South Kyoto In A Nutshell: Gentle Backstreet Bike Tour!

Great smooth ride. Julian was the BEST! tour gude i have ever had.

Visiting Kyoto by bike was wonderful and Jay is the perfect guide!

Thanks to Jay for the amazing bike tour! Did see a lot of shrines and temples and great explanation and fun facts. Would recommend!

This was truly a 5 star bike tour and I have done many around the world. The bikes were in great condition and the route carefully planned. Safety was a priority. Jay, originally from NYC but living in Kyoto for many years, was the perfect guide. His professor quality insights were invaluable to the experience, but moreover, his love for the city and the people of Japan was so clearly evident. He brings both a Western and Eastern point of view. He's the real deal :) I can't think of a better way to see the real Kyoto than by bike... just go!

I had a great time biking with Jay. He’s knowledgeable, has a good sense of humor and of course, give us the right amount of information on each stop, temple, giesha, tea house. It’s a joyful ride and thank you.

My wife and I are English speakers. Jay (originally from NYC) was an excellent guide for us navigating around many of the sights in 3 hrs 30 mins and avoiding the busiest pinch points. We asked him many questions about Japanese customs and he was able to give us his insight having lived for the past 15 years in Kyoto. If you want a leisurely cycle that packs in the sights guided by a relaxed and knowledgable guy who has the closest accent to Robin Williams that I have ever heard, this cycle is for you!

Great trip, saw so much of Kyoto. Guide (Jules) gave a great insight into life and culture of Kyoto. Loved every minute and would highly recommend.

We went on a fantastic bike tour of southern Kyoto’s many sights with our guide, Mayco, from Cycle Kyoto. First of all, Cycle Kyoto was incredibly flexible, easily rescheduling our booking to two days later when one of us fell ill. Excellent service! But, of course, the highlight was the tour itself. Riding great e-bikes, we visited Fushimi Inari, Honganji Temple, Toji Temple, the Tofukuji Bridge, and the Gion district. Our guide, Mayco, did a wonderful job showing us the way and sharing a wealth of information about the sights along the route. Highly recommended!

I had a really fun time on my south tour with Keith! The city is perfect for biking and it was the best way to maximize my short time here in Kyoto!We got to see many of Kyoto’s popular tourist attractions, but what I really enjoyed was getting off the main tourist paths and seeing quieter, more peaceful areas that I probably wouldn’t have discovered on my own. It was a great balance of the famous sights and the more hidden, local-feeling parts of the city. I can tell Keith is a professor, hes extremely knowledgeable and he loves to teach. Even though there was a bit of rain during our tour, it actually added to the atmosphere of the whole Kyoto vibe. And despite of the rain, Keith still made every effort for me to get the most out of this experience. Thank you!

This was a fun and easy ride, very good way to see a lot in a short period! Momo was a great guide and the bikes were comfortable and well maintained. We had a very warm day and it was manageable.

Our guide Karl with a 'K'was very knowledgable and made the tour a very enjoyable experience. Exploring the city on a bike is ideal to get a feel for the place. Perfect introduction to Kyoto!

What a fantastic way to see Kyoto ! Jay was a great guide. He adapted the tour for us and showed us many hidden gems. Highly recommended !

Thank you to Juan and the team at Cycle Kyoto for your fantastic tour! From booking to the tour itself, everyone was super friendly and helpful. It was easy to navigate the website to choose a tour and the customer service was excellent from start to finish. Our guide Juan was fantastic. He was funny, super friendly and his knowledge about the tour area and Kyoto history was fantastic. It was the perfect activity for our family of 5 with children ages 19, 16 and 12. The tour was paced well and lots of areas of interest were included. The bikes were great and everything we needed was provided including water for the ride. We will be returning to Japan and Kyoto and another tour will definitely be on our to do list!

Energetic guide, good explanation, nice biking!

Interesting bike tour despite very hot weather. Karl very into the topic, knowing all the local details.

Great experience. Wonderful guide. Strongly recommended for families. Not physically demanding

We had a great time on our tour with Momo. He was knowledgeable, friendly and super down to earth. He clearly knows the area and took us places a little off the beaten path we never would have seen or found on our own. He also took pictures for us throughout and they were amazing! The ride was easy enough for our 12 year old to keep up easily. We agreed it was going to be a highlight of our whole Japan trip!

