people due to its distant and inconvenient location. As you enter the temple, wide open tatami mat floor are spread out, and naturally inviting you to enjoy the garden from the porch. Sitting on tatami, porch and having fresh air is invigorating.
  • Myomanji Temple - One of the largest temples in northern Kyoto. Millions of tiny rocks are well-organaized, making up a big temple garden. In this temple, you can get in touch with the rich history of big Buddhism skism in Japan.

You would not see many other visitors here. Definitely hidden gem.

  • Koryu-ji Temple - This temple was originally erected by group of people called Hatashi, said to be Korean-rooted ethnic tribe in the 5-6th century. Ever since experiencing one burndown in the 8th century, it never had vanished and stay original until now.
  • Kinkakuji Temple - Kinkakuji, golden pavilion. The temple was a villa of Shogun, Yoshimitsu Ashikaga (1358-1408) but was converted to a temple after his death. It is known for the building whose two top floors are covered with gold leaf.
  • Koetsuji Temple - The temple was an art master’s property who was professional in many arts such as tea ceremoney, caligrapy and such. So the temple has an awesome garden with various tree plant, tea ceremoney items and cool layouts of things. At the end of the garden you will command a good view down over Kyoto city. This temple garden is particular popular in autumn leaves view or cherry blossom seasons.
  • Nakamuraken - We will stop at at a local dessert shop. They have many Kyoto styled unique sweets such as Mochifu (pounded rice cake different texture from normal mochi), shaved ice flavored with Yuzu (Japanese citrus)/Match etc.
  • Matsuo Shrine - This is the biggest shrine erected by one of the most powerful noble family Hatashi-tribe and beloved by all-around neighbourhood household. They have a large Koi fish pond where they allow you to feed them. They move so aggressively when you throw feed to them!! Wonderful!
    It is situated in the west end of Kyoto, making it disadvantageous to come by trains. We will let you stop there on your request
What's Included
  • Completely private and personalized experience
  • Hotel pickup and dropoff
  • Tips of local good restaurants for lunch and dessert shops
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • Gas, toll and parking fee
Additional Information

Don’t miss out on this opportunity!! I have yet to come across any tours that cover 3 cities in 1 day. Here, I’ve crafted a tour for those who want to explore 3 cities in a single day, selected from the guide’s special recommendations. I’ll provide you with a ‘wow’ experience!
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If you’re staying in Kyoto, hotel pickup is available and you’ll be taken directly to the sites. You can also choose any drop-off location and visit some nice restaurants after the tour.

Although itineraries vary with each option, here’s an example of what we do for the ‘3 cities tour’ option. It is a 12-hour tour:

KYOTO
・Fushimi Inari Shrine
・The secret temple: Trust me, it will surprise you and is somewhat of a mystery tour

NARA
・Todai-ji, the Great Buddha Hall: a massive statue
・Nara Park: feeding deer with crackers
・The secret temple: matcha tasting in a serene place

OSAKA
・Dotonbori: walking and eating local dishes on the streets
・Abeno Harukas: the tallest skyscraper with an observatory.

  • Minimum age requirement for alcohol consumption is 18 years of age
Location
Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine
68 Fukakusa Yabunouchicho, Fushimi-ku,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(2 Ratings)
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Lynda_c
Oct 8, 2023
The Best of Kyoto - Takashi was an excellent tour guide and has very good English and communication skills. He drove our family to beautiful, peaceful shrines and temples. He was very knowledgeable about the culture. Takashi is a great photographer and took pictures of us, both with our phones and his camera. He sent lovely pictures to us after our tour. He introduced us to a family that had been making umeboshi and other pickled vegetables for over 100 years, where we purchased delicious pickles that we enjoyed for days after our Kyoto trip. After we toured the temples, we enjoyed a scrumptious traditional Japanese lunch at a small family owned restaurant. It was the perfect ending to our memorable tour. We highly recommend you take a tour with Takashi!
Review provided by Viator
Marc_e
Oct 3, 2023
Best Secret Kyoto tour Experience Ever - Takashi was an amazing guide and provided an amazing tour of the secret treasures of Kyoto. His inner knowledge about the secluded and tranquil places was great and each experience left a significant memory which will last us forever. Takashi was an amazing guy and pleasure to spend the day with. His English was great and we chatted all day about everything. I highly recommend spending a day with him....you won't regret it. Marc, Nell, Lani and Sophie.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 9 guests
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September 2024
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