Experience Kanazawa
Beyond the Guidebooks

We had a wonderful 4-hour tour of Kanazawa with our guide Akari. She showed us culinary highlights, took us through the Samurai and Geisha districts, and gave us fascinating insights into the traditions of both Samurai and Geishas. Akari also shared a lot about contemporary life in Japan. We are very grateful for this amazing tour and her excellent restaurant recommendations. Thank you so much, Akari!

Our 3-hour personalised walking tour with Akari was informative and fun, tailored to our interests and location. Visiting the geisha and samurai historic districts was a highlight and we finished the tour (after a great workout!) sharing a meal with the delightful Akari. A great way to learn about Kanazawa in an informal and leasurely way.

Akari was very personable and spoke excellent English. She gave me a nice lay of the land on my first day here which gave me confidence for my next 2 days exploring Kanazawa. I wanted and received great tips in our 2 hours together.

We had a really wonderful time with Akari, knowledgeable and engaging. She matched her pace to our group, and took time to answer our questions.

Criselda was very knowledgeable about the areas we visited and was flexible in modifying the plans as the day went on. She is very personable and made our day special.

The walking was a great pace, we actually went inside of a Geisha’s performance property. Over heard Geishas practicing their instruments which we could hear them from the street. Actually saw x2 Geisha’s Went into a. Samari’s property lower and higher ranking and was able to ask any question to our fabulous guide Selda. .

The tour was a great time spent with lots of knowledge given.Selda was lovely and encouraged us to ask any questions we had. We also asked for other recommendations such as gold leaf ice cream places and professional Japanese knife stores.

Selda, our guide was personable and provided good insights into the culture and customs of the people in Kanazawa and other locations in Japan. She took time to answer our questions, and to explain local customs. We were able to have a good exchange of ideas during our time together and we shared information about our backgrounds, which made the tour feel very personal.

We had a private tour with Jorge in Kanazawa on September 11th, and it was absolutely fantastic. Jorge was incredibly attentive and friendly, making us feel welcome from the very start. He showed us not only the main highlights but also the hidden gems of the city that we would never have found on our own. He took amazing photos, shared interesting stories and cultural insights, and gave us excellent recommendations for places to eat and explore later. We spent over eight hours together.

We had an absolutely amazing evening tour of Kanazawa! Our guide was friendly, knowledgeable, and made us feel right at home while showing us the highlights of his hometown. Thanks to him, we felt like we truly made the most out of our day in the city. The tour was the perfect mix of fun insights, local culture, and hidden gems we wouldn’t have discovered on our own. We had such a great time and would definitely recommend this experience to friends and fellow travelers

We had a great tour with our guide Jorge who really wanted to make sure that we got to see some of the sights of Kanazawa that the normal tour groups do not go to and places that we would never have discovered on our own. We got to see some of the temples and shrines that are off the beaten path but were also extremely special. Even on the geisha district he showed us places that were not well know.

Had a great morning with Jorge who certainly took us to some amazing places we would not have seen or even known about

Megumi was a fantastic and kind guide! She went above and beyond making sure we got to see what we wanted to see. Learnt so much about the history and culture of her beautiful city. Would highly recommend to anyone visiting!

Megumi was a fantastic and kind tour guide! She went above and beyond making sure we saw what we wanted to see. She gave us great insights and knowledge of history and culture of her home of Kanazawa. Would highly recommend to anyone visiting this beautiful city.

Megu was friendly and informative. An excellent way to learn about Kanazawa city!

I definitely recommend this tour guide trip for anyone's first time in Kanazawa! We got to learn a lot from Megumi san, our tour guide. Thank you for a great tour in Kanazawa!

Exceptional guide!!

picked us up in our hotel and made the 3h of the tour fly by. Harumi showed us a lot of Kanazawa’s sights (well known and hidden), explained us the context and shared valuable insights you could hardly find as a tourist exploring on your own. Apart from her knowledge, it was fun to spend time with Harumi who shared as well some insights of Japanese everyday’s life today with us. Harumi even helped us in a pharmacy when the 3 h were over. As non-native English speakers we were happy and relieved that Harumi’s English was excellent. All in all we enjoyed the splendid tour and the time we spent with her and we highly recommend Harumi as a tour guide!

