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

Embark on a captivating journey through the heart of Kanazawa, delving into the city's hidden treasures and authentic neighbourhoods.

Destination

Kanazawa, Japan

Category

Off The Beaten Track

Duration

4 hours

Transport mode

Walking tour

Available languages

Deutsch, English, Français

Excluded

• meals and snacks
• travel insurance
• transportation fees (if needed)
• Entrance fees: Ninja Temple 1200 JPY, Shihise Memorial Hall 100 JPY, Nomura House 550 JPY, D.T.Suzuki Museum 310 JPY

What you can expect

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 Lucy.

1. Meeting point

   Meet at Kanazawa Tokyu Hotel - Kanazawa 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. Naga-Machi, Nomura House

   The Nomura Residence in the Samurai District is the former estate of a middle-upper-rank samurai family. Its wonderful private garden awarded 2 stars in the Michelin green Guide.

4. Shinise Memorial Hall, old merchant house

   The building was once a traditional medicine store established by the Nakaya family in 1579. Walking through this old merchant house, we will discover a feudal-period pharmacy and learn all about the traditional culture of Kanazawa's townpeople

5. Traditional umbrella shop

   We will make a brief stop at the Matsuda Wagasa shop, the last standing Japanese umbrella atelier and shop in Kanazawa.

6. Nishi Chaya District

   Our journey continues to Nishi-Chaya, one of Kanazawa’s three historic “teahouse” entertainment districts. It was established in 1820 along with Higashi-Chaya as areas for geiko (the local name for geisha) to entertain wealthy patrons with music, dance, and games.

7. Ninja Temple

   Myoryuji Temple in Kanazawa is full of trap doors, hidden rooms, secret passageways, and maze-like stairwells. These features have earned it the nickname “Ninja Temple”

8. D.T. Suzuki Museum

   The D.T. Suzuki Museum is dedicated to the life and ideas of D.T. Suzuki (1870–1966), a world-famous Buddhist philosopher. Suzuki is credited with popularizing Zen in the West through his book “Introduction to Zen Buddhism” (1934), worldwide lectures, and English translations of important Eastern philosophical texts. The museum’s building, designed by architect Taniguchi Yoshio, uses clean, simple lines as an architectural interpretation of Suzuki's philosophy. It is also one of my favorite places in Kanazawa

9. 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.

I can personalize this tour for you

• Tell me your preferred date and group size
• Tell me your preferences and wishes so I can customize the tour for you
• Wait for my personal offer in your inbox!

Contact me

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

Alicia

30 May 2025

Lucy was awesome. We had a few days in Kanazawa so Lucy was able to match our pace of what we wanted to see and if we wanted to stop at stores between locations. She is easy to chat with and loves the city. Highly recommend. Wonderful visit

Jos🇳🇱 Netherlands

10 June 2025

Wij hebben een volle dag met Lucy doorgebracht en zij heeft ons op een fantastische manier Kanazawa laten zien. We hebben genoten van de mooie tempels, het kasteel, ‘geheime’ kleine tuinen en de grandeur van één van de beroemdste tuinen van Japan. Heerlijk geluncht en in het geisha-discrict iets fris gedronken. Ze nam ons mee naar de leukste winkeltjes en nam de tijd om alles rustig aan ons uit te leggen. Wij kunnen Lucy aan iedereen aanbevelen. Nogmaals hartelijke dank voor de superfijne dag Lucy!Lucy was geweldig!

