Kyoto Nighttime All-inclusive Eats And Streets, Gion And Beyond

What a great evening. Hugo took us on a nice stroll about the different areas, and kept us engaged with his shared information and wit. The food and drink we had were terrific and the places that served them felt like cool hidden gems.

We enjoyed our tour with Gio. All the restaurants were good. The only downside was the amount of walking for the tour. It seemed like it was more of a walking tour rather than a food tour. Some of Gio's english was difficult to understand. I think the tour could be shorter without all of the walking.

Excellent food and neat food locations. Guide was knowledgeable and made the experience worth while.

The tour was very fun and we were so full from our food! We got to walk around and down pontocho alley. The food choices were in very traditional, small Japanese restaurants. We really enjoyed it!

Tommy was so great! Very knowledgeable, showed us some cool spots and had so much food!! It was the perfect way to start our trip in Kyoto. Highly recommend.

This was a wonderful evening in Gion with our guide Hugo. Hugo is a very knowledgable and worldly guy. He gave us lots of information and perspectives on history and culture in both Gion and Kyoto specifically, and Japan in general. Then there was the food, lots of it, many varieties, very authentic and very delicious! He explained to us what we were eating and how it related to Japanese culture. There was also plenty of drink to go along with the food. Don’t pass this one up.

You will love this tour and the food was fabulous!! Our meeting point was super simple to get to (we took a local train and when we exited the stun, we were there!). As we waited for other tourists, Terumi, our guide, shared the history of the theater we were standing in front of and the different actors on the stage announcements. As we got started, she explained the sightseeing position of the tour and that we’d follow up with two places to eat dinner. The history of the geisha is fantastic and our Terumi explained the difference between an apprentice and geisha. From the history of Goin and the shrines and temples, the tour was fabulous. The restaurants were places that locals go to and it was so cool to not be in mainstream locations. The food was fabulous and we finished the you’re very full! This was an excellent tour and we recommend it for anyone visiting Kyoto!

Great tour and it really does take you to restaurants you’re not going to stumble into without a local guide. Our guide was awesome and she answered other questions we had about Japan in general and different cultural questions we had. Really enjoyed it!

Such a perfect evening in Gion with Jamie. The food was incredible—thoughtfully chosen, authentic, and absolutely delicious at every stop. But what really made it special was the atmosphere. It didn’t feel like a tour at all, more like a relaxed night out with a friend who knows all the best spots. Great conversation, great pacing, and such a warm, welcoming vibe. Highly recommend.

Our tour guide was born and raised in Kyoto. He’s very knowledgable about the area. We visited a great hole in the wall we wouldn’t have otherwise found ourselves.

Terumi was a great tour guide! She was very knowlegable and walked us through many iconic alley & streets in kyoto you wouodnt want to miss. The two restaurants we visited served delicious food and Terumi recommended us some really great dishes.

Great experience and the tour guide was very knowledgeable. Ensure to challeng him and ask questions. It was very relaxed and a great time. Make sure to ask permission in certaint areas to ensure to keep yourself out of trouble as some private streets photography whit even phone are prohibited, always ask first. Be open to new experiences and food s the food was amazing.

Lin our tour guide was amazing showing us the history and lots of the Japan traditions and the life in Kyoto. But we were disappointed with the selections and portions of the foods. I organized the tour for our friends and for my husband and wanted them to have a great experience with the food and be filled by the time we finished the 2nd restaurant but we ended up with sample like items, small plates of vegetable appetizers. Some photos showed shrimp tempura and other hearty items but we did not experience that. Not sure that I had to communicate that to Lin but maybe if this tour gives hearty food items all the time, it would get a 5 star. We don’t even drink alcohol so that savings should have gone to a hearty dish. Five stars for Lin but 2 for food. The first restaurant had a couple of sashimi slices and sweet potato and pepper tempura but the 2nd restaurant is what disappointed us. We thought it would only get better but it did not.

We had a great time. Food was interesting and delicious. A bit more walking than we expected but it was worth it to get to the pit of the way little places we ate at.

Hugo was our guide for this tour, and he took us to some great places to eat which we would never have found ourselves. The amount of food was definitely enough to satisfy and not full too full. We particular enjoyed the food and vibe at the Izakaya called (a little drink, Kyaza)? https://maps.app.goo.gl/hdBA4M2cWL3GZYps9 We opted for the beef, and it was amazing as was everything else too - just one tofu dish had a very unique texture.. Thanks Hugo for an enjoyable evening, and the other couple who were with us were great company too.