Harumi really did tailor a tour for us in Kanazawa according to our wishes and interests. She picked us up in our hotel and made the 3h of the tour fly by. Harumi showed us a lot of Kanazawa’s sights (well known and hidden), explained us the context and shared valuable insights you could hardly find as a tourist exploring on your own. Apart from her knowledge, it was fun to spend time with Harumi who shared as well some insights of Japanese everyday’s life today with us. Harumi even helped us in a pharmacy when the 3 h were over. As non-native English speakers we were happy and relieved that Harumi’s English was excellent. All in all we enjoyed the splendid tour and the time we spent with her and we highly recommend Harumi as a tour guide!

Wonderful tour! Harumi was very friendly and informative. Very glad we did this tour, thank you Harumi!

Rimiko was a great tour guide. The restaurants were delicious and unique. I highly recommend this tour.

Our host Rimiko was fantastic!

Great local knowledge and very personable guide

Rimi was very knowledgeable and showed us the major sites of Kanazawa. Our favorites were the tea house, the golden leaf ice cream shop, the samurai house, and the garden. Amazing and unforgettable tour.

Excellent walk through downtown Kanazawa with Mouri. He showed us some special locations for the fall colors and brought us to some hidden spots along the way. I do think some hidden food spots would have been a great addition, it's hard to fit in eating and sightseeing into a 4 hour window. My recommendation to City Unscripted would be to add another hour or so to incorporate an authentic lunch option.

Great!!

Mouri was a great host He understood our short time frame in Kanazawa and made sure we got to see all of the main sites. He was knowledgeable of the city and took us to some great spots we would not have thought to go.

We had a terrific tour with Mo. He was both knowledgeable and engaging. His insights into Kanazawa history culture and everyday life was great. He showed us the best of Kanazawa. Huge thank you to Mo and to other travellers please do yourself a favour and have a wonderful tour with Mo.

Great Tour!!

Lucy was a wonderful guide on a very hot day in Kanazawa! We really enjoyed all the info she shared with us and the places she took us. It was the perfect introduction to the city. Thank you!

Lucy was very knowledgeable and made our tour of Kanazawa very pleasant. We would highly recommend this tour.

Lucy was great! We were a large group with a huge age range (5-79), and one person who couldn’t walk far distances. She worked very hard to find a place that would accommodate us all (the day after Christmas no less!) but that would also us to try the local cuisine. Although we were not able to do the traditional food walking tour- we nonetheless had a wonderful time and got to experience local Kanazawan foods.

It was an amazing tour! Our tour guide, Saki was so pleasant and showed us exactly what we wanted to experience! We enjoyed our tour and time with her!

It was so nice spending time together with you, as “friends”.

Loved it - friendly guide with excellent tips and cultural insights - great food too!

We loved Saki and Sake

Highly recommendable. Tour guide is on time and knowledgeable and flexible.

Katie is highly recommendable tour guide. She’s on time, very knowledgeable and very personalized. Itinerary was adjusted when we requested to go to market for lunch.

With nearly three decades in international hospitality, trained in Switzerland and holding a Bachelor of Hospitality Management, I rarely encounter service that truly exceeds five-star standards. Katie absolutely did. Her tour of Kanazawa was precise, insightful, and beautifully paced. She combined deep knowledge with genuine warmth, adapting effortlessly to my interests while leading with quiet confidence. Complex cultural ideas were explained simply and elegantly, and she navigated even busy areas with calm expertise. This was world-class hospitality in motion — professional, gracious, and intuitive. Katie represents the very best of Japanese excellence, and I recommend her without reservation. Thank you.

Katie was fantastic! She adjusted on the fly to our needs and thoughts and set us up to explore Kanazawa the next day!

Iku our guide go beyond the program and gave us great insights about the japanese culture and made an excellent suggestion to finnish the tour with a Geisha Evening. Superb!

We greatly enjoyed our food tour in Kanazawa with Iku. She communicated with us frequently prior to the tour, and went above & beyond with extras like printing our hotels shuttle schedule for the train station. She is a Kanazawa native and was able to share extensive cultural and historical insights about Kanazawa. We had specific requests for areas we wanted to explore and she made sure we got to those areas. The food selections weren’t always to our liking, but that is to be expected. At each stop we had choices about what to try and some were tastier than others. She also took many pictures of us which she shared via What’s App and we really appreciated.