Corinna

31 May 2025

Wir haben eine private 3-stündige Führung gebucht, nicht ganz billig, aber jeden Cent (Yen) wert. Egal, ob Gärten, Samuraihäuser oder die Viertel der Geishas - Lucy hat uns alles gezeigt und erklärt. Tolle Führung in Kultur und Geschichte

Kim🇨🇦 Canada

31 May 2025

Three weeks into our travels in Japan this was a great way to enjoy a nice walk, in nature, and away from the crowds. Lucy was very relaxed, flexible and also knowledgeable about the area. As an expat herself she gave some interesting insights to life in Japan and Kanazawa. Peaceful walk away from the crowds

Willfried🇩🇪 Germany

16 May 2025

Wir kamen von Hiroshima mit dem Shinkansen angebraust und haben uns gleich in unserem kleinen, aber exzellenten Hotel mit Lucy verabredet. Lucy führte uns durch die interessantesten Stadtviertel von Kanazawa. Bei unserem Rundgang bekamen wir sehr viel Hintergrundinformationen über die Bedeutung und Geschichte der Geisha-Kultur und ebenso über die Entwicklung der Samurai. Was wir neben allem Anderen ganz besonders beeindruckend fanden ist: Lucy brachte uns in hervorragender Weise das Lebensgefühl nahe, wie Japaner denken und welche Werte sie leben. Das hat uns bei unserer weiteren Reise Tore geöffnet. Dadurch hat sich auch wesentlich das Fremdheitsgefühl gelegt und „unsere Herzen“ für Japan erwärmt. Wir sind Lucy überaus dankbar für diese Zeit und wir werden immer an Lucy denken, wenn wir von Japan und Kanazawa sprechen. Willfried und Wolfgang Eine wirklich sehr wertvolle Tour mit Lucy

Unknown

15 May 2025

Lucy gave us a very enjoyable guided walk around the Samurai and Geisha districts. She provided plenty of historical and contemporary background as we meandered through the historic areas.A great introduction to Kanazawa

Julian🇦🇺 Australia

14 May 2025

This is our first trip to Kanazawa, although not our first trip to Japan. Lucy met us at our hotel and asked us if we had any particular things that we would like to see and do in Kanazawa. As per our request, she took us to both the Geisha and Samurai districts. Lucy was very friendly and easy to talk to. Her knowledge of the area was excellent and she made the whole experience both educational and enjoyable. She was exactly what we were looking for in a local expert. Our whole group of 4 were thrilled with the experience and we would have no hesitation in recommending Lucy to anyone interested in learning more about Kanazawa and the region in general.A Fabulous Day in Kanazawa

Anna🇸🇪 Sweden

2 May 2025

We really enjoyed our day with Lucy! A little too much walking in relation to what crafts we actually saw. But on the other hand we learned a bunch of new things about the Japanese way of life and about Kanasawa, so that was a great bonus to the crafts walk. Great day!

Isabell🇯🇵 Japan

28 April 2025

Auf einer dreistündigen Tour durch Kanazawa hat uns Lucy ihre Stadt näher gebracht und uns tief eintauchen lassen. Sie wusste vieles über Vergangenheit und Geschichte zu erzählen, und wir (Kinder & Erwachsene) konnten alle unsere Fragen stellen. Wie war das mit dem Shogun, den Samurais und dem Kaiser? Auf welcher Seite läuft man und warum? Wie lebt es sich in Japan, wenn man nicht Tourist ist? Lucy teilte ihre Erfahrungen und ihr Wissen mit uns - alles durch die Augen einer neugierigen und offenen Europäerin und mit viel Wertschätzung der japanischen Kultur gegenüber. Sehr empfehlenswert. Spannender Einblick in Kultur & Alltag

Kenneth🇺🇸 United States

28 April 2025

Lucy is a personable and knowledgeable guide. Adaptable to our needs, she showed us besutidul gardens, crafts and culture the artisans and workshoos we visited, pottery, confectionery shop and molds, gold leaf were fascinating. Thank you Lucy for a delightful morning!Perfect day in Kanasawa!