We had a great time in Kyoto ! Great food and great experience ! Loved Kyoto as a whole and our guide was awesome. Super knowledgeable guy and you can tell he really loves Kyoto ! Would highly recommend

Lin was amazing! The spots he took us to were fantastic and off the beaten path. He was so sweet and the food was delicious.

We had a small group of six people. The guide was extremely friendly, but the overall restaurant tour was very poor — so much so that one person in our group actually left before it was over. The guide seemed unprepared, and most of the tour consisted of simply walking through town with very little narration or insight into Japanese food or its history. We only visited two food spots. The first was an extremely small, smoky local bar with seating for about ten people. There weren’t enough chairs for everyone, and the smoke was so heavy that one participant left. The food there consisted of three small tasting items — definitely not a meal. The second location was on the second floor of another venue with a small round table where the entire group had to stand. We were given four items to sample, and that was the end of the “restaurant tour.” The final stop wasn’t even in a restaurant but felt more like a library setting, with us being the only table. Overall, the experience was low-quality and disappointing. While the guide was kind, the tour lacked organization, atmosphere, and meaningful content. Not recommended.

Well paced, the 3 hours flew by. Joshua knew the area very well and his descriptions kept us attentive. The dining was excellent. I wish they would start the tour a bit earlier so we can see the area just before it gets dark and in the dark as well.

Our guide was wonderful. The 3 hours went by very quickly. It was a mix of meandering through the old part of the city with a visit to a Shinto shrine and night life. The 2 local places we stopped at for food were good and lively! On and all a very nice experience.

There was a lot of walking! Guide was knowledgeable and enthusiastic! Food was very good! Worth it!!

We had a fun experience walking the streets of Gion, learning the history and eating tasty treats at local bars. The city is beautiful at night. Thank you!

Informative guide and great restaurant choices. Brian made the evening very enjoyable. Our dietary requirements were all taken care of.

Laura was an incredible tour guide! Her knowledge of the area and culture was impressive and her bubbly personality really made the tour so enjoyable!!! 11/10 experience

Great tour, Rin did an excellent job of combining sightseeing, storytelling, and showing us authentic local cuisine.

Gion was underwhelming. Perhaps it's better during the day. Night time didn't allow for any good photos. Meeting spot was hard as there were 5 other tours meeting at the same spot, and there wasn't a way to know who was who. Tour guide was very good. Kudos to her. Food was great, but at second restaurant we were seated at a bar which made it hard for group to talk. But food was great.

This tour was a lot of fun, we explored some beautiful streets through Gion. Laura was very knowledgeable, friendly and fun. The food was delicious.

We had a very fun tour with Laura. She spoke very good English. She showed us things we never would have seen on our own and told us the story of many places. The time flew by - we enjoyed every minute. Thank you Laura!

MAYA was a great guide! She made the tour fun and informative and answered everyone’s questions with great enthusiasm!

This tour went nothing like how I thought. Hugo was fantastic. Very knowledgeable and made us all laugh. Another couple was also on the tour and were so friendly, we hit it off. We started with a walking tour and Hugo showed us all the nearby popular areas (this was a godsend since we don't read/speak much Japanese and it removed the stress of finding everything) and then went on to try some delicious izakaya food. We opted for the wagyu beef option and learned that the staff went to extraordinary lengths to source it since we RSVPd on the day of. Highly recommend. Arigatou gozaimas!

We had the most incredible food tour in Kyoto. Although every morsel was curated and beyond delicious, it was our guide Hugo that truly made it memorable. He had such in depth knowledge and love for Japan and through his eyes we experienced the beauty and mystique of the Japanese people, their culture and their food. Thank you Hugo for making this an experience we will treasure always!

Lovely tour with a very thorough tour guide. We appreciated her attention to detail . We had a great time.

Great first night experience in Kyoto! Laura was our guide and was great! She explained about geikos (geisha) and maikos and we were lucky enough to see a geiko walking through the neighborhood. We had a great time visiting a shrine and Laura explained the differences between a shrine (Shintoism) and a temple (Buddism). After visiting the geiko area and a shrine the food tour part began starting with a stand up bar/restaurant serving multiple small course and sake. The second restaurant was the main course with multiple types of dishes and sake.

Our tour guide, Laura, did a wonderful job of showing us around the Gion area. She was very knowledgeable of the area. She was absolutely delightful as she led us around. The food at our two stops was delicious. However, our second stop was a very small shop which would have been charming if we hadn't been in this very small room with a rowdy group that smoked our whole visit. We couldn't enjoy our meal because of all the smoke, we just wanted to get out of the little shop. Our guide was very apologetic as she said the circumstances were very unusual.

