• Private Tour
• Family Friendly
• Instantly Confirmed
• Carbon Neutral

Imagine this: a scenic road trip from Kyoto to explore Arashiyama with stops along the way to discover viewpoints, villages, incredible nature, and cultural gems. Sounds like a dream? No, it’s possible on a Withlocals day trip with a local host leading the way!

Destination

Kyoto, Japan

Category

Day Trips

Duration

6 hours

Transport mode

Public Transport

Available languages

English, 日本語, Italiano, עברית, Español, Indonesian, العربية, Français

Included

• Private Guide
• Public Transportation
• 1 Local Tasting
• Tickets for Iwatayama Monkey Park; Okochi Sanso Villa and Tenryuji temple
• All Withlocals Tours are Carbon Neutral

Excluded

• Entrance for other attractions than mentioned
• Lunch (on guest expenses)

What you can expect

Choose your local

Get to know these 8 passionate locals, each bringing unique perspectives and talents. Choose your favorite, check their availability, and book to create an unforgettable adventure tailored to you.

This is the plan

Check out the plan below to see what you'll get up to with your local host. Feel free to personalize this offer with the host of your choice.

1. Meeting point

   Meet at Kyoto station - at the Central Exit in front of Porta Dining and 7 Eleven - Kyoto to start your journey

   View on Maps

2. Itinerary

   This is what our experience could look like, but it’s not set in stone! Once you book, you can chat directly with your host to make small tweaks to suit your preferences.

3. Station Meeting Point

   Meet and greet your local host at an agreed station and get an introduction to your full-day trip and what to expect

4. Scenic Trip

   This full-day trip is arranged for you, so all you have to do is enjoy the sights as your host takes you through Arashiyama while telling you incredible stories and insight

5. Only You & Your Host!

   Forget about cramped touristy buses, on this private day trip, you’ll have all of your host’s attention. Get the chance to speak 1-1 and get all of your questions answered for a personal experience that will make this trip more memorable

6. What’s in Store for You

   Check out from viewpoints, nature, and cultural gems such as Bamboo Grove, Tenryuji Temple and Monkey Park Iwatayama plus other stops your local host has prepared for you along the way

7. Optional Lunch

   Along the way, your local host will recommend you typical and local places where you can stop to have lunch and catch a break. Lunch is not included in the price

8. Make it yours

   Want to tweak the itinerary? Book directly & chat afterwards with your host to adjust highlights, skip stops, or make small changes to fit your preferences.

   Book risk-free: Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund.

   Need something special? Personalize your experience for more time, alternative locations or a completely tailored plan.

Flexible cancellation policy

• Feel confident booking

  Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund. Even up to 7 days before your experience, you’ll receive a refund, minus the service fee.

• Change of plans?

  Reschedule your experience to a date and time that works best for you.

• Loved by travelers worldwide

  Simple and flexible – your plans, your way.

Reviews from guests

Sundy

(About local Guia)

2 May 2025

Guia took incredibly good care of us, from completing the booking to completing the tour. She was warm, friendly, efficient, considerate, knowledgeable, and patient with our large group. She helped us find just the right experiences, going above and beyond in some instances. The experience was delightful. We highly recommend her!Delightful

Sundy

(About local Guia)

2 May 2025

Guia took incredible care of us, from completing the booking to completing the tour. She was warm, friendly, efficient, considerate, knowledgeable, and patient with our large group. She helped us find just the right experiences, going above and beyond in some instances. We highly recommend her!Superb Service

Gabriel🇺🇸 United States

(About local Sebastian)

28 November 2024

Great experience!! Sebastian is the best guide of Kyoto!! My wife and myself went with him to all the best places, including all the temples and a tea ceremony. Ask for Sebastian if you are in Kyoto, Thank you!!!The Best of Kyoto with Sebastian!!

