Kyoto Morning Tour - Kyoto Imperial Palace, Golden Pavilion, Nijo Castle

Kyoto, Japan

Soak up the sights of Kyoto on this guided city morning tour. You'll travel by coach and visit Nijo Castle, the gold covered Kinkakuji Temple and Golden Pavilion. There's also time to walk through Kyoto Imperial Palace - The emperor's residence until 1868. Your tour concludes at the shopping paradise of the Kyoto Handicraft Center where you'll see demonstrations of Japanese traditional arts and crafts.

Nijo Castle - The Kyoto Residence of the Tokugawa Shogun built in 1603, Nijo Castle is noted for the contrast of its solemn appearance and gorgeous interiors.

Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion) - Kyoto's most popular temple is the home of perhaps the world's most authentic and exquisite Japanese Garden, as well as the celebrated Golden Pavilion.

Kyoto Imperial Palace - The ancient Imperial Palace clearly shows the Japanese taste for purity, simplicity and calmness. The residence of the Imperial family until the capital was relocated to Tokyo in 1868. View the Shishinden Imperial state chamber where enthronement ceremonies took place.

Kyoto Handicraft Center - Enjoy shopping at Kyoto Handicraft Center. See demonstrations of Japanese traditional arts and crafts.

Your tour will conclude at the Kyoto Handicraft Center where a free shuttle service is provided to major Kyoto hotels.

USD $69.70

Review by: Joshua G	December 2011
Very large tour group. Were forced to stay behind when my wife didn't return to the bus on time and were unable to rejoin the rest of the tour due to palace rules.

Review by: Audy L	December 2011
The tour covers the must see places. Convenient. Tour guide's English is not very good though. Would be more informative if she speaks better English

Review by: Jayne D	November 2011
The Morning Tour of Kyoto was ideal for me, as I only had limited time in Japan and the tour guys was very friendly and informative. Highly recommended for a quick tour of Kyoto.

Review by: K K C	November 2011
Excellent Tour and guide was very good! Would do again-- JB Sunrise Tours through Viator was most worthwhile. Would recommend.

Review by: Richard C	August 2011
I was very disappointed with the Kyoto Morning Tour. The tour leader was extremely knowledgeable, but it was almost impossible to understand what he was saying! He grew up in the Phillapines, and his Filipino-Japanese-English accent was very hard to understand. I live in the US and couldn't understand him. People on the tour from Germany and Sweden had even more difficulty.

Review by: Cynthia J	July 2011
It was like speed dating--a great way to have an idea of where to go back and spend time.

Review by: M. B	May 2011
Excellent, notwithstanding the pouring rain._br/_ Only one thing, the meeting point: I was waiting outside the designated hotel, while the girl was waiting for me in the lobby... I was about to leave when she finally ran out and located me._br/_ And one more thing: why do you promise "Imperial Palace" as this actually never happens.

Review by: Lenore T	December 2010
So many tour buses, so many tourists. All the buses seemed to be on the same schedule, so each of the venues was packed with tourists. I saw some things (and learned some things) that I might not have on my own, so that was good, but I didn't enjoy the tour as much as the smaller-group (van rather than bus) day tours I've taken in other parts of the world. Also, at the end of the half-day tour, I was dropped off at the handicraft center instead of back where I started. There was apparently a shuttle van available, but only if I waited an hour and a half (leaving few options but to pay for my lunch at the tourist trap, or to ride the city bus out of there, which I did)

Review by: Sarah H	November 2010
The tour was supposed to take us to the Imperial Palace, but did not, we went somewhere else and were not given any explanation as to why.

Review by: Jaan P	November 2010
Interesting tour, well organized and good guide!

Review by: Johanna D	October 2010
A very interesting morning spent in Kyoto - we got to see lots and thankfully the weather was good. Our tour guide was friendly and spoke excellent English.

Review by: Julie W	October 2010
Our tour guide was fantastic!! He was very entertaining and educational. The tour was well organised but a little difficult to really follow the dialogue with such a large group. The locations are beautiful! The Handicrafts centre has many gorgeous things for sale.

Review by: Ljubisa R	September 2010
The tour was quite interesting and places we visited were equally beautiful and imposing. And, the best part was the guide who was exceptional - entertaining and informative - he gave that extra value we 'the spoiled customer(s)' needed :)!

Review by: Anonymous	August 2010
This is a fantastic tour. The tour guide was very informative - I'm sure I wouldn't have learnt so much about the history of each places had I not joined this tour. Very recommened - especially if you have limited time in Kyoto.

Review by: Jagdish G	August 2010
On this tour, the only thing we liked was the Golden Pavilion. We were not impressed with Kyoto Imperial Palace or Nijo castle.

Review by: Lisa W, United States of America	July 2010
My family & I really enjoyed this 12 day tour of Kyoto. Our tour guide spoke good English and did a good job giving us the history of each site visit. Well worth it!

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	June 2010
It is a great morning trip for a reasonable price if you are only in Kyoto for a day it so. It is difficult up get around without a tour bus around Kyoto

Review by: Anonymous, United Kingdom	May 2010
guide was terrific - one of the best we have come across

Review by: Anonymous, Canada	April 2010
Imperial Palace was closed and was replaced by a tour to a shrine, Honganji West. English speaking tour guide was excellent.