Bryan H. was excellent! My adult daughter and I had the great fortune of being the only people on this tour. Bryan gave us background on geisha, maiko, Kabuki, and the Gion district. We also visited some Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. The two eateries at which we dined were definitely ones we never would have found on our own and the experience was splendid! Bryan is a personable host and he clearly loves Kyoto and the Gion area.

Nice walking tour of old town Kyoto, with some interesting and funny history thrown in. Oisin was an excellent guide and he took us to a couple of small restaurants and drinking establishments.

Really fun night tour with a great guide - thank you! I loved hearing all the insights into Japanese culture from an expat’s experience.

Maya was very knowledgeable and fun to be around. She ordered us a variety of different food options to try. We had an excellent time.

Our tour with Jamie was great! We learned a lot, tried some great dishes from two places we would not have found on our own, and got good recommendations for the rest of our trip. We had specified our vegetarian/pescetarian dietary preferences, and this was accommodated well without any compromise in experience.

Jamie was great! We really enjoyed our tour. We would never have found or known the spots in the Gion. She was fun to be with and she knew so much about Japanese culture. We would line to thank her for a great night.

Our guide, Jaime, was a great fit for our small group of 8 friends. She was from Australia and now lives in Japan. No issues with understanding her and she made some outstanding modifications to the evening on the fly. The food was fantastic and plentiful. Thanks Jaime!

Jamie was a great, English speaking guide originally from Melbourne. She was fun and informative. The two restaurants were very fun. Great introduction to the Gion.

Our recent experience on the "Kyoto Nighttime All-Inclusive Eats and Streets, Gion and Beyond" tour was a pleasant way to explore some of Kyoto's atmospheric neighborhoods after dark. While the tour delivered on its promise of showcasing different areas and providing food stops, a few aspects kept it from reaching a five-star rating. The route through Gion and beyond offered a good glimpse into the evening ambiance of Kyoto, venturing into areas we likely wouldn't have discovered on our own. The logistics of visiting multiple places for food were well-managed, allowing us to sample a variety of dishes without the hassle of navigating unfamiliar establishments ourselves. The food provided was, in our opinion, generally okay. It offered a taste of local flavors, but nothing particularly stood out as exceptional or memorable. It was sufficient as part of the overall experience, but don't go in expecting a gourmet revelation. One area that could have enhanced the experience was the guide's level of enthusiasm. While knowledgeable and efficient in moving the group between locations, the delivery felt a little lacking in energy and passion. It's also important to clarify the "all-inclusive" aspect mentioned in the tour title. While food is included at the designated stops, this typically means a set amount at each location. It does not extend to the ability to ask for second helpings of dishes you particularly enjoyed, nor does it cover additional drinks beyond perhaps one included beverage at each food stop. Be prepared to purchase extra drinks if you wish to have more. Despite these points, the tour still offered a valuable and convenient way to experience Kyoto's nightlife and sample some local fare. The opportunity to wander through the historic streets of Gion and the surrounding areas at night is a worthwhile endeavor, and the tour provides a structured way to do so.

We enjoyed our tour and the sites and restaurants we visited. Our tour guide was a native English speaker and very personable.

I enjoyed our tour guide, Joshua. He offered a ton of current and historical information about Kyotot and was super fun to be around. Unfortunately, the first restaurant we attended was awful! Please remove that place entirely from the food tour! The second spot was good, and the owner was super friendly and warm.

We loved this tour. The food selection was great and I appreciate that there was accommodation for vegetarian. Bryan was a great guide and made things interesting.

We wanted to try different Japanese food and in particular wagyu beef. We also wanted to walk the streets of Kyoto in the Gion neighborhood. This tour fit the bill. The weather was chilly and wet but still had a great time. The food and drinks were good. Our guide, Maya, was very friendly, helped with gluten free options for our friend, and was loaded with great stories and explanation about the area. We would gladly recommend this tour by Pinpoint Traveler and our guide Maya.

This was one of the worst tours I've ever had. The food was terrible, some of the restaurant owners were rude, and the tour guide knew nothing about the food nor the neighborhoods that he was showing us. What a waste of time!

We had such a fun night out in Kyoto with Lito. He was incredibly knowledgeable about local places, customs and culture and the food and sake was amazingly delicious. Highly recommend this tour!