Fantastic ride with Momo! Clearly showed us so much of the area, we particularly enjoyed Gion - and we were fortunate to see a geisha. Great intro to Kyoto!

Fabulous trip, great host and wonderful all round. Momo was a great tour leader. He had fantastic knowledge about not only the temples and cultural aspects, but also some of Japan's traditions and how they have progressed through the ages. It was a fantastic tour, an easy ride, and it was so much less hassle than trying to hire bikes on our own. As there are many road laws, and we really did find the quieter back streets, and then we were shown the more touristy areas. So we were really happy we did this tour. I would recommend it to anyone. Momo was very sttentive to all our group, we lovee that there were only 5 people. The free water at start and finish was a nice treat.

Very enjoyable and informative tour led by Paul.

Jay was our guide and did a fantastic job navigating us through the crowds and streets of Kyoto. He showed us the must see sights while also taking us off the beaten path to avoid crowds. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the area and we enjoyed getting to spend a few hours with him. Highly recommend!

Julian was spot on to understand the wishes of the family during our private tour. It was a great way to explore the city. Bikes in good condition. (Give Jules a beer)

We had a great time on this tour with Quinn. We had several lovely stops and Quinn was an excellent guide. The weather was hotter than we expected but the bike tour turned out to be the perfect way to feel the breeze and explore the city. We would definitely recommend to anyone visiting Kyoto!

We loved our cycle tour.... Jay the part time rockstar and university English teach from NY was a really great guide. His lockup was really easy to find, about 5 mins walk from Kyoto station. Our bikes were modern and well maintained. Although my wife loved her e-bike, Kyoto is fairly flat and it probably wasn't necessary. We covered about 12km over 4 hours and Jay made sure we missed most of the traffic and madding crowds. He was really passionate and knowledgeable about every site we visited. This is definitely one not to be missed.

Our ride was rescheduled due to rain, which we appreciated. Jay was a delightful guide! We had a wonderful time cruising around Kyoto. He shared tons of great cultural information and recommendations with us. He made the experience smooth and fun. We really appreciate him taking photos and videos during our tour and sharing them with us. It was a great way to see some landmarks early in our visit to Kyoto.

Our family bike tour with Momoto was easily the highlight of our trip to Kyoto! Momoto is an incredible guide with deep local expertise. He didn’t just show us the main sights; he took us to remarkable, hidden spots we never would have found on our own. ​Beyond the cycling, the historical and cultural insights he shared were fascinating and gave us a much deeper appreciation for Japan. He also ended the tour by giving us a list of fantastic local restaurant recommendations that were spot-on. If you’re in Kyoto, do yourself a favor and book a cycling tour with Cycle Kyoto!

We did the ‘Kyoto South Tour’ with our three sons (11, 14 and 15 years old), guided by the wonderful Momo! We had the best afternoon, our boys enjoyed it so much! Just like us! Momo is very capable and friendly, knows a lot about the history and other fun facts that our boys really liked. He showed us such lovely places! Thanks so much, Momo, for a memorable day! And very important as a Dutchie: they have good quality and sturdy bikes :)

My family really enjoyed this biking experience other than the weather being cold and windy. But it’s a nice way to get around Kyoto. I would recommend being a decently confident bike rider due to all the pedestrians and vehicles. My 11 yr old had a rough start but ended up loving it. Karl was a great tour guide and patient with us!

This was actually my second time taking the South Kyoto cycling tour, and this time I brought my whole family along, everyone absolutely loved it! Experiencing the stunning beauty of Kyoto by bike is simply an incredible way to see the city. Our guide, Jack, was phenomenal and provided so much fascinating historical information as we rode. I definitely recommend this tour to anyone who enjoys biking and wants to get the absolute most out of their trip to Kyoto. Thank you, Jack, for another unforgettable ride!

Such a nice tour! Our guide has so much knowledge, energy and we had our time and photostops on different locations! I was thinking it will take 3 hours but it was much more then that! And I think its more like a hobby then work for our guide.

Perfect way to see Kyoto sites and some off the beaten path spots! Our tour guide Indra was super friendly and informative - he navigated us safely though the city streets and along the beautiful river. Added bonus - our guide took some great family photos along the way. Recommend!