Our guide Iku did a terrific job communicating with us before our tour. She included all of our preferred stops on the food tour. As a Kanazawa native, she was able to share details about the history and culture of this area which we really appreciated. The food selections were not always to our liking, but reflected local specialties.

Our guide was fantastic. I would recommend her to others and go on a tour with her again. She was perfect.

Great Tour!

I had a fantastic tour in Kanazawa! Our guide was incredibly friendly, well-prepared, and showed the city with so much knowledge and passion. I not only gained a deeper understanding of the main sights, but also learned many fascinating stories and cultural insights that you might easily miss otherwise. Thank you so much for this wonderful experience – absolutely recommendable!

Sho worked hard between helping us plan our day to over 17k steps in the blazing afternoon heat to wisely planned rest stops along the way. We did the castle (where we found the construction techniques interesting), Kenruoken garden and the kimono museum. Don’t miss the small private garden adjacent to Kenruoken.

Not boring at all! Very interesting. The explanation is very useful and compact. The hidden gems were wonderful!

We learned a lot. Not only about Kanazawa but also about Japan, the shrines and temples. The visit at the Geishahouse was great. Changed our perception of Giesha's.

The tour was perfect for us. We visited Kenrokuen Garden and the Geisha district and learned a great deal about each of them. Karolina was a terrific guide. She is attentive, speaks perfect English, and knows a great deal about Kanazawa and Japanese culture more generally.

We had a terrific day in Kanazawa with our tour guide Karolina. She is from Poland and speaks excellent English and Japanese. This really helped in communicating with us, as well as, getting answers to our questions from the Japanese vendors and experience hosts. Since she also lives in Kanazawa, you could not tell that she was not Japanese because of her mannerisms, so the experience was very authentic. She could very clearly relate the history of the places we visited, but did not bore us by overly doing so. After answering a survey questionnaire, Karolina was able to develop a terrific itinerary for us that included a gold leaf experience, wagashi workshop, great place to eat lunch, and most of the recommended sites in Kanagawa. Although she kept us on schedule, we did not feel rushed at any spot. She responded to all of our pre-tour questions in a very professional and timely manner. Since it was supposed to rain on the day of our tour, she even carried 3 extra umbrellas with her! So if you plan to visit Kanazawa, book a tour with Karolina. It will be 8 hours well spent!

Karolina planned an excellent tour. She added value at every point.

Yuzuki was great!!

Yuzuki is a fabulous guide. He found out beforehand our interests and what sights we had already seen in Kanazawa and planned our tour accordingly. We visited the Higashi Chayamachi District but on the way Yuzuki introduced us to some delightful hidden gems away from the crowds. We enjoyed learning about the area as well as other aspects of Japanese culture. Yuzuki is very knowledgeable and his command of the English is excellent.

Yuzuki was a highly knowledgable guide, not just with Kanazawa, but also with Japans history overall. He was able to show me places Off of the beaten path, that I would never have found on my own! I will book again the next time I am back in Kanazawa!

We had a great time with Suzuki! We told him our interests and he made an itinerary to ensure we saw everything! He was extremely communicative leading up to the session and was happy to take cute pictures of us in picturesque spots!

Amazing experience! I highly recommend this tour. My guide was very friendly and knowledgeable showing me sites and sharing information I wouldn’t have found on my own. She catered the tour based on my interests and adapted the activities throughout the day based off my needs.

Fumie was a great guide, she showed us the city from a different angle - less touristic, more local flavor which wax exactly what we were looking for.

Can’t say enough great things about my guide Fumir. She went out of her way to find my hotel and meet make our meet up easy breazy!! She took the time to incorporate my interest and show me things I never would have found. A zen garden, a modern water oasis, a cool vintage clothing store, a micro bar alley that was outrageously dope with an old American Jazz vibe, the National Craft Museum. She turned Kanazawa into the second best part of my trip. The other bring my stay at the world class Benesse Museum Hotel in the Seto Islands. Just stupendous!!!!