Camilla🇺🇸 United States

(About local Yoshihiro)

21 August 2024

Better late than never! Teddy-san was amazing. He was very responsive and more than willing to modify our tour to include a location we requested. He also recommended some temple night illumination events, and we’re so glad we followed his advice. The experience was absolutely beautiful! We also lost a souvenir we had bought for our niece and described to him where we had purchased it, but we couldn’t remember how to get back there. At the end of the tour, Teddy went out of his way to take us to the place he thought matched our description. It was such a kind and thoughtful gesture. We highly recommend Teddy—he’s sociable, very nice, and a fantastic guide.Teddy is sweet and kind!

Candy🇺🇸 United States

(About local Guia)

19 August 2024

We had an amazing experience with Guia as our guide in the bamboo forest and Arashiyama! Her deep knowledge of the area’s history added so much value to our visit. Guia was incredibly patient and flexible, seamlessly adjusting the itinerary to suit our needs. As a family with varying ages, we were especially grateful for how well she connected with everyone, making sure each person felt engaged and included. Her warmth and attentiveness made this tour truly special. Highly recommend Guia for anyone looking to explore this beautiful area with an expert guide!Guia’s Tour was Arashiyama-zing

Darcy🇺🇸 United States

(About local Mako)

10 June 2023

Mako completed our day in Kyoto wirh her charm and grace. She knew so much about the city and highlights, (local short cuts also) our day was flawless. I would highly recommend Mako for your day in Kyoto.Japanese hospitality and Charm

Katrin🇩🇪 Germany

(About local Ollie)

9 April 2023

Olli was a very nice and courteous guide. he adapted the route to my wishes and was even able to show me a few hidden corners and paths that weren't so crowded. so we had a little more peace. At the end he showed me a very nice café and gave me a few addresses and tips for the coming days. it was very nice excursion and I recommend itRecommend Olli and the Tour

Birgit🇳🇴 Norway

(About local Ollie)

1 April 2023

I was travelling on my own and only had a short days stop in Kyoto. I booked Ollie so that I could see as much as possible when I was there. The chat service is great, then I could make wishes and it was easy to communicate. He met me at the train station and we visited several places, by train, taxi and bike. And we had a great meal together. Ollie had picked the best places and it made me want to come back. He is a very relaxed person, and although we did a lot in short time the tour was never stressed. He had lots of information, and since we share a passion for hiking he gave me lots of tips for future trips. I highly recommend Ollie, I had a great day hanging out with him!Custom made day with Ollie

Colleen 🇳🇿 New Zealand

(About local Eiji)

24 February 2023

Eiji is a lovely guide, taking us to Arashyiyama and then to two wonderful temples. Eiji is well informed and was eager to meet our needs for both sights and restaurants and to see things at a pace that allowed us to appreciate everything. Thank you for a memorable day.Wonderful day trip

Dirk🇧🇪 Belgium

(About local Sebastian)

2 June 2025

Great expierience ! Great insides to Japan from an outsider. D'ont hesitate : book

Ambika🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Yoshihiro)

2 June 2025

Yoshihiro was an amazing guide for us! We took him on day 2 of our time in Kyoto (day 1 for my friend) and we were quite jet lagged so a bit confused about where to go and what to do! He suggested we do a tour of the palace together instead of the 1.5 hour intro tour because it would be a duplicate of something else we were already on that evening! Extremely helpful, worked with us to ensure we got to see a different part of Kyoto while explaining it's rich heritage and history to us. He even sent me additional info and things to do for the rest of the days. The sanjusangendo temple and seeing the fushimi inari at night were amazing suggestions which we really appreciated when we went there! Would highly recommend Yoshihiro San to anyone looking for an introduction to Kyoto ! Wish we had more time with Yoshihiro

Johan🇧🇪 Belgium

(About local Eiji)

31 May 2025

Fijne persoon die ons Kyoto op zijn best liet ontdekken overgoten met de juiste commentaren en tips. Een echte aanrader wat ons betreft !Een zeer leuke ervaring met een topgids

