Explore the Ancient Capitals of Japan: Kyoto and Nara!
Embark on a cultural day trip from Osaka or Kyoto.
Start at Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, famous for the "Senbon Torii," a path lined with thousands of vermilion gates.
Enjoy lunch at the 120-year-old Kyoto Townhouse "Kyoto Wasabi," savoring Kyoto pork and tofu shabu-shabu, a traditional hot-pot dish.
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For no-meal option travelers: Spend 20 minutes at Kyoto Imperial Palace before heading directly to Kinkaku-ji Temple.
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Visit Kinkaku-ji (admission included), also known as the Golden Pavilion. UNESCO world heritage.
Explore Todai-ji Temple, home to Japan's largest Buddha statue, and wander through Nara Park, where over 1,200 deer roam freely.
In Nara perfecture
Todai-ji Temple, another UNESCO world heritage site. Here you will find yourself in front of Japan’s biggest Buddha statue, 15 meters tall.
Nara Park, over 1,200 deer roam freely, creating a picturesque scene straight out of a fairy tale.
Posted By : Rosa_H
It’s a whole day tour a lot of driving, it was ok, only thing we didn’t like was in the restaurant we were supposed to have traditional dinner, however, there wasn’t enough space for everyone in our group so our family and another family sat on the side room in regular tables (not traditional on the floor like rest of groups) so we didn’t get to have that experience, little disappointed. Other than that tour was ok.
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Posted On : 2024-06-17 04:13:16 
Posted By : iris_s
Mike was our guide in this trip. He was very nice and helpful . The most I like it’s was to have lunch in a traditional Japanese restaurant. It was a good experience
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Posted On : 2024-06-16 01:33:46
Posted By : Dennis_R
The tour description is not correct. The tour does not include Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. Also, you only have one hour in Nara which is not enough time to walk to and tour Tōdai-ji. Overall, I was very disappointed with this tour.
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Posted On : 2024-06-08 18:51:31
Posted By : Shelley_R
Booked the one day tour that included Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, some temples and Nara deer park. However on the day they skipped the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. Blamed change in driving hours. Should have notified ahead of time as I would have changed tour. Disappointing day.
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Posted On : 2024-04-27 17:44:57
Posted By : Patricia_S
We had high hopes for this tour. We arrived at the VIP Lounge on time and were given no information from the women at the desk other than to wait for Bus #2. Very disorganized. The bus was late so we already lost 30 minutes from the tour. Several days prior to the tour I received an email that due to government restrictions on how long bus drivers can work, the tour was cutting out one of the stops (the bamboo forest). This was extremely disappointing as it was a major highlight that we wanted to see. The tour was very rushed and we had little time to spend at each of the other 3 stops. While I understand that the drivers can't work more than a certain number of hours, the tour was cut by 25% only several days prior to the date of the tour, with no way to schedule with a different tour outfit (everyone else was already sold out). I emailed Viator and asked for a 25% refund since they cut 25% of my tour. They replied back that they don't provide refunds. We are extremely disappointed.
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Posted On : 2024-04-26 17:40:59
Posted By : ANTHONYROBERT_W
We took this tour in 2016 and it was excellent.
This time it was disappointing.
1. The bus was 20 minutes late at the meeting point in Koyto as it came from Osaka.
2. People were unsure of which bus to get as there were 4 or 5 tours from the same point.
3. The tour guide was excellent and organized the bus seating well.
4. There were long walks from the bus parking to the attractions. 10 to 20 minutes.
5. When booking, the bamboo forest, a highlight for us,was advertised, however due to a change in laws, we could not go there. Very disappointing to find this out on the tour and not before as we then missed this attraction altogether.
6. So the trip from Kyoto to Nara was only for the deer park a long way for a small attraction. The best viewing was the temple in the park but the ticket was not included. Due to the late start, for slower walkers, it was impossible to visit and enjoy this attraction and the deer park as we were rushed.
The bus, guide and other attractions were fine, but overall very disappointing compared to last time. Please advertise the tour without the bamboo forest from now on.
Thanks. Anthony Wilson.
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Posted On : 2024-04-24 23:38:47
Posted By : elliottl740
The tour was very nice. I thought the tour guide was very nice and cool, the way he spoke English and Mandarin one after the other! The bus was also very comfy because I fell asleep twice 😴😴. We went to Nara Park and fed at least 38 deer 🦌!
I thought the tour was very nice 🙂🙂🙂🙂.
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Posted On : 2024-04-22 07:00:14 
Posted By : KANIKA_B
Bus arrived late at Kyoto pick up point due to which tour started at 9:20 AM instead of 9 AM.
Next the tour started 21 minutes late from first stop kinkakuji temple due to wait for delayed passengers, 11:01 instead of 10:40 AM, wasting passenger time. Tour guide didn't have their contact information.
The following stop the guide Kaori slept in the bus even though everyone had boarded the bus and the bus didn't move since she was sleeping. So we started late from the next stop ie. arashiyama bamboo forest as well.
She asked to return to bus at the fushimi inari shrine at 3:40PM to leave for Nara. At 3:40 PM, she announced that it will take an hour to reach Nara. After reaching Nara at 4:40 pm she announced that the Todaiji temple closes at 4:40 pm. First and foremost if she asked us to come back at 3:40 PM and it takes an hour to reach Nara and that the temple closes at 4:40PM, then why didn't she tell us earlier and why did we go to Nara. Secondly she misled us about the closing time for the Todaiji temple. We got to know from the temple that the ticket purchase closes at 5PM and entrance closes at 530, the same is mentioned online too. So it is incorrect information being provided to the tourists. As you may appreciate we have tight schedules and packed itineraries in Japan and given the time at hand we cannot afford to go to the same place again, we could have utilised the time to go somewhere else. We couldn't visit due to the guide's fault.
The tourists felt she is quite elderly to take a tour and should not be allocated as a tour guide by the company. She walked ahead without turning back, only to realise that not a single tourist from our group was with her. She sleeps when she is supposed to move the bus. She asked the tourists if someone is missing, how would tourists know if one couple or family is missing as a whole. She should take head count. She explains things only to the tourists in the first row despite being given feedback by all tourists to use a microphone.
Please do not take a tour with your guide Kaori and agency VIP tours.
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Posted On : 2024-04-01 19:37:50
Posted By : TIM_W
This was a great day tour and myself and my 8yr old daughter loved it.
As for the long day comments in previous reviews, they are correct BUT you get to see everything and have more than enough time to see the stops.
Our tour guide Mike was so fun and enjoyable and made the day 💯
If you are looking at this trip you won't be disappointed, so book it and take it all in just like we did.
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Posted On : 2024-03-31 07:31:31
Posted By : Lars_B
Delayed bus arrival, only time to literally run through the two most important visits. English guiding was minimal compared to other language.
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Posted On : 2024-03-29 14:35:43
