Best Of Kyoto And Nara Highlights Day Tour From Osaka (7~9 Spots)

Out guide Jo-Jun-young was wonderful at explaining the history of the sites visited and was always making sure we had our pictures taken and would send them to us throughout the day. Nara was one of the highlights of our trip to Japan, walking through the shrine and temple with the giant Buddha was incredible The best part of our day was being with the many friendly deer that roam the area and yes you will have a chance to feed them. The reason for three stars was that we only got to visit 6 of the 11 sites on the itinerary, missing the bamboo forest, Nonomiya Shrine, Togetsukyo Bridge and Nishiki Market. The excuse given was that they were busy and they had an alternate plan and we would have free time at the next stop. That next stop was a complete waste of time, the temple was closed and other than a park with a gift shop and small restaurant there was really nothing of any interest. I strongly believe they either need to shorten or eliminate some of the stops as we were all disappointed about not seeing the bamboo forest.

The itinerary was great and Curtis was an amazing tour leader. Made sure where to go for our free time and always provides the direction back to the parking lot.

I assume that there will be a lot better tours covering some of this itinerary than this one. Whilst there were some aspects of interest, the overall balance was poor. The time at Nara could have been reduced (an hour looking at field of deer is not that interesting) and an uphill walk in heat back to the coach may not be suitable for some people. Other stops seemed to consist of parking up, being taken for a few minutes walk by the guide who then retired to the bus after setting a "return" time. There was a lot of time on the coach between locations with virtually no commentary or information given out ...seemed like the staff were just going through the motions! Timings were also poor - the allowance for the food market in Kyoto was pitifully short to allow for browsing and getting something to eat only to be followed by another coach segment before returning to Osaka. It was so poor, we returned to Kyoto the following day on the train which was much quicker and cheap (£2.50 per adult) to do our own thing which was more enjoyable. People should also watch out for this tour's switch in routes on alternate days to make sure you get the sights you want

Jo Jun-young was great, he explained all the history for the various locations gave us food recommendation, took some beautiful candid photos of our group, helped with our pictures overall a great day was had and got us back to Osaka early evening. Loved it

My brother and I had such a great time on this tour through Kyoto and Nara! We even made friends on the tour and our guide Joon was so good! Highly recommended!

Iuri was the best japanese guide! All activities went as described, bonus in Nara we were between first arrivals and was not crowded. Very complex and good tour. All must see activities in one day! Totally worth!

​Outstanding day in Kyoto and Nara with John! We had an absolutely incredible time on our tour of Nara Park and Kyoto, all thanks to John. He was incredibly knowledgeable, organized, and tailored the day perfectly for our group. From navigating the busy spots in Kyoto to helping us with the deer in Nara, John made everything seamless and stress-free. His insights into the history and culture added so much depth to everything we saw. If you’re booking a tour, definitely ask for John—he is fantastic!

Was a good tour, comfortable transport, good tour guide, English was easy to understand. Wear comy shoes , lots of walking. When at Nara park, walk into the park to feed calmer deer.

This tour I recommend especially if you in Osaka. Nara Park was amazing seeing all the deers. Kyoto I enjoyed as well many temples and shrines. Lilly was awesome sauce!! She spoke great English so you won't have a problem understanding

Jo Jun Young gave us a very comprehensive and well planned tour so we did see the best of Kyoto and Nara. The scenery was amazing and we all got some great photos. Jo gave us great education about each stop so we understood the culture of Japan better. It is definitely a trip that is worthwhile, educational, fun, and a full day of activity.

We had a truly wonderfull experience of our 1 day Kyoto and Nara tour.Our tour guide Jo Jun Young is very accommodating,thoughtfull and very patient.Overall it was a worthy and fantastic trip!!

Our guide Jeon was very knowledgeable and eager to give information about cultural and historical aspects and places. Beautiful itinerary and drive.

Yuri was great. We liked her but the tour was supposed to be a full day and was not. Viator said 11 spots and we had 7. Some of the stops were too short to do the temple we were there to see and there was too much distance between locations. We spent most of the day on the bus getting to various locations. The bus parked too far and we had to walk a long way back and forth. Too much time spent not seeing the places on the list. We also didn’t like have to drive 20 min to meet the tour and try and find a cab back to our hotel at the end of the tour. It was disappointing. By the way we didn’t spend any time in the city so I think it needs a different title to the tour.

Great way to see Nara and Kyoto! Tour operator was very nice! Lunch was good too! Thank you so much!

I was looking forward to this trip, from Osaka to Kyoto. While, actually the tour was so so. The tour was English and Korea guided, our guide could not fully engaged. Most important the tour missed a stop according to the itinerary posted on the website. The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove was completely missed out from our itinerary as the tour guide said this was not on the itinerary of his tour. Obviously there was a misalignment of Viator and local tour company. Additionally the tour started out with the tour guide lost his wallet. It was unfortunate event for him as well as for the tour group, although another person came and took over the driving.

This a great tour to see highlights of Nara and Kyoto. Jun, our tour guide, was exceptional! Informed us where we were going, the expected time of arrival, next tour stop, took pics and shared with all. He was fluent in Korean & English and made everyone feel welcomed. What a wonderful day!

Rui was amazing and the tour was perfect! Saved lots of time instead of trying to use public transport. Hit all the main tourist spots in kyoto and nara woth plenty of freetime

We had a great time visiting Nara and Kyoto. Yuri was a great guide. She explained everything very patiently. I would highly recommend this trip.

Jun Young was great, he’s very kind and pacient. He took us to too many temples and was taking pictures of all of us and at the end he gave us a Polaroid photo. 🤍

The selected attractions are fantastic, and my guide was very accommodating. There was an issue with my booking, however, the tour company tried to accommodate my needs despite the issue. Would recommend for those trying to get most out of their trip in Kyoto in a smaller group.

My tour was lead by Min and he was incredible. Since I was traveling solo I didn’t have anyone to take pictures of me and he offered to take them and they came out wonderful. He is very knowledgeable on the topic of each location and does a great job leading the group through the tour. There was plenty of time to visit everything at each stop and the tour moves swiftly. Overall this was a great experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to see the sights of Kyoto.

We got Soae Lee as our tour guide. She was so kind and patient. She accommodated our needs and did an awesome job providing information about the places we visited. The stops were well curated and it was time well spent. Highly recommended.

It was a full day bus tour from Osaka to Nara and Kyoto. The tour was well organized and our group was small. We had roughly 16 people in our group. Nara seemed a little rushed at first but once the tour unfolded it became apparent why we had to keep moving. This tour covers a lot of ground. I choose this tour because It would be impossible to visit the same places without a car in the amount of time. It was a bilingual tour which worried me at first because we were in the minority. Min who was our tour guide made sure that he gave us plenty of attention. He explained each point on the tour and then let us explore the sight on our own. I appreciated this. Overall I felt this was a very good tour for people short on time that don’t want their hand held. We had a great time.

The tour was Great. Seen a lot of highlights and its really worth it!!! Ha Young, our tourguide was really helpful and did her upmost best to spend extra time for English as we were in a mixed group Korean/English