Kyoto Arashiyama Bamboo Forest & Scenery Customized Private Tour

About this experience

Explore the cultural highlights and beautiful landscapes in two historically important districts in Kyoto on a walking tour of Arashiyama and Sagano. This 4-hour tour allows you to choose a few locations of your choice within the Arashiyama and Sagano areas. How about crossing the Togetsukyo bridge to enjoy the river view and visit a magnificent temple like Tenryu-ji or a serene temple like Jojakko-ji Temple, and stroll through a beautiful bamboo forest? Arashiyama/Sagano is a picturesque place where aristocrats have had their villas since ancient times. Whether you are a history and culture lovers who wants to visit temples, a nature lover or a shopper, there is always something for everyone in these areas. Please choose 2-3 places that you wish to visit.

Itinerary

English information from the provider

1. Stop 1

   Duration: 1 min

   Meet with your guide at JR Saga-Arashiyama Station (in front of a ticket gate). Based on your preferences, you will visit select sites in Arashiyama/Sagano area. We have listed popular/suggested spots for your reference. Please choose the ones that interest you from the list: On average, you can visit 2-3 spots in a half-day tour. If you don't find the spots you want to visit, please feel free to discuss your preferences with the guide. The guide will then customize the itinerary for you.

2. Stop 2

   Duration: 1 min

   Built over the Katsura River, this 155 meter long bridge is one of the iconic images of Arashiyama. It's a great spot to take in the surrounding scenery and Arashiyama mountains as the backdrop.

3. Stop 3

   Duration: 1 min

   This temple has a long history and is one of the most famous zen temples in all of Kyoto. Known as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it has a stunning garden where the plants and flowers make for a different feel every season.

4. Stop 4

   Duration: 1 min

   Denjiro Okochi, a famous actor of Samurai film, spent about 30 years building this vast villa garden, which covers an area of 19800 square meters. The garden is surrounded by cherry blossoms in spring and autumn leaves in autumn, and offers beauty in every season. The view of the Hozu River flowing below and the city of Kyoto is also a highlight.

5. Stop 5

   Duration: 1 min

   Located on the hillside of Mt Ogura, which has been famous for its autumn foliage since the late Heian period (794-1185), Jōjakkoji Temple has about 200 old maple trees, which turn red, orange and yellow and combine with the green of the moss.

6. Stop 6

   Duration: 1 min

   A quiet temple surrounded by beautiful landscapes that have survived the passage of 1200 years. The temple is famous for its autumn foliage. The temple is called 'Nison-in' because it enshrines the two principal Buddha images. The two principal images have faces and figures like twins, with their left and right hands raised and lowered symmetrically. The temple is located a short distance from central Arashiyama, so you can enjoy a moment of tranquillity.

7. Stop 7

   Duration: 1 min

   This temple is known as a ""temple of the tragic love"". It was the temple where a lady dancer who was favoured by the powers of the time lost his favour and spent time as a nun after a broken heart.The grounds of the temple are covered with beautiful green bamboo and green maples, with a moss-covered garden. The window in the antechamber of the hermitage is also worth seeing. It reflects a variety of colours depending on the way light enters the room.

8. Stop 8

   Duration: 1 min

   This area has been a place of burial since ancient times, first with wind burial, but later with earth burial, where people dedicated a stone Buddha and mourned for the eternal separation of the dead. The approximately 8,000 stone Buddhas and stupas enshrined in the grounds are the graves of people buried in the area.

9. Stop 9

   Duration: 1 min

   The origin of this temple can be traced back to 8th century but the temple became uninhabited during the WWII and was abandoned after a typhoon in 1950 caused extensive damage to the temple grounds, halls and Buddhist statues, but was rebuilt in 1955 when Buddhist sculptor Nishimura Kimitomo (1915-2003) was appointed abbot, and the reconstruction of the most run-down temple in Kyoto began. The temple is known as a ""temple of healing"", where visitors can relax and feel at ease with the expressive line-up of 1,200 statues of arhats carved by ordinary worshippers.

10. Stop 10

    Duration: 1 min

    Toriimoto is a conservation area located at the far end of Sagano which is about 600 metres along Atago Highway leading to Atago Shrine.The area has a mix of farmhouse-style buildings with thatched roofs and machiya-style buildings with two floors and tiled roofs, and has a well-preserved character of a Japanese rural historical landscape.

11. Stop 11

    Duration: 1 min

    If you are animal lovers, why not visiting here? Around 120 Japanese macaques currently live in the wild in this monkey park. The park is full of nature and the monkeys can be seen throughout the year.

12. Stop 12

    Duration: 1 min

    This is one of the biggest attarctions in all of Kyoto, with thousands of tall bamboo towering in the area making for a beautiful forest. It's an amazing spot that makes you feel like you're in a fairy tale.

What's included

English information from the provider

• Private customized walking tour. Public transportation or taxis maybe used.
• Licensed Local English Speaking Guide

What's not included

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• Optional: Entrance Fees (for yourself and guide)
• Private Van
• Hotel Pick-up

Additional information

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• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
• A moderate amount of walking is included. Please wear comfortable walking shoes
• This is a walking tour. A private van is not included.
• Public transportation or local taxis maybe used to transfer between spots.
• The cost of transportation is not included in the price. Transportation fees will vary depending on the destinations you decide to visit.
• The tour will take place rain or shine.

Cancellation policy

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For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.