Kawaramachi Bar Crawl: Kyoto's Izakaya Lanes with a Local

Kyoto empties of visitors at about six in the evening, which is when the city gets interesting. The lanes around Kawaramachi and Pontocho fill with people who work here, and the good izakaya are small, unmarked and entirely in Japanese — the exact combination that keeps foreigners out.

This three-hour crawl exists to get you through those doors. The guide is local, the group caps at fifteen, and the crucial thing included is help ordering. In an izakaya you order in rounds off a handwritten wall menu, and having someone read it and steer you towards what that particular kitchen does well is the difference between a good evening and a plate of edamame.

Food and drinks are not included, which keeps the ticket price low and means you drink and eat at your own pace and to your own budget rather than paying for a set menu. Expect to spend on top of the ticket. The guide will tell you roughly what each stop costs before you commit to it.

Between venues the walk covers the geography properly — which lanes are worth returning to, how Pontocho works, where the standing bars are, and the etiquette that trips people up: the wet towel, the first-drink convention, why you pour for others and not yourself. Photographs taken during the evening are shared with you afterwards.

Meeting is in front of the Disney Store at Shijo-Kawaramachi, which is impossible to miss on a busy corner, and the route is wheelchair accessible. A private version runs the same evening for groups who would rather not share.