Wild Kyoto: An Afternoon Of Bikes, Bamboo & Monkeys

Rob was a WONDERFUL guide. He was so knowledgeable and friendly! We learned so much and had an absolute blast!

Peter did a great job explaining the history, customs, and traditions of all our sites over the last 1500 years. Being able to speak Japanese and perfect English made it that much enjoyable. The tour by bike made you feel part of the community and exciting between each site.

Yuki, our guide, went above and beyond for us. This was our first guided tour ever and it set the bar super high for the next to come! Yuki was funny, kind and so knowledgeable about everything Japan. He showed us incredible sights, always with something new to teach. We got out of this tour having learned so much more about Japanese culture, mythos, history and even language! We had the most fun riding the bikes. Even though the routes were a big touristy and crowded, Yuki guided us smoothly and safely in the roads. We recommend this guided tour to everyone who enjoys Japanese nature, mythos and culture, and knows how to ride a bike. We don't recommend it to people who are first time bikers, given the areas we biked through are very crowded. However, we always felt safe and guided by our guide, Yuki. We are incredibly happy to have chosen this tour. It left us full of joy and memories that we will cherish forever. Thank you so much Yuki!

Wow, what a great half-day bike trip with Don. On our e-bikes, he guided the three of us to the following places: 1. Togetsukyo Bridge 2. Monkey Park 3. Matsuo Shrine 4. Bamboo Forest 5. Tennryuji Temple He was extremely knowledgeable about all these places and was proactive about offering information both on the history and culture. He also provided lots of extra tidbits of information and answered all of our questions. It was the first time I wrote an e-bike and it was wonderful. Big kudos to Don.

Really enjoyed this tour. Rob was a great guide. Very knowledgeable. We were able to get plenty of great photos with the monkeys.

A great tour, our tour leader Don, really knew his facts! Glad to have done it! Would definitely recommend this tour to anyone else going to Kyoto! The extra biking to see the back area, and the rice farms, was so cool, and I'm so glad we did that!

Don was exceptional. Knew everything we were seeing and some great paths to ride to ensure everyone was safe. So much fun. Best way to see everything and back streets you wouldn’t normally visit!

Our guide was very knowledgeable and spoke great English. Yuki was his name. Gave many recommendations and knew all there was to know. Would highly recommend!!

We had the best experience with our guide Peter. I can really recommend this to all. You get around seeing a lot on your bicycle also areas with no tourists.

What a fun day! We went in the heat of the day in July so it ended up just being our family of 4 (husband, myself and two sons, 18 and 16) on this tour. Worked out great as we were able to customize this to fit our needs. Our guide Rob did an amazing job of keeping us cool with some frozen water bottles and electrolyte water. He also knew all the paths to keep us in the shade. Rob is fluent in English and Japanese so he was easy to understand and had an obvious passion for Japan and his job. Feeding the monkeys was a fantastic experience. Just know it is a doozy of a climb. My 50 year old body made it up to the top and Rob was very accommodating with the breaks. I’d recommend this tour as long as you’re good with a steep climb.

This bike tour was one of the highlights of our trip to Japan! Cycling through Arashiyama was the perfect way to experience the area. We visited the bamboo forest, the monkey park, beautiful temples and several hidden spots that we would never have found on our own. The pace was relaxed, the bikes were comfortable, and the route was easy to follow. The combination of sightseeing, cycling and local insights made this experience much more memorable than simply walking around on our own. If you're visiting Kyoto and want to see more than just the typical tourist spots, we highly recommend this tour. It was excellent value for money and an experience we won't forget. We did the tour in 35°C+ heat, but our guide made sure everyone stayed comfortable by planning plenty of stops for water (included, thanks!!), shade, and short breaks. Thank you Peter!

Greatest bike tour ever! Our guide Yuki was so knowledgeable and friendly. We learned so much on this tour and the spots that we went to were so beautiful and fun. Definitely recommend! Ask for Yuki for the best time ever.

Found out about the tour from a previous visitor and Kyoto bike tours was able to add us at the last minute. Peter was informative about the local history and legends behind the places we visited. Teaching about proper etiquette at the shrines and temples. In addition we were provided with plenty of water, rest stops and a pace that took into account the extreme heat on the day of our tour.

We loved our tour with Don. We visited the monkeys, temple and bamboo with our 2 boys age 13 and 15. Everyone enjoyed it, we visited sites we wouldn’t have routinely seen. Don was extremely informative and great company. Thank you so much!

This tour and our guide Dan were awesome. The bikes were well maintained, the helmets fit perfectly, and the water was ice cold on a warm day. The monkey park was fascinating. The humans were in a cage and the monkeys roamed free. The Shinto shrine was conducting it semi-annual purification ritual and, with Dan’s guidance, we all got to cleanse our souls. The Buddhist temple was located in the bamboo forest. The bamboo forest was amazing and the temple garden was stunning. It’s easy to see why it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Throughout the tour Dan regaled us with historical references, anecdotes and insightful information. The tour met all my expectations - and more. It was truly a memorable experience. I highly recommend Kyoto Bike Tours and our guide - Dan. Thank for a splendid afternoon.

