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View all Kyoto toursSacred Pathways: Discover the Philosopher's Path of Kyoto by Local Operator
Half-day tour in Kyoto, including All entrance fees and Bilingual Guide. Run by Kyoto Fun, booked direct rather than through a reseller.
Highlights
- Runs 4 hours
- All entrance fees
- Bilingual Guide
- Digital City Guide
Sacred Pathways: Discover the Philosopher's Path of Kyoto by Local Operator: Key Facts
| Price | From $83.5 per person |
|---|---|
| Duration | 4 hours |
| Languages | English |
| Tour type | Guided Tour |
| Booking | Direct with the local operator — no OTA markup |
Full description
This is a 4-hour experience in Kyoto. It is run by Kyoto Fun, an operator we book with directly rather than through a reseller, which is why we can hold your place with them before we treat your booking as final.
Kyoto was Japan's capital for over a thousand years until 1868 and has 17 UNESCO-listed sites among some 2,000 temples and shrines. The big three are Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, covered in gold leaf and best in morning light; Kiyomizu-dera, the wooden stage on the eastern hills with the Higashiyama lanes of Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka below it; and Fushimi Inari's gates. Nijo Castle has the nightingale floors that squeak against intruders, and Ryoan-ji the rock garden. Temples open around 8:00 or 9:00 and close at 17:00, and the city bus is slow; a day with a driver or a guide who orders the stops against the crowds is the difference between four sights and seven.
The price covers All entrance fees, Bilingual Guide and Digital City Guide. It does not cover Food, Drinks and Gratuities, so budget for those separately. Everything included is listed in full on this page; if something is not on that list, assume it is not in the price.
Kyoto Fun sends the meeting point and time by email as soon as the booking is confirmed. We need at least one day's notice, and we confirm the date with Kyoto Fun before treating your booking as final. If they cannot take your date we tell you and refund you rather than leave you waiting.
Includes
- All entrance fees
- Bilingual Guide
- Digital City Guide
Excludes
- Food
- Drinks
- Gratuities
Important information
Meeting point
Kyoto Fun sends the meeting point and time by email as soon as the booking is confirmed.
Know before you go
- Free cancellation available up to 24 hours before the activity starts
About this activity
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Traveler Reviews
We meet Phillipe and 2 others in the party. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and the stories about the places. It rained the whole time but we had umbrellas and so much to see. We found it really interesting and Phillippe was able to add to the tour with lots of knowledge and a clear love of Japan and the area. Beautiful spiritual places. 😊
This was an excellent guided tour with Niall, he was full of information for us as we walked around the area seeing some amazing sights. Willie & Brenda
Kevin M was just right for us. He brought knowledge of culture, history and language to his curation of our walk. It rained today, which is not a problem (perhaps a value add) with an umbrella. I felt like our guide brought his grounded presence to our tour. Bravo!
This was a perfect Kyoto tour. Kevin was intelligent and very knowledgeable. We felt we learned more about Kyoto and the culture and customs of Japan than perhaps any other tour we have taken. Outstanding!
This tour was wonderful. At first, we thought we were unlucky as we had a very rainy day, however this allowed us to enjoy the Silver Pavilion gardens, pretty much for ourselves. We were lucky to have Phillip as our guide this day as well as he is very well versed with Kyoto history and Zen Buddhism. I highly recommend this tour.
Kevin was super knowledgeable, personable and fun. We learned so much about Kyoto history and Japanese culture. He also gave great recommendations!
Excellent Kevin was 10/10 Pity I had to pay extra $ a lot
Loved Craig’s knowledge, easy going approach and sheer pleasure in sharing Kyoto with us. Having lived here for 13 years, he is a committed local but it was so easy for us to ask him lots of questions because he spoke English. It meant we learnt so much more on this gorgeous walk. Totally worth every cent and every step.
Kevin was an excellent guide. He provided us with a lot of new information about the location, the history of Japan and the philosopher’s path. He was excellent at keeping his pace to ours. The philosopher’s Way is a fascinating walk and the information that Kevin gave us increased our appreciation of our time in this area.
We really enjoyed the tour and Kevin's knowledge of Kyoto's history, and the history of its temples. It was a pleasant walk, with natural scenery and without large crowds. Definitely recommend to anyone interested in experiencing the history and beauty of Kyoto.
We loved this tour! Very relaxed pace, which we really appreciated. Lots of time to take everything in. Kevin was an outstanding host. He had fantastic knowledge of not just what we saw, but the history and culture of Japan. Also wonderful to see things most tourists miss. We hardly saw anyone else about, which was fantastic.
Kevin did a great job leading us on a beautiful and informing walk on the Sacred Pathways tour. Kevin was well versed on many topics and easily answered any questions we had. In addition, he seemed interested in who we were and engaged us in conversation. We went slow enough to get some amazing photos along the way. We never would have found all these spots on our own and would highly recommend a guided tour.