Day well spent - An excellent and insightful tour with our kind and knowledgeable guide, Kazuo. We went to Arashiyama, of course, but also went to little-known places that were peaceful and not so touristy. We also appreciated how considerate Kazuo was with my being slow due to previous injuries. Five stars!

Arashimaya - Our guide was Hirofumi Nalagawa. He is very professional and thorough in his preparation of our itinerary. He took our interests in full consideration and was meticulous throughout the tour. Arashimaya is beautiful and the changing of the colours of leaves during autumn and the serenity of the bamboo forest made it both magical and mystical. A must see.

Terrific day in Arashiyama! - Kazuo was terrific, knowledgeable and certainly made the day productive and at our pace. Highly recommend!

Perfect, customized fall day in Arashiyama - After booking the tour, Kazz reached out to discuss the itinerary. He made some initial suggestions and then we worked back-and-forth to fine tune the tour. Our goal was to see some key sites in this area on the edge of Kyoto, and also to avoid crowds and see some places off the traditional path. On the day of our tour, he met us at our hotel and we took a taxi out to the Arashiyama area. We began at a temple on the outskirts of town, and were the first to experience it when it opened for the day. It even had a bamboo forest—not the crowded one of Instagram fame so it was perfect! Also to our surprise, Kazz brought his camera and throughout our day together took some great pictures and sent them to us after the tour. As we worked out he way across town visiting various sites, temples, and shrines, we not only learned about where we were visiting but about Kazz and his life. It was a very personal experience. We’re pretty active so he accommodated our request for the more walking the better. For lunch he recommended a local soba place, which made for a nice break in the day. Our last stop, also a bit further from the core touristy area along the river and up into a forested mountain was Daihikaku Senko-ji—a Buddhist temple perched in the rocks high up along the river. At the end of the tour Kazz made sure we knew how to get back to central Kyoto via train.

A great cultural experience with friendly guide. - Great to see start of autumn colours, temples gardens and to visit a local market. Great to have help with public transport. Also great to share with our guide stories from different countries and culture.

A day out in Kyoto… - Overall we had a lovely relaxing day. Our visit to the Bamboo Forest was beautiful. We were very lucky with the weather. It was a bright clear sunny day. Very picturesque place. Later we visited a temple. Again a very beautiful spiritual place with plenty of photo opportunities. A trip to the Imperial Palace was very insightful and we learned a bit more about the Japanese culture. Laterally we visited a Geisha district. Not much to see here as we visited in the afternoon. Think it would come alive a night time.

Arashimaya autumn tour - It was a good and comprehensive tour of Arashiyama. The scenes of autumn peak were truly breathtaking. Pity it was very crowded and the paths up and down the hills were very slippery especially when it was raining then.

Great day exploring parts of Arashiyama with Bell - Nice area to explore, communication with guide prior really helped in putting together an itinerary that met my wish list. The area was super crowded the time of year I visited but guide knew her way around to minimize the 'touristy crowded areas' which helped improve our experience. She was also very patient when we came to a spot I want to spend more time in for photos. Would have been difficult to navigate the sites without Bell.

Lovely day out in Bamboo Forest. - This trip was a great opportunity for a nice brisk walk through the fabtastic bamboo forest and Monkey Park. We were surprised by the very large crowd which slightly lessened the effect of the experience. Our guide Ichiro was pleasant, well prepared and meticulous. He took time to explain all the features at the site. We were also very pleased that he also joined us for lunch where we were able to have a nice social chat - and for him to explain the meal.

Forest pretty. Go on your own - The bamboo forest was quite lovely , but could have been seen in an hour. There wasn't much else of interest on this tour. Additionally, our guide was quite ill-prepared. He could not answer the majority of the questions we asked.