Walk in Kyoto, Talk in English Tour

Will be in Kyoto Aug 15 -19. So much to see and do. I like the idea of doing a walking tour on our first full day. I like the idea that this will help us get our bearings and learn about Kyoto on our first full day. But, as it is 10-3 pm, we lose a full day of touring the different shrines and temples, museums, and wandering neighborhoods on our own.

Has anyone done this tour and found it a must do?

Thank you.

Does this tour have a web site or more details you can provide?
5 hour walk tour in the middle of summer does not sound very appealing.

http://www.waraido.com/walking/index.html
Thank you. Good point. We are not overly bothered by the heat and know to expect it. But, maybe go at our own pace? I expect Kyoto to be be busy that day with the upcoming festival too.

I have never taken this tour, so I have no first hand knowledge. As described on their web site, this tour does not visit any "major" attraction (such a tour can have its own charm). As you wrote, there are LOTS to see in Kyoto (I have been there 4 times and still have not seen everything that I want to see), so make sure you allocate enough time to see what your really want to see. If you have some time leftover after that, and if you have the stamina for a 5 hr walk, then consider this tour. I don't think this tour is designed to help you get your bearings of Kyoto, so it does not have to be done on the first day.

I did this tour in 2006, I think, on my first trip to Kyoto when Johnnie Hillwalker was doing it. I found it to be extremely informative as it went to sites mostly not on the usual tourist trail and gave a lot of information about small shops and crafts in Kyoto. I would highly recommend it.

Looks like a pretty small tour that goes from the station, to a few local temples/shrines along the way to Gion, but doesn't cover much of the city. Not to say that isn't a good thing to do, but it will not achieve your objective of getting your bearings or necessarily learn what you need about Kyoto (as they say groups 20-30 is typical).

My husband and I took this tour in 2012, It was slow paced, led by Johnny Hillwalker. It wasn't a typical touristy tour. He took us on backroads and to places that tourist typically do not go. We visited the Higashi Honganji, a fan shop where we saw them making traditional fans, several shrines, a sort of museum in an old Geisha district, a pottery place and we walked past the building that Nintendo got started at. There was a stop for tea and pastry towards the end of the tour. I would recommend bringing beverages and snacks because we did not pass any places that we could pick things up at and I found myself getting thirsty and hungry from all the walking we did. Honestly not everything on the tour interest me but I feel that I did get a lot out of it and I don't regret doing it. The tour ended at the bottom of the hill of Kiyomizu dera. After the tour we walked up to Kiyomizu dera then took the path down the stairs near the parking lot where there are lots of interesting shops. We ended up near Gion where we took the Geisha walking tour by the same company. I really enjoyed that tour also.

Hi, I did this tour on my 2nd day of a 4-5 day stay in Kyoto in 2005. If you are reasonably fit and wanting to see as much Kyoto's main sights as possible, the pace of this tour may seem a bit slow. It did give you some unusal insights in some culture/arts and we did visit some temples close to Kyoto main train station. However, we could have easily managed to figure out our own orientation without joining this tour.