Yolande🇦🇹 Austria

27 April 2025

lucy war sehr flexibel und konnte uns sehr viel interessantes über kanazawa und japan allgemein erzählen. jederzeit wieder! dankeinteressant und entspannt

joseph🇦🇺 Australia

25 April 2025

Lucy gave us a great guide to the Samurai and Geisha areas..she is not only gave us the history and customs of these areas but we had really good wide ranging discussion about Japanese society as well . Great guide

Kathrin

21 April 2025

Wir hatten heute eine fantastische Tour mit Lucy durch Kanazawa und haben die gemeinsame Zeit voller Erzählungen über die Stadt, die Geschichte, über Land und Leute sehr genossen. Wir sahen die Highlights von Kanazawa, aßen mittags sehr lecker abseits der Touristen und ließen uns das „ goldige Eis“ schmecken. „Danke“ , liebe Lucy für diesen wundervollen Tag! Kathrin, Mike und MarleneEs war ein toller tag mit Lucy

Nikolai

12 April 2025

Wir haben soviel gesehen und soviel gelernt! Es war einfach wunderbar mit Lucy die Stadt kennenzulernen. Danke!A beautiful day in Kanazawa

Edward🇺🇸 United States

12 April 2025

Our small group of four had fun spending an afternoon with Lucy. She is a pleasant, smart person who knows her Kanazawa history! Her customized tour was perfect for us. We highly recommend Lucy!

Ralf

12 April 2025

Absoluter Top-Ausflug mit Lucy zu sechst im Rahmen unserer Kreuzfahrt. Sehr netter Kontakt vorab über WhatsApp. Wir konnten die Tour im Vorfeld individuell abstimmen, sind zu Fuss gelaufen, man hätte aber auch Teile mit dem ÖPNV zurücklegen können. Lucy hat uns alles super erklärt und uns 'ihr' Kanazawa näher gebracht. Wir haben sehr viel gesehen und erfahren. Kanazawa ist eine sehr schöne Stadt. Lucys Tour war ihren Preis absolut wert, kann man nur empfehlen Ein Tag in Kanazawa

David🇩🇪 Germany

8 April 2025

Lucy war sehr flexibel, nach kurzer Kommunikation im Vorfeld -um auf individuelle Wünsche einzugehen, hat Sie uns am Hotel abgeholt. Trotz gebuchter „food tour“ haben wir zusätzlich jede Menge Informationen über Kanazawa erhalten. Wir haben nach einer privaten und individuellen Tour gesucht, die sich von der klassischen Touristenmassenabfertigung unterscheidet und genau das erhalten! individuelle Tour

Gillian

8 April 2025

Can’t say enough good things about our Kanazawa tour with Lucy. She was responsive, flexible and a wealth of information. Highly recommend her services, can’t imagine a better guide in Kanazawa. Wonderful experience in Kanazawa with Lucy

Sumi

3 April 2025

Wonderful and informative experience- we loved our tour with Lucy and would highly recommend her tours! Lucy was a fantastic guide - extremely knowledgeable about the history and cultural significance of various sites and we really got to appreciate the significance of the geisha districts, tea houses and samurai districts in a way that we wouldn’t have on our own. She was also incredibly warm, friendly and able to accommodate the rests and refuelling stops required for our children and adjust the information to maintain their interest too. Would recommend this tour with Lucy without hesitation!Wonderful and informative

Jenny

30 March 2025

Lucy hatte uns sogar in unserem Hotel in Kanazawa abgeholt, da unser Zug aus Kyoto Verspätung hatte und wir es somit nicht mehr rechtzeitig zum eigtl. Treffpunkt geschafft hätten. Lucy hat uns Kanazawa näher gebracht und ist auf unsere Wünsche eingegangen. Wir haben uns das Samurai-Viertel inkl. der Samurai-Residenz der Familie Nomura, die Geisha-Viertel u. noch vieles mehr angeschaut. Es war überaus spannend und interessant. Lucy weiß außerordentlich viel und ist sehr sympathisch. Wir können diese privat geführte Tour nur empfehlen und jedem ans Herz legen, der mehr über Kanazawa wissen und sehen möchte. Es lohnt sich wirklich, vorallem da Lucy sehr sprachgewandt ist und wir dadurch in deutscher Sprache eine Führung erhalten haben. 😉Sehr informativ uns sehr sympathisch

