Visit Nara and Osaka must-see sites in one day including Nara "deer" park, Great Buddha at Todaiji Temple, Osaka Castle, and Dotonbori for the evening. Tour itinerary is flexible so you can focus on one of the two areas. Good for those who have a limited time and start to feel you've seen too many shrines and temples in Kyoto.
JR Kyoto station, Osaka station (exact location to be sent by email), Kintetsu Nipponbashi/Namba station or at your hotel (extra fee)
Nara Park - dear deer!
Todaiji Temple - Great Buddha (500 yen or 600 yen from 2018)
Option: Kasuga Taisha Shrine (500 yen)
Naramachi - have a quick local lunch and visit the famous mochi maker
Osaka Castle (museum: 600 yen)
Dotonbori and Namba area - explore the area for the night!
Option: Umeda Sky Building for the night view
Namba area or Osaka/Umeda station
Nara is about 1 hour from Kyoto and 45 minutes from Namba (Osaka) by train which provides a rich history and a lot of greenery. You will visit Nara "deer" park, Todaiji Temple with Great Buddga, and Kasuga Shrine (as per your preference). Depending on how fast we can move and your preferred itinerary, you can also visit an old town called Naramachi for more strolling.
In Osaka, we will visit Osaka Castle and Namba area (pick a few places from Kuromon market, Nipponbashi, Doguyasuji, Shinsekai, Shinsaibashi, etc). The tour will be finished around Dotonbori area where you can continue to enjoy the night life of Osaka, or I can take you to the floating garden of Umeda Sky Building (one of the Top 20 Building around the World) for the night view.
This tour is particularly recommended if you're staying only in Kyoto but would like to take a side trip to Nara and Osaka in one day for a change.
Guide fee, hotel meet-up in Kyoto and Osaka
Transportation fee (you and guide), lunch/dinner (you and guide), entrance fee
Please note below before booking and contact me first for availability:
1. My schedule on GoWithGuide site is open for the next 3-month only.
2. All my listed tours include hotel pick-up fee and guide fee. Please ask for quote for custom tours.
3. For tours in the peak season, I am currently prioritizing mult-day tour requests (at least two "full-day" tours per group) and accept one-day request between the booked tours etc.
***Excursions ***
I can guide you in Okayama (including Naoshima and Kurashiki), Hiroshima (Onomichi, Shimanami islands cycling, Miyajima, etc.) and Shikoku (Iya valley etc.) if you pay for my transportation.
The above areas can be visited from Osaka/Kyoto in one or two days.
1. You will be walking a lot during the tour, so please wear comfortable walking shoes and clothes and bring an umbrella or poncho in case of rain.
2. Transportation fee and lunch/dinner for you and guide is not included. Even if you have a JR pass or IC card, you'll be asked to purchase tickets for the guide in cash. With the standard itinerary, the total transportation cost for this tour per person will be around 1,500- 2,200 yen per person from Kyoto station to Osaka via Nara without JR pass. With JR pass, it will be about 500-1,000 yen, but please note that you still have to cover guide's transportation fee which is 1,700-2,200 yen. It varies depending on your choice of using bus/subway or walking at certain points and tour-end point.
If we meet at Kintetsu Namba or Nipponbashi Station, additional transportation fee of 500 yen have to be covered for the guide's transportation fee.
3. If you'd like to enjoy the illuminated Dotonbori during April-October, I recommend starting the tour at 10:00 am
Seiko was an excellent tour guide for Kyoto with broad and deep knowledge about everything from the specialized shrines to history of sake distilleries. She met us at our hotel and even adjusted our schedule on the fly to try and avoid the expected rain that day. We toured the Fushimi Inari Shrine, explored the Fushimi district and ate at a local yakitori restaurant, went to Kimozu Dera, and explored the streets and alleys in Ninenenzaka/Sannenzaka. It was a very full 6 hours covering a lot of areas and we thoroughly enjoyed it all.
Thank you Tuan for your kind words. With your flexibility, no hesitation to walk further to see more, and trusting my recommendations, we could see both major attractions and true local scenes. Lucky us, we didn't get much rain during the tour despite the almost hopeless forecast:) Hope you enjoyed the rest of your time in Kyoto and your family trip in Japan! Best reagards to all of your sweet family members. Seiko
Seiko, my family and I can't thank you enough for such an amazing, information Kyoto cultural experience. Our tour was above and beyond our expectations, with bonus hidden attractions on the day that we would never of seen without you. I wouldn't hesitate booking with you again and highly recommend you to anyone looking for a friendly knowledgeable guide. Thank you again.
Thank you Alison for your kind words! It was the busiest week in Kyoto I've ever seen but thanks to your flexibility and willingness to walk extra miles to see hidden attractions, the tour went smoothly and most importantly, I am very happy that your whole family enjoyed the day in Kyoto! Hope you also had a great time in the other destinations of Japan. Seiko
We had an outstanding experience with Seiko-san as our guide to visit Fushimi and Uji! She's such a fun and super friendly person to show you around the sights, and she's fluent in English since she lived in the U.S. We spent the whole day with her learning about matcha and sake, and she took us to a wonderful sake tasting bar in Fushimi that we would have never discovered on our own! We are sad we did not book her for more days while we were in the Osaka/Kyoto area. She's the best guide we had while visiting Japan! Sorry for forgetting to submit the review sooner, Seiko, but we will definitely call you when we come back to visit - hopefully this year! Kim, Gary, and Sandra
Hi Kim! Super excited to hear from you about our tour in Fushimi and Uji as I also enjoyed the time with you guys so much! Glad to know it was not my one-way love, hahaha! I was also impressed how much planning you've done, which led to your having a great time in this special area. I also felt we didn't spend enough time together and have more to show, so hope to see you again in Japan! Seiko
Had an amazing time with Seiko for a day trip to Nara and Osaka. We managed to see all the main attractions and didn’t feel rushed. Seiko was very responsive, helpful, knowledgable and caring. Highly recommend
Thank you so much for your kind review. I had an amazing time with you as well! It was just so easy to go around with someone who loves to walk, see the nature, try to eat something new, and interact with the locals! Hope you'll have a great time for the rest of your trip in Japan. See you next time;) Seiko