Veronique

(About local Jessica)

29 May 2025

Our tour with Jessica was wonderful. She was cheerful and enthusiastic. The tour was comprised of 3 different restaurants, all very different from one another allowing us to taste very diverse Japanese delicacies. Furthermore, Jessica was an excellent guide through the streets of Osaka, showing us all the highlights. We would highly recommend her to discover the city.Tasting tour in Osaka

Craig🇺🇸 United States

(About local Guia)

29 May 2025

We had a great tour. Guia gave us the highlights filled with a ton of cultural info. We got a real sense of history and place! She was super friendly and even gave us many restaurant recommendations which we loved!Friendly, Helpful, knowledgeable!

Madison

(About local Yoshihiro)

27 May 2025

This was our first time using With Locals and Ted was a joy of a tour guide. Funny, informative, and helped us avoid the crowds. After the tour, he sent us more information to help with our itinerary. He was a great! 10/10! We loved Ted!

Natasja🇧🇪 Belgium

(About local Guia)

27 May 2025

We had a fantastic time exploring Kyoto with our Guia! She was incredibly knowledgeable and took the time to explain everything clearly, bringing the history and culture of the city to life. She made sure we saw everything on our list and even added a few extra spots that made the experience even more special. Her easygoing and funny personality made the day even more enjoyable. We highly recommend her to anyone planning a trip to Kyoto—she’s a wonderful guide and a pleasure to spend time with!Great experience

Matt🇺🇸 United States

(About local RYUKI )

27 May 2025

Ryuki was a great guide for our 3 hour tour of the Gion area of Tokyo. He took a group of 5 adults (23-56) and kept us entertained and informed while showing us memorable shrines, hidden gems and the Geiko region of Gion. We even had time to stop for delicious cherry blossom ice cream - highly recommended!Great tour with Ryuki

Tyler

(About local Eiji)

26 May 2025

Eiji led us on a fantastic food tour of Nishiki Market. We tried over 10 different food stalls with a great variety of foods. Eiji made it so simple to talk with food vendors and made the purchases with us. He was friendly, informative and we really enjoyed our tour with him. We would highly recommend the tour with Eiji!Fantastic food tour!

Debbie🇺🇸 United States

(About local Yoshihiro)

24 May 2025

Our City Kick-Starter 90 minute tour with Yoshihiro/Ted was a great way to get our bearings on our first day in Kyoto. We toured the Gion area and shopping district, visited a temple, and learned so much about the Geisha history and lifestyle. Great experience! Great overview of Kyoto’s Gion area

Daniel

(About local Yoshihiro)

24 May 2025

Mr. Ted’s knowledge of Kyoto is superb! Spoke great english and gave us great advice on what to visit and at what times. Highly recommended! Excellent Guide

Unknown

(About local Yoshihiro)

23 May 2025

We had such a wonderful few days with “Ted”. He was so knowledgeable about everything and let us know all the customs of the locals. Highly reccomend. We were sad when we had to say goodbye. Great experience

Stefan

(About local RYUKI )

23 May 2025

Ryuki is a great guide who is born in Kyoto and his family lives there since the emperor time. He studied history and can combine historic information with local knowledge and stories. Furthermore, he is a funny guy and we had a lot of fun together. Overall, it was a perfect day with him. And by the way, all his restaurant recommendations (also for the next days) were spot on.Perfect day with a great guide

Henriette🇩🇪 Germany

(About local Simone)

22 May 2025

Being guided by Simone through the street market was a marvellous experience. He knew what kind of food was local, traditional, authentique or even unique to the market. We had a lovely time tryimg out a variety of food. We appreciated that we could always say, what we would like to try and what not. So it felt very much like a tailored experience to our needs. Moreover Simone not only made sure that our bellies were filled, but our heads also. He patiently answered all our questions we had about Japan and Kyoto. We really enjoyed being able to discuss food and culture with Simone. We would certainly recommend the experience. Very friendly and knowledgeable host