Debbie🇺🇸 United States

9 March 2025

We had a blast on our walking tour with Lucy through the artisan workshops in Kanazawa. She is extremely knowledgeable and personable too. We got to go to places we would never have found on our own, to see some of the most amazingly skilled individuals and their crafts, which are painstakingly made with both common and precious materials. This tour is off the beaten path, and highly worthwhile!A special tour with a special person

Marie

15 February 2025

"We had a great time with Lucy! We visited all the interesting places without having to rush and with plenty of explanations! For lunch we enjoyed a typical meal at the marketplace. Thank you so much Lucy for showing us around this beautiful city!"great time with Lucy

Steven

4 February 2025

We had a half day in Kanazawa, and spending a quiet and sunny winter morning strolling thru Kanazawa with Lucy was the perfect way to see Kanazawa. Lucy was informed and knowledgeable about the history and culture of this old city, and made it memorable for us. She was also quite accommodating, and adjusted the itinerary according to our early afternoon train. Given the rich history and traditions of this city, a tour with Lucy is a must to get the most of one’s visit to Kanazawa.Quiet morning stroll thru Kanazawa

Jen

22 January 2025

I decided to book a local on my first day in Japan. As luck would have it, Lucy fit me into her schedule. And even before the tour, at first contact, she answered my questions and gave me great advice. The actual tour was exactly what I wanted, her insights and knowledge of Japan, combined with her European background gave me the perfect primer for my 14 day vacation. I highly recommend Lucy. 10 out of 10.The best money spent during the whole vacation.

Alex

19 January 2025

My husband and I spent a nice afternoon with Lucy. She was a great tour guide and was very knowledgeable about the history of Kanazawa, the arts and culture in Kanazawa and we also loved learning about her experience raising a family as a French woman in Japan. She took us to some great stops and also suggested a lovely museum And restaurant that we enjoyed after our tour with her. Thank you so much Lucy.A lovely afternoon strolling in Kanazawa

Janet🇺🇸 United States

18 January 2025

Lucy provided great insights about the history of Kanazawa and Japan, including customs of geisha and samurai life. Plus we saw aspects of current life such as the market and the contemporary art museum. It was a most enjoyable day, despite the cold and snowy weather.Great Day Exploring Kanazawa

julian.gooi

17 January 2025

Lucy was just great. Such a lovely person and so knowledgeable about Japan and Kanazawa. She put us all at ease right from the start and guided us through Kanazawa teaching us about the history and story of Kanazawa. I cannot recommend her enough. Thank you, Lucy. Simply fantastic

Nicola

13 January 2025

Lucy was our guide on a private cruise ship excursion for 8 people from Toyama port to Ainokura village and Kanazawa. Lucy was a mine of interesting information about the places we visited. She organised everything so that we had plenty of time to return to the ship. She took us to a very local restaurant where we had a wonderful lunch. We were all very happy with Lucy as our guide and would thoroughly recommend her service.Group cruise excursion to Ainokura and Kanazawa

MaryAnne🇦🇺 Australia

12 January 2025

Lucy was a fantastic local host. It was terrible weather on the day of our 4hr tour but we took our time and learnt so much from her. Very knowledgeable insights into the Kanazawa way of life, then and now. We really enjoyed our time and were able to go back to visit some of our highlights again the next day. Highly recommend Lucy. Great local insights

Delphine

6 January 2025

Lucy est une guide merveilleuse et très interessante avec laquelle nous avons passéune excellente demi journée. Elle nous a appris beaucoup de choses et son partage d'expérience était très riche Merci encore!superbe journée

shannon

2 January 2025

I have always been interested in Japanese arts and crafts and had visited Kanazawa before - last time I visited after doing the 'main' tourist attractions, I left with a sense there was so much more to uncover about this fascinating city. Lucy's tour is exactly what you need to help fill the gap, bridging history and culture and art and a very deep understanding of Kanazawa itself. Lucy was absolutely lovely, and immediately made me feel welcome, and was able to help me even with my slightly off-topic questions too. Lucy personalised my tour to me as well, which was fantastic! This is a must-do tour in Kanazawa!A must do in Kanazawa