Review by: Barbara S	February 2010
This was a very nice tour. It would have been nice to have brochures at the beginning of each of the shrines and temples that we visited so that we could refer to them. We were given the Golden Pavillion brochure after the tour. While the tour guide was knowledgeable about the sites we saw, the group she had was very large and we had a lot of difficulty hearing her. The Handicraft Centre was great. We managed to pick up all our souvenirs there.

Review by: Shiho K, United States of America	January 2010
We took a Kyoto Morning Tour. Our tour guide was excellent! He was very funny! He spoke clearly and provided the right amount of information. I would definitely recommend this tour to my friends.

Review by: David B	January 2010
We were not advised that the Imperial Palace was closed on Saturdays, so an inferior alternative was given. Plus we were all left at a textiles store at the end of a tour. The only laid-on return to our hotels, some considerable distance away, was a free shuttle by the textiles store - two hours later!

Review by: Gayle W, Australia	December 2009
Tour was a bit rushed, couldn't stop and purchase anything at any of the souvenir shops at each of the sites visited, had to be back on the bus in an unreasonable time.

Review by: Lucinda K, United States of America	September 2009
This trip is a must do if your time in Kyoto is limited. One of the highlights was walking on the "Nightingale Floor" in the Nijo Castle. Something I use to tell my students about!

Review by: Robin T, United Kingdom	July 2009
All of the the sights were extremely good, and the Golden Pavilion was amazing. The visits were very well organised and the guide was informative and helpful.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	July 2009
Good tour. Guide was very good. Bus was comfortable and on time and had convenient hotel pickup. Golden Pavilion was impressive but very crowded. Nijo Castle and the Imperial Palace were also very interesting and less crowded.

Review by: Yazdi B, Philippines	April 2009
Thanks, loved it. Our guide was very good.

Review by: Claudia H	April 2009
I wouldn't recommend this particular tour. It was obviously over booked. People had to sit in the center isle of the bus and the group was so large that you couldn't hear the tour guide when we visited the sites. We ended up leaving before the tour ended and found our way back.

Review by: Cheryl E, Australia	March 2009
The Kyoto Morning tour was excellent. It enabled me to see the main sights and get some wonderful photos without the hard work of finding my own way to the sights. I have used Viator in both Japan and Malaysia and cannot speak more highly of your service. It is first rate.

Review by: Kelly E	March 2009
It was OK. The Imperial Palace was closed and the alternate was nothing spectacular. Would have much preferred seeing the Silver Pavilion instead. The guide was nice but did not have much personality. She added a few cool facts, like how bonsai trees are meticulously pruned, but overall the trip was a bit bland. Lunch at the Handicraft Center was a cafeteria style buffet that was not worth the money.

Review by: Anonymous, South Africa	October 2008
This tour guide was awesome! He definately knew how to pronounce English words properly and had a heart for the tourists.

Review by: Jen S, United States of America	October 2008
The tour guide was very good -- knew a ton about the sites and spoke excellent English. It was a little packed in terms of sites, but I didn't mind the short stops as it was only a half-day tour.

Review by: Jeff S	October 2008
The tour guide was very good -- knew a ton about the sites and spoke excellent English. It was a little packed in terms of sites, but I didn't mind the short stops as it was only a half-day tour.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	August 2008
We enjoyed the tour very much. It would not have been as informative had we done it by ourselves. Just wish we had little bit more time at each site for more pictures.

Review by: Anonymous	May 2008
The trip was well organized and without unnecessary delays. The only disadvantage was no drop-off service. The trip ended in the middle of nowhere and we had to organize our trip back to the hotel ourselves. The "handcraft center" is a simple shop.

Review by: Francis W, United States of America	April 2008
Well done!

Review by: Kathleen E, United States of America	January 2008
The tour guide was just excellent. She pointed out many interesting bits of information that we'd never have found in tour books, both at the locations of the tour and along the way as we rode in the bus. This was the first group tour in which everyone could hear the guide without straining.

Review by: Andrea P, United States of America	September 2007
This tour was well organized and much more affordable than trying to see the city on my own.

Review by: Caroline L	September 2007
Splendid!

Review by: Scott S	September 2007
This was a very good beginning tour. The guide was very funny and helpful.

Review by: Ann-Maree F	August 2007
The guide was very informative. It would have been nice to stay a little longer at each destination. The stop at Imperial Palace was disappointing as far to short, and didn't really see anything.

Review by: Stacey C, United States of America	June 2007
I really enjoyed the trip. They delivered everything they promised. Quick paced. Even though we were in the back of the bus, if you hustled, there was no problem...we didn't miss a thing.

Review by: Alexander L	June 2007
This tour turned out even better than I thought it would be. The guide was very eloquent and had a great sense of humor and I felt that I learned a lot about Japan and the places I was seeing that I would have never known about otherwise, considering I don't speak Japanese. It really helped me appreciate what I was seeing and feel fortunate to be in such an amazing country. Totally worth it! I will always book tours with Viator every time I travel from now on.

Review by: Monica P	June 2007
Nijo Castle was the highlight. While the grounds of the Imperial Palace were interesting, and probably difficult to do except with a tour group, the level of regimentation necessary to gain access to the palace was excessive.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	July 2006
It is a great tour. The service was very friendly and well organized.