Tom🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Tiro)

22 May 2025

Awesome tour by Tiro. We mainly strolled down the Nashiki Market, as this was our preference. We tasted many new things, food we might have skipped if Tiro didn't suggest. Really easy going, explaining some of the history and origin of the market and Kyoto along the way. Highly recommend! Good drinks and talks after tour as well. 10/10Awesome tour

Bharat🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Yoshihiro)

22 May 2025

We (family of 6) had a marvellous time with Ted in Kyoto spending two very informative and pleasurable days with him touring around the sites of Kyoto. He has a joie de vivre and his enthusiasm and passion for Japan comes across and can be seen in the way he gives his explanations and answers to our questions. Hiring the van to take us around the first day was very useful as we could see a lot more sites and it was very comfortable. We will be strongly recommendingTed to other friends who will be visiting Kyoto shortly. Thank you Ted for giving us such a wonderful and memorable experience.Our time with Ted in Kyoto

p7nm7kdqgq

(About local Guia)

21 May 2025

We had an amazing experience with Guia in Kyoto! From the very first contact, she was incredibly friendly and made sure our tour was perfectly tailored for us. She was punctual, welcoming, and open to all our questions, answering everything in detail. The food tour was absolutely fantastic, with fresh and delicious snacks at every stop. Guia’s passion and knowledge made the experience even more special. We highly recommend her 100%—it was a truly enjoyable and memorable day!Perfect time in Kyoto

Ross🇺🇸 United States

(About local Guia)

20 May 2025

Guia is an outstanding tour guide, the epitome of customer satisfaction and going out of her way for us—pleasant, joyful, and a true professional. She is fun to talk to. Her excellent english communication skills and deep knowledge of Kyoto made every moment of the tour informative and enjoyable. What truly set her apart is her dedication to her customers; she goes above and beyond to ensure her clients have the best possible experience. I asked her, a few weeks before we left for Japan, if she knows of a Ryokan with western style beds, near our tour area that was full service including meals; she, on her own, inspected several and emailed her favorite to us, with the estimated price and the website link. I made the reservation and the stay the the Ryokan she selected for us (no charge by her) was one of the vacation highlights for us - is was perfect. With Guia, you’re not just taking a tour—you’re gaining a memorable, enriching journey led by someone who genuinely cares.Over delivered on every promise

Suzanne🇺🇸 United States

(About local Guia)

19 May 2025

Guia was knowledgeable and personable, sharing history, and her own experiences to round out a delightful tour.excellent tour guide

PAUL

(About local Yoshihiro)

19 May 2025

ractices are all interconnected, shaping Kyoto into the timeless center of Japanese tradition that it remains today.

Unknown

(About local Jessica)

18 May 2025

Jessica was good company, excellent English. She took us to a variety of restaurants and cafes in different locations and we enjoyed all the local foods. Jessica also gave us useful background and tips to get the most out of our time in Osaka.Okonomyakitastic

Joseph🇺🇸 United States

(About local Yoshihiro)

18 May 2025

What else can we say about Ted? This was our 2nd day of touring with him. Absolutely the best. He took us to less crowded temples with beautiful gardens. He is a wealth of knowledge about every place. 2nd tour with Yoshihoro “Ted”

Joseph🇺🇸 United States

(About local Yoshihiro)

15 May 2025

We can’t say enough about how fantastic Yoshihiro aka Ted has been. Great communication from the beginning. A wealth of knowledge not just about Nara but also any recommendation for shopping and restaurants. My daughter and husband planning a trip in about 2 years and I will be sure to have them select Ted. Thank you Ted. A tour of Nara with Yoshihiro

Helena

(About local Eiji)

15 May 2025

Eiji took us around interesting and beautiful parts of Kyoto for 1,5 hours our first day in Kyoto. He was fun and had interesting facts and history to share. Eiji gave us valuable tips for the rest of our stay, and also to restaurants. Very good at speaking English.Perfect guide for first day in Kyoto!

