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Dear visitor, if you know the answer to this question, please post it. Thank you! Kyoto Imperial Palace Guided Tour 2009/9/26 Kyoto City Hello, Has anybody experienced the Kyoto Imperial Palace English guided tour? http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/guide/kyoto.html Any comments to share? Thanks. by starlight (guest)   Yes 2009/9/28 Yes, and the guided tour is the ONLY way you can experience Kyoto Imperial Palace. I think the tour is nice. You can't go into the buildings and the northern part of the grounds (where the women stayed) is off limits, but they do show you much of the area. Also, the fact that it's free makes it very difficult to complain! If you have the option, Shugakuin and Katsura Rikyuu are more beautiful. Guides to these are in Japanese-only, but there are English pamphlets (and books, if you want even more descriptions and pictures) so you can appreciate them. Katsura Rikyuu has an English audio guide. Reservations for these fill up quickly, so if you want to go, it's best to do it on the first of the month! by Rabbityama rate this post as useful --- 2009/9/28 Hi rabbityama, I have signed up for a 10am English tour in mid Dec. I am thinking if it would be cancel due to low participation rate for that session. In addition, the guided tour is of an hour duration which, isn't a bit long? Thanks for sharing. by starlight (guest) rate this post as useful kyoto tour 2009/9/28 I have signed up for a 10am English tour in mid Dec. I am thinking if it would be cancel due to low participation rate for that session. The tours typically book out so this shouldn't be a problem. However it seems that they will run it regardless of the number of participants, as long as you register 1 week prior to the tour. In addition, the guided tour is of an hour duration which, isn't a bit long? It depends on how in depth you'd like to learn about the place. The tour was pretty interesting and there was probably enough history and information that it could have taken longer. However if you feel that 1 hour is too long there is an alternate 35 min tour run twice a day but only in Japanese. by yllwsmrf rate this post as useful --- 2009/9/28 Hi yllwsmrf, Thanks for sharing. Yes, I look forward to this tour as this is not often possible to visit an Imperial Palace and is free of charge. After this guided tour, I would walk to Nishijin Textile centre. Have you been to this center? Thanks. by starlight (guest) rate this post as useful nishijin 2009/9/28 Sorry, haven't been there. Let us know how you liked it though. by yllwsmrf rate this post as useful