The ride takes 4 hours for the south Kyoto tour, but has frequent stops, starting with a short visit of Fushimi-Inari. Easy ride along canal, back streets, in the Gion quarter, and Jay gives lots of inside information (restaurant recommendations, movie shooting spots, where to go on a free afternoon...). Cycling in Kyoto is a pleasant way to explore the city, other then by bus.

This was the best activity we did in Japan. Kyoto is an amazing city with so many beautiful temples and shrines and traditional neighbourhoods to explore. This cycle tour allows you to sample a large number of world heritage listed sites in a short, efficient and enjoyable way. This was our kids favourite part of the trip. Our guide Kevin made the experience all the more special by providing interesting insights about all of the sites we visited and the related history in a way that even our kids enjoyed. I cannot recommend this cycle tour highly enough.

We took our family--two adults and one 11 yo child--on a family tour with Momo and had so much fun. The route was excellent, Momo was thoughtful, knowledgeable and easy to spend time with. We saw lots of interesting sites in Kyoto, made lots of fun memories and took loads of great pictures. We'd recommend to friends and strangers alike.

Great tour. Bikes were comfortable and our tour guy Juan was amazing

It was a good way to see the sites included in the tour as we covered a lot of ground. I would say it wouldn’t be great for a less confident rider.

We did the family South Kyoto tour and loved it! It was a great way to see the city and our tour guide Jay was amazing! He was very knowledgeable and super friendly! He also helped with pictures along the way, which was much appreciated! He also knew all the routes to avoid traffic, which I was worried about. This bike tour was definitely a memorable experience and one of the top from our trip. Thanks Jay for making it so special.

Excellent tour with Kevin who was extremely informative and intertesting

This was a very interesting and cool way to see Kyoto. Quinn was an amazing guide and provided us with a lot of history and perspective. We really enjoyed this experience

We had a great time with Carl who showed us around Kyoto! I had a 6 year old who is new to riding bikes and a 3 year old on my bike and we were still able to see and do so much on this trip. The family tour, even with small children, is an excellent option.

Had a great afternoon with juan. Recommend the cycling tour to anyone that wants to discover the streets of Kyoto and have some good informations about monuments and life in Kyoto.

Momo led us on a great tour to some of Kyoto’s biggest sights. Our 8- and 5-year-old boys had a great time and they were grateful for a break from walking for sight seeing. The routes we took gave us great insight into Kyoto and we always felt safe while cycling. This was the only guided experience we had in Kyoto and it was great to have someone give us an insider scoop and answer all our questions.

Novice rider, supported by guide. Knowledgeable guide who had great information about all areas visited and threw a few jokes in as well. Highly recommend tour.

This is the second time I have booked a cycling tour with Cycle Kyoto and it was yet again, a wonderful experience. It is the best way to explore the city. Jay was our lovely and warm guide taking us through different parts of the city and sharing stories along the way. Highly recommended, fun and an easy ride!

Paul is an amazing tourguide! Full of enthousiasm en knows a lot about the city. We enjoyed it very much. A real must do if you're in Kyoto. Thanks Paul!

Tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly. We got lost in Kyoto station but they were so patient and helpful. We got to spend a good amount of time at each destination and the bikes worked well.

A great day out with an entertaining guy, thanks Jay! We are a family of four with two teenagers and arrived in Kyoto yesterday. This was an excellent way to orientate ourselves and familiarize with the different areas of the city, and get a kick start to understanding Kyoto culture, history and religions. The Donut Brûlée was a welcome addition, and the watch phenomenon left us bewildered. Such a good laugh!

We had a great time with Quinn leading us through beautiful Kyoto. We were able to see some beautiful temples including an ability to sit through part of a religious ceremony. Quinn made the ride and fun and interesting conveying his knowledge of the city its history and the linkage with their faith. Cycling through the alleyways was very beautiful and easy to do. The coffee stop at halfway was outstanding with probably the best coffee we have had in Japan a must if you get the chance

Karl was best guide! Informative and humorous! We got to see so many hidden gems we would not have found on our own and hear the stories behind their origin. Riding around Kyoto was a fun, active and fantastic way to immerse ourselves in the vibrancy the city has to offer.