Unknown

(About local Guia)

15 May 2025

We really enjoyed the tour of Kyoto’s food market. Guia was an excellent guide, the food was delicious, and we particularly enjoyed learning more about Japanese culture from Guia.Great Tour of the Food Market

Kai

(About local Simone)

14 May 2025

We found Simone to be a wonderful guide and excellent company. Even before the trip started, he reached out to make sure we had all the information we needed. The tour was an excellent introduction to Kyoto, Simone provided excellent insights and was very happy to customise to our interests. It was clear Simone is passionate about what he does and we really enjoyed our time with him and he even went to the extra effort of providing us with some further recommendations after the tour. We fully recommend him as an excellent guide.A scholar and a gentleman

Charlotte🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local RYUKI )

14 May 2025

We (millenial couple from the UK) had such a great time with Ryuki as our guide in Kyoto! He was warm, funny, and incredibly knowledgeable — exactly what we were hoping for. We were curious about all the little historical details and Ryuki had answers (and stories) for everything. He also brought us to an amazing local lunch spot and had us tasting all kinds of delicious snacks throughout the day, always honest about what was worth trying. Even though he does these tours often, he was super patient with us stopping for photos at every tourist spot (thanks Ryuki!) and he blended our planned itinerary with his own suggestions perfectly. Plus, being from Kyoto himself, his personal stories really brought everything to life. We would’ve happily done 2–3 more days with him if we could’ve — highly recommend! P.s. we visited like 5 different sites in one day in 8 hours, absolutely insane performance :)A local legend!

Valerie

(About local Eiji)

13 May 2025

Eiji was an excellent guide! We had the opportunity to taste some incredibly unique and delicious foods while at the same time, learning about what we were tasting and history. We highly recommend Eiji and would meet up with him again if given the opportunity! Thank you Eiji-San! A perfect foodie tour!

Melissa

(About local Tiro)

13 May 2025

Visite intéressante et guide fort sympathique. Tiro s’est adapté à nos souhaits. Top

nina.miller22

(About local Tiro)

12 May 2025

We were recommended Tiro’s tour by some friends and it was by far the best tour we’ve taken so far. Tiro took us the ancient streets of Kyoto, countless Buddhist Temples, Pagodas, Shinto Shrines, as well as amazing restaurants in bars in Pontocho. He was able to gauge what we were interested in learning about and tailor the tour to explore our specific interests (Geisha Culture, Religious Mysticism, Popular local bars and restaurants, etc). His knowledge of Japanese culture, history, food, and religion has completely reshaped the way that we understand Japan and we are so grateful for the entire experience. I only wish we had more time in Kyoto to book Tiro’s tour of the country side. His tours are a 10/10 and I will definitely be recommending them to all of our friends and family back home! The Best Tour of Kyoto Hands Down

Whadzen🇺🇸 United States

(About local Guia)

11 May 2025

Thank you Guia for such a wonderful experience! So personable and knowledgeable. Your insights made our tour so much fun. We learned a lot and enjoyed our time together. Highly recommend Guia to anyone looking into having a tour in Kyoto! Our first withlocals experience was 10/10So much fun!

Wendy🇦🇺 Australia

(About local RYUKI )

10 May 2025

A last minute booking after enjoying a walking tour with Ryuki the previous day we thoroughly enjoyed our food tour and spending time with Ryuki again . We started our tour with some fabulous sushi at a standing bar , somewhere we may not have ventured into ourselves . Ryuki is a real foodie and shared so much knowledge about Japanese food . Ryuki navigated us around the Nishiki market seeking out lots of things for us to try while accomodating special requests . So delicious . On parting ways Ryuki gave us recommendations for ramen for dinner . I highly recommend this tour for anyone who wants to sample and learn more about Japanese food and Ryuki was the perfect guide for us . Arigato gozaimasu Ryuki. Food lovers paradise

