Kyoto Highlights Walking Tour For First-time Visitors

Excellent tour of the Gion district, main streets and temples. Melanie was very good and made our experience memorable.

An excellent tour of Kyoto, with our guide Jay. We covered so many of the key cultural highlights of Kyoto, stopping at each for a more in-depth description of religion, temples and culture more generally. It’s impossible to do Kyoto justice in 2 hours, but this tour seemed to provide a flavour of everything. Jay was a brilliant guide, with a really impressive knowledge of Kyoto, history, food, and life in Japan. He encouraged our questions, and answered them all! Thanks for a wonderful tour!

Excellent experience, I recommend it 100%. Our guide Debora is great, she explains really well, knows a lot and answers all the questions

Tommy our tour guide was so knowledgeable, kind and friendly, as well as speaking great english! We really learned a lot through the tour and got to see many of the important cultural places both historic and current. Thank you! Totally recommended 🙂🫶🏼

Great tour because it was very informative and our guide did a great job explaining the interesting Japenese culture.

We had a great tour guide with Tommy. Not only is he very knowledgeable on Kyoto history but his energy and passion were also very communicative. His English skills were excellent. What a great way to discover this beautiful city!

Melanie was personable, very knowledgeable and an excellent guide. In addition to the scheduled stops on the tour, Melanie offered suggestions and answered questions about other tours and sites in and around Kyoto.

Very nice tour with a great guide Deborah.

Ayumi was a fantastic and hospitable host and she was a great teacher of Japanese history! Definitely recommend!

I went on this tour during the offseason (late February 2026) and it was amazing! My tour guide Jay was very informative and provided a lot of interesting tidbits about not only local history, but pointed out unique buildings and architecture in the Gion district. As a plus (for me), I apparently was the only one who booked this tour, so I developed a great rapport with the Jay during the 2 hour tour. I would highly recommend!

We arrived early for our 1:30 pm tour after receiving email confirmation of the schedule, but no one showed up. We and other tour participants tried messaging and emailing, with 12 of us waiting, yet none of us received any notice nor warning of a cancellation.

I had a fantastic experience with Michael, he’s very knowledgeable and insightful! He knows Kyoto very very well and will give you the best suggestions!

Ayumi showed us around very well and gave us lot's of good information about all the places and its history, thank you very much! 🙏

Ayumi led an amazing walking tour. We learned a lot and saw so much of Kyoto in just a few hours. She managed a large group with ease and made everyone feel included.

We had a wonderful experience on the tour in Kyoto with our guide Ayumi. She was full of energy and knowledge, and shared the information in such an engaging way that each explanation connected seamlessly to the next, keeping us curious and excited throughout the entire tour. Ayumi answered every question with patience and a smile – she is truly kind and delightful. We enjoyed every moment and highly recommend joining this tour when visiting Kyoto!

Excellent tour and guide, 100% recommended. Michael was so nice and funny telling us so many facts, great! With his mic everyone understood everything the pace was good for also the elder ones who joined.

What a wonderful tour! We learned so much history of Japan. Ayumi is such a great tour guide. I highly recommend e joining her tour.

Our guide (Jay) was very knowledgeable about Japan and specifically Kyoto history and culture. He shared numerous stories including western culture analogies to help us understand the local traditions. Very happy with the content of this tour.

Ayumi is a rockstar tour guide! She took us on an educational, entertaining tour in the oppressive Kyoto summer heat, and did not lose a drop of her enthusiasm. She was engaging, knowledgeable and helpful, and gave me one of the best tour experiences I've ever had!

I loved Claire, the tour guide. She was probably one of the best tour guides I have ever met in my life. She explained an abundance of information so well that I felt like I was back in history class. She really captivated the audience and made me feel welcome. She talked about the culture, the food, the rich history of Kyoto step by step. She really was just an incredible, extraordinary tour guide who made me wanting more at the end. Her detailed explanations were amazing, and she always gave us the option of taking a break and was always there to participate and help us when we needed. I am speachless. Thank you, Claire for making me feel welcoming. I really feel gratitude and I feel grateful for this breathtaking experience.

Clara was really amazing. Very knowledgeable and sweet and kind. Thank you for a beautiful experience. Highly recommended!

We had Ayumi and she was fantastic! We were lucky enough to have her to ourselves and she was a wealth of information. Bright, bubbly and always answering questions we had. We would highly recommend this tour, and if you’re lucky enough to get Ayumi you are in for a treat.

Very good places in the tour and some of them would not be in our program as Kyoto has a lot of terrific places that are not mentioned in the standard tourist information.

Ayumi was a fantastic guide! Her delivery was knowledgeable, fun, and energetic throughout the entire experience. She kept the group engaged with interesting facts, great storytelling, and a wonderful sense of humor. You could tell she was passionate about what she does, which made the tour all the more enjoyable. Highly recommend her!

We had a wonderful tour throughout kyoto. Ayomi our guide had a lot of backround information to a lot of places after the tour we've seen things we wouldn't have seen alone and knew historical informations which are really good. And while the whole tour Ayomi had so much positiv energy. We are very thankful that we did it. Ee really can just recommend to do this tour just when you arrive in kyoto.