I had an incredible experience on this bike tour, and Yuki was the best tour guide! He shared so much fascinating knowledge about Kyoto's history, culture, and attractions, making every stop interesting and meaningful. He was incredibly friendly, enthusiastic, and made the whole tour so much fun. It was the perfect way to explore Kyoto, and I learned so much along the way. I highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Kyoto. Thank you, Yuki, for such an unforgettable experience!

The bike ride and tour guide were great and easy! Seeing the bamboo forest and monkeys, temples was a great experience!!

Out guide, Cass, was great. Knowledgeable and chill.

My family of four highly enjoyed this tour. Our guide Yuki was so knowledgeable and friendly, answering all our questions and telling us fun facts about Japanese history and culture. I highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Kyoto.

Great way to spend an afternoon! Bike tour was wonderful with Cass guiding us through streets, parks, and sites. His knowledge was much appreciated. Great way to cover places you’ll want to visit!

Our family loved our biking tour with Don! He was so insightful about the places we visited and talked to everyone and ensured they had the best tour and best overall trip to Kyoto. The monkey park was so much fun and had a beautiful view. The bamboo forest, shrines and gardens were beautiful! Definitely a highlight of our vacation.

We had an amazing afternoon on the Kyoto Bike and Monkey Tour! The bike ride was mostly flat and easy, while the Monkey Park hike was more challenging but absolutely worth it for the incredible views and the chance to feed the monkeys. Cass was a fantastic guide—friendly, knowledgeable, and made the experience even more enjoyable. Highly recommend this tour!

Amazing tour with Rob. It was just me and my 19 year old daughter and we had a fantastic time. Loved that we were on less crowded roads, and the timing of all the attractions seemed perfect - less crowded made each one more enjoyable.

Cass was a great guide. Fun dude, very knowledgeable, good sense of humor. Very amiable. The bikes were in great shape, too! Well tuned, and comfortable seats.

This tour was the highlight of my stay in Kyoto! Don was an amazing guide - he was genuinely passionate about the sites and made sure everyone on the tour was comfortable with the pace - especially considerate of finding shady places to stop and hydrate on a hot day. I was running late for the 12:45 meet up time and he was super patient giving me step by step directions to make sure I made it. The PDF photos that came with the confirmation were super helpful. Additionally, I have a janky knee and Don was sooo kind checking in on me on the trek up and down from the monkey park. He took tons of photos throughout the day and emailed them that night.

What a great day! Don our guide was so helpful in setting bikes up properly and explaining the route. He always made sure everyone was able to stay with the group and was very patient. He provided so much information bout the sights and local culture. He was also very mindful of everyone’s time and made sure we had plenty of time to make reservations. We were able to see everything on the itinerary with time spent at each stop, and he took many photos which he quickly shared. What a great day- thank you Don

What a great day! Don our guide was so helpful in setting bikes up properly and explaining the route. He always made sure everyone was able to stay with the group and was very patient. He provided so much information bout the sights and local culture. He was also very mindful of everyone’s time and made sure we had plenty of time to make reservations. We were able to see everything on the itinerary with time spent at each stop, and he took many photos which he quickly shared. What a great day- thank you Don!

One of the best tours I have ever been on only because of our tour guide – Rob. The knowledge and enthusiasm he brought to tour was just wonderful! He knew where to go and at what time to avoid the crowds the whole time taking the perfect pictures of us. Just amazing!

I did the half day tour with Don this week and words are lot enough to explain what a special experience this was! I’m not an avid biker but felt so safe and confident following Don’s directions/instruction as we made our way through Kyoto! We covered so much ground, and I learned a TON! It’s so evident that Don loves what he does and is passionate about the culture and about people and excels in connecting the two! I was biking solo and the stunning photos Don took of me are a priceless gift! This tour (or the full day tour which good friends have said is unbelievable) are an absolute must do in Kyoto!

Excellent experience. Loved the bike ride, it was easy and on flat surface. The attractions and sightseeing was amazing especially the bamboo forest. Our guide, Don was knowledgeable and provided a great oral history of the area. Highly recommend this tour first before exploring Kyoto, as Don provided recommendations on what to see and do.

Don was excellent and informative. My favorite part was seeing the beautiful shrine that tourists dont usually go to. Don picked out the perfect bike for me ride too. Dont hesitate to book!

This tour was the highlight of our Japan trip so far, with Rob as our tour guide. He was a fountain of knowledge, friendly, entertaining, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon with him. He is a native English speaker but has lived in Japan for decades, so he was both easy to understand and also fluent with the locals and provided us with all sorts of knowledge about Japan, Shintoism, and facts and stories about the various temple, bamboo forest, monkey park, Zen garden, and spots we visited on the tour. It was a small friendly group with our family of four (kids 10 and 12), and two other couples. Rob met us at the station and the bikes were all ready and waiting and in good condition. We loved cycling through the streets and paths of Kyoto, and the tour seemed incredible value because we were out there for 4 hours and seemed to do a lot during that time. We started with a temple, and it was the first time we'd been on a tour, so we found out all sorts of things we didn't know about temples and Shintoism that made the visit much more interesting than if we had done it on our own. Similarly, we all agreed the other activities were also all more interesting and enjoyable through doing it with a guide. Rob was always available to answer questions and was always talking to anyone who wanted to know more, but equally it was a relaxed atmosphere and it was easy to wander around and look at our own pace as well. Overall, it was thoroughly enjoyable for both us and our kids and we would highly recommend this tour and Rob to anybody visiting Kyoto.