Wendy🇦🇺 Australia

(About local RYUKI )

10 May 2025

Ryuki was a fantastic guide - delightful company and a Kyoto local who shared so much knowledge about his city and its history and culture in an interesting and enjoyable way . The pace was perfect and there was time along the way to stop for cherry blossom ice- cream which was an added bonus . We enjoyed our time with Ryuki so much that we booked a food walking tour with him the next day . Wonderful walking tour with Ryuki

Wendy🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Eiji)

10 May 2025

Eiji was a fantastic guide . We felt very safe riding the streets of Kyoto with him and exploring off the beaten tourist path as well as orientating ourselves to places we wanted to go back to later . Eiji shared interesting information about the history of Kyoto . Thank you Eiji . We really enjoyed our afternoon with you . Great afternoon exploring Kyoto by bike

Arielle🇮🇱 Israel

(About local Eiji)

9 May 2025

We met Eiji for an introductory walking tour of Kyoto and we are so glad we did. He was a very knowledgeable tour guide - sharing tidbits about what we were seeing as well as Kyoto in general. He was warm, engaging and did a great job answering all of our questions. He also took a ton of pictures of us which was unexpected and also fun. He shared some of his favourite recommendations with us which we really appreciated. For any first timers to Kyoto, this tour is money well spend and Eiji is a great tour guide to lead it! A great intro to kyoto!

Julian🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Eiji)

9 May 2025

Very friendly

Brian🇺🇸 United States

(About local Tiro)

8 May 2025

Bottom line… Tiro was awesome! Highly recommend him if you are looking for a personalized tour in Kyoto. We had a very short stay in Kyoto (literally 30 hours… tip: 2-3 days minimum!), so we hired Tiro to show us the important parts of Kyoto. He met us at our hotel, right on time, and off we went. He is very knowledgeable of the area and more importantly the history and traditions. We learned so much, and saw so much, in a compressed period of time! We would have never covered that much ground if left to ourselves! Aside from knowledge tour expertise, he was just a cool guy to hang out with! Kyoto was amazing - we should have spent less time in Tokyo and more time in Kyoto! Thanks to Tiro, we squeezed in a good amount of stuff and we will definitely return to Kyoto!Kyoto Tour

Breck🇺🇸 United States

(About local Yoshihiro)

8 May 2025

Although we were delayed by traffic, we were able to stay in touch with Yochiro by What’s App to let him know our times. He graciously accommodated his schedule to ours and took us on the full tour. He was a wealth of local info and answered all our questions. Sadly, I dropped my wallet but he took me to the security booth where someone had turned it in, where I reclaimed it with no lost cash. Japanese culture is great!Excellent half-day overview tour!

Clarissa 🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Eiji)

8 May 2025

Wir haben die Radtour gleich am ersten Tag in Kyoto gebucht und dadurch eine gute Übersicht der Stadt erhalten. Wir sind in verschiedene Viertel geradelt und Eiji hat uns die Sehenswürdigkeiten sehr gut erklärt. Ausserdem hat er viele Fotos von uns gemacht, so dass wir uns auf die Stadt fokussieren konnten. Linksverkehr kein Hindernis für Leute, die normalerweise rechts fahren. Lässige Radtour

Robin 🇦🇹 Austria

(About local Guia)

7 May 2025

We had a fabulous time with Guia! She was very informative, open, friendly and her English was great! She tailored the tour to what we wanted and gave us lots of information throughout! She was very helpful and super nice! Could only recommend!! Wonderful tour through Kyoto!

Murielle

(About local Eiji)

6 May 2025

Guide super sympa avec un excellent programme. Le plus impressionnant: Tejin Garden. Il nous a ensuite trouvé un magnifique restaurant avec un barbecue que nous étions heureux de partager avec lui. Très bon anglais et très bon photographe, nous avons pu garder de beaux souvenirs photo.Excellent programme