Rachel🇺🇸 United States

30 December 2024

Lucy was a great guide for an 8 hour tour and our family of 5 (college and high school kids) had a great experience. She is from France originally and has lived here for 6 years and has an interesting perspective of what life is like and a very thorough understanding of history of the area. She is thoughtful and very intelligent and we really enjoyed her in-depth explanation of many aspects of the city: garden, geisha life, sumarai, castle, gold leaf craft, craft museum, ninja museum. Weather was rainy and cold but the 8 hours flew by since we were all very interested in what she showed us and this beautiful and interesting cityReally great day of Kanazawa exploration

Daniel

28 December 2024

Had a great walking tour with Lucy! She has lived in Japan for several years now and has great knowledge of the Kanazawa area, especially the geisha and samurai areas. Would recommend to anyone!Great walking tour!

Amy

20 December 2024

We so enjoyed visiting Kanazawa with Lucy. She’s very knowledgeable about the city and as a foreign resident has an interesting perspective on living in Japan and beautiful Kanazawa. Our entire family were really glad we had the chance to take this tour! Terrific tour

Louise🇦🇺 Australia

17 December 2024

Lucy was excellent, ensuring we explored and discovered many hidden places of Kanazawa that we probably would not have found ourselves and if we did happen to stumble across them, we wouldn't know or understand what we were looking at. She was very good at tailoring the tour to our areas of interest and being a local was able to share interesting insights about life, culture and history of Kanazawa. We thoroughly enjoyed and would highly recommend. Hidden Gems of Kanazawa

Megan

15 December 2024

Lucy was great! We were a large group with a huge age range (5-79), and one person who couldn’t walk far distances. She worked very hard to find a place that would accommodate us all (the day after Christmas no less!) but that would also us to try the local cuisine. Although we were not able to do the traditional food walking tour- we nonetheless had a wonderful time and got to experience local Kanazawan foods.A taste of Kanazawa

Allyson🇦🇺 Australia

6 December 2024

Our tour with Lucy was fabulous! We didn't quite know where to start exploring Kanazawa and after our tour with Lucy we knew so much more about the city and what we could see and do. Lucy was so knowledgeable about Kanazawa and it's history. We really enjoyed the places that she shared with us and loved that she was happy to answer our many questions. Thank you Lucy!Wonderful!

stuckik

24 November 2024

Lucy was a very good guide. She showed us lots of interesting sights in Kanazawa and told us background information about them. We enjoyed our time with her very much.Very pleasant experience

Roxana🇦🇷 Argentina

21 November 2024

We hace such a wonderfull time with Lucy!!!! I highly recommend her. We learned a lot about Kanazawa!! Thanks again Lucy. Lucy is amaizing!!!

Vivien

15 November 2024

We very much enjoyed having Lucy as our guide. Lucy is very knowledgeable and gave us an excellent overview of Kanazawa. We would highly recommend a tour with herInteresting tour

Claudia🇳🇱 Netherlands

9 November 2024

Lucy was an amazing guide: knowledgable, personable and completely flexible to work with our interests and our pace. It didn’t feel like having a tour guide but like a local friend by your side. She was able to answer all our questions, give us a bit of background on Japanese history, tell us interesting and relevant facts about the parts of Kanazawa we explored and also enlighten us about her experiences of living in Japan. It was great to have all this in fluent German and English! Would definitely recommend booking a tour with Lucy when you arrive in Kanazawa as this intro to the city helped us plan the remainder of our (too short) time there. Thank you Lucy!!What a wonderful way to explore Kanazawa