Great afternoon ride with the tours timed for when there were not as many people in the spots. We didn’t do it in the order it Is advertised. This wasn’t a problem at all. Rob was an excellent guide. Extremely knowledgeable in Shinto & Japanese culture. All in all a great trip.

We went with our two kids aged 11 and 14 and another family traveling with us. We had booked separately and didn’t realise there were multiple tour groups leaving at the same time and we had been placed in separate groups. The staff were patient and friendly and swapped us around kindly so we could be with our friends. The tour always great, we got to see and learn so much more than what we would have if sightseeing alone. The ride wasn’t challenging and it was fun going through all the back streets. We normally don’t do group/guided tours but would definitely do one like this again.

My wife signed us up for this trip and I enjoyed it more than I expected. Loved the bamboo forest, the monkeys and the various shrines and gardens. We had a 6 person group (five family members and a guide) and we had a great time. Our guide was very great - funny, well spoken (American English was such that I assumed he grew up in America) and very accommodating. Very glad we included this excursion in our Kyoto experience.

Yuki such a fab guide with knowledge & fun. My niece love Pokemon & anime chat and stores to shop for it. Would definitely recommend this tour

Ray took our family, including a 12- and 9-year-old, around Arashiyama by bike in April 2026, and it was absolutely the highlight of our trip. It was peak cherry blossom season — the most crowded time of the year — and on foot it would have been miserable. Instead, we breezed past tourists to take in sweeping views of the river and mountains, rode out to expansive rice fields, and rode to the base of Monkey Mountain, where the monkeys roam free (not caged) and voluntarily — and so delicately! — took fresh apple slices right from our hands. Ray was a pleasure: calm, knowledgeable, and fully present throughout. He kept us safe the entire ride, was genuinely kind to all of us, and wonderful with the kids. He also photographed the whole day and sent the photos to us afterward — he caught so many special moments, and we'll treasure them. Kyoto Bike Tour gets our absolute highest recommendation.

The best tour of our holiday! Bikes were comfortable, the pace was easy (I’m 50) and we had such a great guide in Don. Super knowledgeable and great to chat with. We got to see the tourist sites and some lovely quiet spots. A lovely group to spend the afternoon with. Ended with a crème brûlée donut. Oishi! Arigato gosaimasu to Kyoto Bikes.

We absolutely loved our bike tour through kytoto. It was a lovely way to see the city and our tour guide, Don, was really informative and fun. One of our favorite family experiences and certainly one we’d highly recommend. We enjoyed each part and learned so much about Kyoto and Japanese culture. Thank you!

Amazing bike tour. Absolute highlight of our trip to Kyoto. Ray was fantastic. Couldn't recommend this more.

Fabulous trip - and a brilliant way to see Kyoto. Lots of highlights - but our daughter loved feeding the monkeys the most. Our guide Don was super - fun, friendly and really made it a memorable experience. And he takes great photos! Highly recommended.

For a family of four with two teenagers, the bike trip around Arashiyama was perfect. Nice bikes, a small tour group of seven altogether, and a leisurely pace that gave us time to take in the scenery, people and all the flowering cherry trenes along the route. Stops with plenty of time to wander about and take photos, and short but interesting introductions by guide Cas, who also took time to get to know the whale group.

Guide was excellent!!! Able to travel much more distance in a short amount of time and get off the typical tourist track.

Fantastic afternoon of several Kyoto highlights! Rob was fun and informative. We rated the days as one of out top 3 during our two week stay.

Easy bike ride to the bamboo forest, shrines, and the monkey park. Knowledgeable friendly guide Yaki. Highly recommend!

Get ready for a fun filled afternoon with an easy going and knowledgeable guide. The Canondale bikes were in great condition and even came with gloves in case your hands get a little cold. The pace was perfect. We had three groups of riders, ages 17 to 65. You will love the ancient temples, bamboo forest, and monkey park.

This bike tour was a great way to see several places on our list for Kyoto, while also getting a few snippets of cultural history from our guide, Don. In addition, we got to see some other locations that we wouldn't have ventured to on our own. Note: the weather is somewhat unpredictable, and even if it says 55 and sunny, you should be prepared with a light rain jacket. The bikes were outfitted with gloves, which was much needed, and an added bonus. But a bike basket for clothing layers and gear, as well as a provided poncho would be my suggestion for the future.

Biked and hiked to the shrines and monkeys with our amazing local guide, Cass. Learned so much along the way and cycled through the backstreets of Ariyashiyama with our personalized playlist. So much fun!

We had an excellent afternoon on this bike tour with Don. He was fun, informative, told interesting stories and is a great person to spend an afternoon with. The tour itself is really interesting and has been a highlight of our time in Kyoto.