After meeting your driver and tour guide at meeting point,: 8: 40 am Nipponbashi Exit 2 (Namba Shinsaibashi area). 9: 50 am Head to Nara Park, home to thousands of freely roaming deer, at the foot of Mt. Wakakusa in Nara City. Get some crackers to feed the deer, take a stroll through the urban park, or grab a snack from one of the many tea houses around.
Reach the Todaiji Temple . Discover a priceless trove of history and culture at this UNESCO World Heritage Site. See one of Japan's most famous and historically significant Buddhist temple complexes. Enter the Daibutsuden to see a 15-meter-tall bronze statue of Buddha.
Next, head to Uji Matcha Street, a foodie's paradise full of matcha ice cream, matcha cakes, and even soba noodles that are matcha green. Explore the time-honored Matcha stores recommended by your guide at the sacred site of green tea.
Finally, make your way to the only natural hot spring in Uji, with water springing from 1111 meters underground. Admire the traditional Japanese architecture and enjoy a moment of relaxation and peace.(Entrance fee excluded)
Not really a tour. More of a taxi service to Nara and Uji. The guide was friendly but didn't tell us anything about the places we went, just drove. Spent 4 hours in Uji, which was way too much. Even with touring the temple and the hotspots, you can see it in 2. Had a lot of down time just waiting to get picked up
The trip was good and our guide was helpful, knowledgeable, and shared great tips on local spots. Travel agency needs to think about turning this into a 4 hour Nara as we felt rushed. Time in Uji was great, has amazing lunch because of our guide's tip. With hot springs bath, it needs to be a 10 hour trip and we had to skip the onsen as it required another 1 hour local bus journey (back & forth).
The tour gives us the best experience of Nara and Uji. Our tour guide is very helpful and gave us best recommendations of where we can explore. Overall we have enjoyed this tour and thank you to Naomi for the good service and hospitality. Name: Naomi Date: 9/6
I enjoyed myself on this tour. It was fun feeding the deers, even though they could be quite aggressive. Also, I enjoyed seeing t he Buddhists Temple. Furthermore, it was very relaxing to bathe in the hot springs.Our guide/driver Kangu was very professional and a safe driver. I would definitely recommend this tour to everybody who comes to Osaka.
The pick up was well organized and easy to find. The bus ride out to Nara was quick and smooth. Our guide gave us her What App contact info which was helpful later in the trip. Nara was very beautiful and probably what you would expect. Lots to explore. Next we drove to Uji. It felt rushed and disorganized. We opted for the onsen experience (maybe don't do that). We had a quick 20 minutes to get lunch once we got to Uji which was impossible. Then we had to meet up again to walk to another meetup point where we got on a shuttle. That was another 30 minute ride across town (I guess I thought Uji was small?) to get to the onsen. The onsen was cool but there just wasn't enough time to spend there. Also there was no real food (unlike every other place in Japan) only ice cream and a few snacks. After out hour at the onsen we rode around in the shuttle for another 30 minutes back to the original shuttle stop. We had a little time in Uji at that point to explore which is very cute especially if you like green tea!
It was not made clear in the description that there were no tattoos allowed and that you have to be totally completely nude. It was only disclosed night before after it was too late to cancel. Also my son was lost on the tour the night prior and we tried to cancel the night before and it was not allowed.
- Good tour guide (Yuri) and her recommendation - Great experience at Nara deer park - Uji hot spring was very impressive - Schedule was very punctual.
The activity itself was great- I would Book an indoor viewing of the phoenix temple though. The Guide Eider Liao was the worst we ever had He hardly greeted and only told us (in a terrible English) Rules Rules Rules but nothing about the sights He is Chinese and clearly Only served the Chinese Touristen in the Bus All europeans and americans were second class for him Nara deer Park is Great and he couldnt do anything wrong there But we had no idea about uji and he could not tell us anything His spoken english cannot be understood
Great start to learn about Nara, all the temple we visited is worth the time and dime definitely highly recommended to my friends and family, kudos to Leo on his amazing navigational instruction and tidbits on places and temples to check in. This trip is highly recommended
I should have known it was going to be a problem when the night before the tour, the tour guide, Yoyo sent a QR Code for the meeting spot which led to a dodgy website instead of google maps. Either way we arrived at the appointed time and place and were pointed in the general direction of the bus. The first stop was Nara Park, which was generally nice, but tour wise we were just dropped in the middle, given a pack of cookies for the deer and told to meet back there at a certain time to walk back with the group to the bus or just meet back at the bus if you wanted to walk there at your own pace. Knowing that we would likely get lost trying to find the bus, we opted to meet at the appointed spot and walk with the group. Despite saying we were going to leave the meeting spot at 20 past the hour, the group didn't start walking until 35 past the hour, at which point the group walked very quickly. We were behind the pack, but still with other group members. Upon reaching the bus, the people in front of us got on the bus, the doors closed and the bus started pulling away. I had to chase down the bus at the end of the parking lot with my family to avoid being left behind. Upon getting on the bus, we were given a lecture about being on time, even though we were at the meeting point early, but fell behind due to the speed the group was moving. The tour guide Yoyo then had the gall to call us all family after almost leaving us and a few other people behind. The next stop was Uji where we were brought to the ticket counter and given vague directions and instructions to meet back at the parking lot at the appointed time. There was no actual tour and we were left to figure out where to go ourselves. Not wanting to be left behind again, we got back to the bus 30 minutes early. The last stop was the worst of all in that there was no explanation when booking the tour that if you had a tattoo that you would not be able to enter the hot spring. This was only explained after we left Uji on the way to the hot spring. Those that couldn't enter were told to go to the 7-Eleven or stay on the bus for an hour. There were no real alternatives at the location, as it was far from anything else to see. This was a complete insult and waste of money and the tour guide implied that only criminals and people that aren't normal had tattoos. Save your money and book with a reputable tour company that is actually geared to foreign tourists. The other tours that we took in Tokyo and Kyoto by Japan Panoramic Tours were much better organized.
