This is a half-day tour for the people who would like to visit Kyoto in a limited time. Please pick one or two sightseeing places from the following list and I will take you there at a reasonable price.
At your hotel in Kyoto
At your hotel in Kyoto
You can experience both temples and shrines as well as visit beautiful Japanese bamboo grove and gardens. With my help, you will be able to understand Japanese culture and food. I will take you to these places by public transportation. Such transportation costs about 2000 yen for 1 day. It is your own tour. You can stay in the place you like as long as you want to, taking pictures and enjoying the scenic beauty. Take your time. No hurry.
In Kyoto, there are countless sightseeing places to see. Here are some options:
-Nijo Castle ... One of the finest castles from the Edo period. The Ninomaru Palace in the Castle has 33 rooms , 800 tatami mats and many superb wall paintings.
-Arashiyama Area ... Mainly Tenryu-ji Temple, which has a beautiful pond garden and the bamboo forest close to Tenryu-ji Temple, but I can take you to some other tourists spots in Arashiyama area such as Okochi Sanso with beautiful garden, Nonomiya Shrine etc.
-Kinkaku-ji Temple...Golden Pavilion whose top two floors are completely covered with gold leaf.
-Fushimi Inari ... It has 1000 torii gates. There are 2 courses: a short course with 30 minutes and a long hiking course with 2 hours since it is located at the foot of Mt Inari. It is the top headquarters of 30,000 Inari shrines all over Japan.
-Kimono experience ... You can experience putting on Kimono for about 2500 yen per person.
-Tea ceremony experience ... You can experience tea ceremony for about 2000 yen per person.
-Nishiki Market ... If you would like to, I can take you to a Yuba (bean curd sheet) factory as well.
-Kiyomizudera Temple ... It is located in one of the oldest area of Kyoto city. You can enjoy shopping , eating and making handicrafts as well as the view of Kyoto city from the temple.
-Toji Temple ... It has a city landmark of the five story (57 meters high) pagoda. The lecture hall has contains 21 striking mandara images.
-Sanjusangendo ... It has 1001 Buddha statues with 40 hands and 11 faces on the heads.
-Miidera Temple (in Otsu, Shiga prefecture) ... It is a long history temple with important cultural property, Niomon Gate and a famous Benkei bell. Although it is next to Kyoto and takes about 15 minutes from Otsu Station, which is 10 minute train ride, the area is very quiet and pretty with Lake Biwa, which is the largest lake in Japan.
I would like to take you any other places you are interested in.
Guide fee, hotel pick-up in Kyoto area
Transportation fee (you and your guide), lunch and/or dinner, entrance fee
I can guide in Kyoto,Nara Osaka and Shiga.
I live in Kyoto city so my transportation fee is needed if I guide in Nara Osaka and Shiga.
We had a lovely time with our guide
Toshi provided us with so much knowledge and insight during our 1/2 day tour of Kyoto. Assisted us with taking public transport and access to some of the tourist spots. So worth the experience and thank you so much for your assistance. Highly recommended
Dear Julie, Thank you for having me as your guide. I am happy you and your lovely family enjoyed my hometown. I hope you will come back again in spring to see different aspect of Kyoto. Thank you. Toshiyo
Toshiyo met us at our hotel and first we saw Sanjusangendo Hall with the visually stunning 1,001 wooden statues of the thousand-handed Kannon. She explained everything quite well and we enjoyed our time there. We then had a nice sushi lunch while she showed us around Nishiki Market including the yuba store where we sampled, purchased and the owner even gifted us yuba. Wonderful day and Toshiyo kindly gave us the lay of the land in Kyoto. Thank you!
Hi Michelle Thank you very much for having me as your guide and writing me the kind review. I appreciate it. I am really glad that you enjoyed Yuba. Please come back again. Thank you. Toshiyo
We spent 2 days with Toshiyo in Kyoto. Day 1 we went to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Tenryuji Temple, Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama and Fushimi Inari Shrine. Day 2 we went Nijo Castle, Yasaka Pagoda and Kiyomizudera Temple. Toshiyo was very sweet and patient with our large group of 8 and both days she took us to delicious restaurants for lunch. Thank you, Toshiyo!