Ayumi was a fantastic tour guide. Her tour was so interesting and useful. She explained all the historic information about Kyoto in a clear and concise way and always made sure everyone understood and left lots of time for questions. Ayumi was so friendly and made the tour fun adding lots of recommendations about things to do and see, as well as places to eat and drink! Thanks so much!

We had an amazing experience on the "Kyoto Gion Walking Tour for First-Time Visitors." Our guide, Jay, was exceptional — friendly, knowledgeable, and fluent in English. Despite not being Japanese, he shared very interesting insights into Kyoto's history and culture. Jay led us through Gion's landmarks and hidden gems, making the tour both educational and fun. His storytelling made each stop memorable. For anyone new to Kyoto, this tour is a perfect starting point. Highly recommended!

This was our first day in Kyoto. Jay was very very informative with interesting pictures to back up his talk. I loved his map obsessions. He was great with terrific English. Took us lots of places and bought be more helpful. Highly recommend.

Went on a fantastic tour of Kyoto with Ayumi today. She's very talented, well aware of the history and stories of Kyoto and shares them in an awesome style. Its a perfect gateway to Tokyo and I highly recommend taking the tour on your first day in this city. & if you have Ayumi as your guide, that is a big bonus :)

Ayumi was an amazing tour guide - fun, patient and knowledgeable! Very informative tour. Would recommend and do again!

My wife and I took the Kyoto free walking tour on April 4, 2005. Our tour guide, David, was FANTASTIC! He was engaging, full of interesting tidbits and was happy to patiently answer every single question. It was a great experience, and David's guidance was a major factor in our enjoyment.

We thought this tour was really good. Hana, our guide, was very knowledgeable & made the tour entertaining. She recommended local restaurants & was happy to answer a variety of questions. Well worth doing.

Jay was so informative and took us to so many cool locations. His knowledge of the history and culture of Kyoto was incredible. Winding thru the streets of Gion and seeing so many temples and shrines. He also made time for us any time we had a question. What a great experience! 11/10

Ayumi is the best tour guide!! We highly recommend this Tour! Got a lot of recommendations for restaurants, bars and spots.

On March 7, 2025 at 1:30 PM me and the family were booked on the Free Walking Tour of Kyoto with our guide Ben, and in hindsight I must admit: It was one of the highlights during the whole 16 days that we stayed in Japan. Because of Ben and his profound knowledge of Japan's and Kyoto's history and cultural development we gained so many insights into Japanese tradition and contemporary elements of this wonderful country that afterwards I felt kind of enlightened. I had and still have a different perception and a different view on my travel experience of Japan than before. Therefore, we really like to thank Ben himself and Kyoto Localized to make this such a lasting experience. Kyoto is a wonderful town, and hopefully we will have a chance to visit it again and book another tour.

Excellent introduction to Kyoto, its history and an intro to visiting Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Ayumi, our guide was outstanding, very knowledgeable, funny and engaging. We had a fabulous time!

The tour was extremely interesting and was a good starting point for our Kyoto visit. Our guide Ayumi was very knowledgeable and fun, gave us great recommendations and made the overall experience very memorable.

An awesome Kyoto intro tour for first time visitors. We've learned about the history, visited beautiful locations and enjoyed the company of our tour guide Ayumi. We've got lots of local tips and insights into history and culture. Ayumi was awesome: fun, engaging and very knowledgeable. We've done 3 tours in Tokyo and this one with Ayumi in Kyoto was by far the best experience.

Rina was our guide through the temple area. She was very knowledgeable on Japanese history and I learned quite a bit. She put the temples in context of the cultural history and power struggles of Japan. The tour was 3 hours and it flew by. We liked it so much we did a second tour with the same company. We booked online the same day.

We had a very nice tour with Rina and Kyoto Localized! She was very fun and engaging and knowledgable about Kyoto! The tour goes to very interesting places and teaches you a lot about the history of Kyoto, Japan and those specific sights. Highly recommended for first timers to Kyoto!

Very good experience!!! We enjoyed the tour a lot and our guide Miki was very clear in the information provided!! 100% happy with the experience, happy that the tour was in Spanish!

Excellent! Miki the best guide

A very good introduction to get a first impression of Kyoto. We left first thing in the morning and despite the rain, Miki gave us a very pleasant tour, explaining the history and main characteristics of this beautiful city in a conversational way. Thank you very much, Míriam!!

Excellent tour in Kyoto with Miki, the tour was super complete, we went to very iconic places with a lot of history. Highly recommended

The tour in Spanish was great. Miki knows a lot about Japan and Kyoto. Highly recommended

Miki was very kind, and the explanations were also very interesting. Despite lasting 2 and a half hours, it goes by quickly. Very good experience.

Deborah gave an excellent explanation of Kyoto in general. Very professional, committed, and kind, she made the 3-hour tour enjoyable. We would do it again without thinking!

Miki is an extraordinary guide; she explained the history of the different political periods of Japan to us. She told us popular anecdotes and customs. She took us to the temples and explained to us who built them and the rituals that had to be performed. The pace of the tour was very good and she was attentive to the group at all times. We have signed up for the Gijón tour on the day she does it because we liked it a lot. I recommend the tour and Miki 100%. Thank you

It was very good, the wonderful guide explained things in great detail and we learned a lot, but without it being boring or repetitive 10/10 for the experience