Leo was such an awesome tour guide, he is extremely knowledgeable on ALL things Japan. The deer park was my our favorite, super cute and you get lots of time at this stop. The hot springs was a cool way to end the trip!
It's just a private shuttle. The tour guide doesn't really tell you what to expect or what to do at all, except that we have to be back by a certain amount of time. When we got to the deer park, there was not a lot of explaining how to get to deer park or the temple. We wandered for a bit before realizing there was much more. At Uji, he focused on the shrines rather than the matcha that was supposed to be the highlight of the stop. Most tours are informative and they speak so much, you're just wanting to go to the site. This tour was underwhelming
Amazing tour. Our your guide Etta was so fun and charismatic person. The deer at the Nara park are so cute and the Toda-ji temple amazing. At Uji, the matcha ice cream so good. Better way to finish the tour having a relaxing bath at a onsen. 100% recommended 👌
Etta was great! She was informative and funny! She gave good tips on how to feed the deer at Nara Park and gave us insights on things to do in Osaka.
Thank you to Kou Tan our guide for a wonderful trip of Kyoto, Nara park, Todaiji temple and Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine the main attractions. It was a good snap shot of everything in Kyoto area. I really loved every part of the trip and Kou was knowledgeable about the history and was able to answer questions and guide the group professionally.
English was clearly not the language that the tour operator wanted to communicate with. They spoke each time for a half hour in Chinese and then maybe 2 sentences in English almost as an afterthought. We felt very left out of the conversation for a lot of the time.
We really enjoyed the tour to Uji and other places around. Very well organized and your guides were very helpful and friendly. We had around 2hrs to explore at each place on our own (pace was fast but we made it). It was a pity I had not enough time to visit one of the largest Buddha statue in Uji. Before going for matcha icecream or walk the town in Uji I recommend going to see Buddha statue, it’s hidden from public eye.
It is a really good tour, our tour guide was so helpful and even gave recommendations of places to go.
The time spent at Nara was way to short. It's quite a distance one had to walk from the bus to the temple and again back. One do not have enough time to spent with the deer.
lucia was fantastic. i wasn’t feeling well and she looked after me well. the deer were fun. we enjoyed the public bath
This was a great excursion from Osaka. Etta and the bus driver was very professional. I found 3 shrimp and chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
This full-day tour of Osaka, Nara, and Uji was an absolute highlight of our trip to Japan! From start to finish, everything was well-organized, informative, and full of memorable experiences. Visiting Todaiji Temple and seeing the giant Buddha was breathtaking, Nara’s friendly deer were a delight, and the Uji matcha experience was a dream come true for tea lovers. A huge shoutout to our guide, Etta, who made the day even more special! She was not only knowledgeable but also incredibly funny and engaging, keeping us entertained throughout the journey. Her enthusiasm and helpfulness ensured that everyone felt comfortable and had a great time. She went above and beyond to make sure we got the best photos, shared fascinating historical insights, and even gave us great local recommendations. If you’re looking for a fun, seamless, and enriching tour, this is the one to book. Highly recommend—especially if you get Etta as your guide!
Our group was mainly Chinese, the guide was Chinese who spoke English, it was hard to understand him at times. Basically it was a very brief explanation in the van before we were dropped off —“ you’re on your own , come back at such and such a time …” the locations were beautiful and interesting but it wasn’t a guided tour and all fees etc or food costs were on us. ( that was disclosed ). Liu the guide was a nice guy but compared to the walking tours we did earlier in the week —this one wasn’t as memorable. The spa was nice but we were only given an hour there…. I can only rate this tour as “Ok”.
This is good trip for group travelers, as they bring you to different locations and give recommendations where to go. Thanks Etta for positive vibes!
Joe absolutely nailed it as our hype-man for the day! He kicked things off with some fun facts and a dash of ancient Japan—Nara, Kyoto, Edo, you name it. He even gave us the lowdown on feeding the Nara deer (they’re basically VIPs) and filled us in on the big Tenno-ji temple. Next up was Uji, where he introduced us to “Matcha Street”—yes, an entire street of green tea goodies! After lunch, we wrapped up with a relaxing dip in an onsen. All in all, an awesome day. Big thanks to Joe for keeping it fun
WONDERFUL, Yao is the best guide in the world!! He’s so friendly, and you can tell he truly loves what he does. Throughout the trip, he explained the history of Nara and shared all the important details about each place we visited. I highly recommend this activity to anyone in Osaka looking to enjoy a unique and wonderful day. Thank you, Yao, for giving us such a beautiful day!
I arrived with my friend 8 minutes late, they didn't wait for us, nor did they contact us, and now they don't want to refund our tickets!
A wonderful experience. Enjoyed the tranquility different from big cities. The places recommended by Mori Guide were all excellent. Ate delicious matcha desserts and ramen.
Sakura, our guide, was exceptional. She provided good explanations and important information about the places, all with great kindness and friendliness.
The tour was very good. Always punctual on departure times. The guide, Etta, was very friendly and lively. We love all the places we visit. I recommend!
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