Duayna🇺🇸 United States

8 November 2024

We asked Lucy to take us to see two Geisha Disitricts and the Samuri District before we did our foodie thing. She did. While on the tour she gave us considerable historical and legendary context on the three districts. We would have never had this perspective without her input. While in one of the Geisha Districts we also "popped into" a Saki shop and sampled 6 different kinds. Yum! By the way, it was pouring rain almost the entire time but we still had a great time. After visiting the Samuri District we went to dinner. This restaurant she picked was not a touristy spot but a traditional local favorite - that often was fully booked - we were lucky to get in. She chose so many amazing dishes it's hard to cover. I tried several dishes I would never have without a knowledgible person to guide me - the rest of our small group did too. If you're heading to Kanazawa give Lucy a try and let her know what other interests you have for your stay before you get there. She reviewed our itinerary for the next day said it was good and gave us a couple of pointers too. I'd certainly have her take us around should I ever go again. We're a "mature" group of four - if you are too I'd advise you to take a cab if you're going from the Geisha Districts to the Samuri Districts. We walked it with no trouble but we wouldn't have missed anything by taking a cab. Great Afternoon/Evening With Lucy

Christine🇩🇪 Germany

7 November 2024

Auf unserer Japanrundreise mit mehreren Stadtführungen, war der Rundgang durch Kanazawa mit Lucy das Beste!!! Wir haben viel über das Leben in der Stadt erfahren und wir besichtigten alle historischen Stadtteile. Sie hat alle Fragen von uns beantwortet. Danke Lucy ;))Das Beste was uns passiert ist

Andree🇩🇪 Germany

29 October 2024

Da wir eine kleine Tour (3 Stunden) in deutscher Sprache mit Lucy gebucht haben werde ich auch in deutsch schreiben. Lucy war pünktlich an unserem Hotel in Kanazawa. Wir haben uns sofort gut verstanden. Unsere Tour führte durch zwei Geisha-Viertel wobei Lucy uns viel über Vergangenheit und Gegenwart erzählte. Wir schlenderten durch die Gartenanlage von Kanazawa Castle und spazierten durch das Samurai-Viertel. Wir waren so in der Lage am nächsten Tag individuell auf eigene Faust durch Kanazawa zu streichen. Wir besuchten das Innere der Burg, waren auf einem Sake-Fest (auf das uns Lucy hinwies) und haben uns ein echtes Samurai-Haus angesehen. Am Abend hatten wir ein tolles Abendessen im PlatHome (unbedingt vorher reservieren...). Vielen Dank, Lucy... wir kommen wieder... :-)Kanazawa Tour mit Lucy

Karsten

28 October 2024

Die Tour mit Lucy war die beste unserer Japanreise. Sie hat uns zu allen interessanten Spots von Kanazawa geführt und mit interessanten Details und Hintergründen versorgt. Lucy berücksichtigte unser Wünsche und beantwortete unsere vielen Fragen ausführlich. Aus die, die sich eher generell um Japan und das Leben dort drehten. Besser geht es nicht! Vielen Dank, Lucy,Ein tolles Erlebnis

Amy🇺🇸 United States

26 October 2024

Lucy was amazing. We loved her and wish she could go with us everywhere. The tour itself was very informative and provided us with lots of history, information and anecdotes. The pace was perfect, our many questions were answered thoughtfully and with detail. It was all around great!The best

Vadim

26 October 2024

We’ve booked our tour at the very last moment after having already arrived at Kanazawa. It was a wise move, as Lucy turned out to be an outstanding guide. We especially appreciated her mother naught into everyday life in the city and enjoyed the noodle house she recommended for lunch.Excellent Kanazawa walk with Lucy

Simone🇮🇹 Italy

19 October 2024

Lucy has been a dependable, punctual, trustworthy guide for our first time in Kanazawa. She gave us an amazing idea if the history of the town as well as sharing a deep insight of the present customs and habits of modern Japanese people. She is an amazing guide, prepared and so easy to talk to. Wonderful experience, absolutely recommended!Walking tour in Kanazawa, 18 Oct 2024

Pierre🇦🇺 Australia

19 October 2024

Lucy was great and gave us a great tour in the historical Kanazawa. Lucy gave us great insights and tips. CheersSamurai and Geisha in Kanazawa

Unknown

11 October 2024

We had a great time on our private tour with Lucy. She was patient and answered all of our questions. We highly recommend her as a great alternative to a mainstream guide option. A good experience!