Private Tour Guides In Kyoto

Tailoring each tour to your wishes by locals who love their city

Top private tours in Kyoto

From exploring cool neighborhoods to eating with the locals to seeing iconic sites, these are some of our favorite experiences

When in Osaka
make sure to try
“kushikatsu”!

See the city like
you would with a friend who lives there

See all

When in Osaka
make sure to try
“kushikatsu”!

See the city like
you would with a friend who lives there

The best private guides and local insiders in Kyoto

If you’re seeking the best private tour guides in Kyoto to help you make the most of your visit, look no further than City Unscripted. The most magical city in all of Japan, Kyoto is a perfectly preserved pocket of Japanese history and culture that feels like stepping into a fairytale. Our fantastic private tour guides in Kyoto are eager to share with you the Japan of centuries ago. All of our handpicked private guides in Kyoto are intimately familiar with every inch of their city, and they’ll help you experience this historic gem beyond major tourist sights like lantern-lit Gion, the famous geisha district, and 1200-year-old Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

Meet some of our Kyoto private guides

Like the people who travel with us, they have different backgrounds and interests – but they’re all so passionate about the place they call home, they choose to spend their free time sharing it with the like-minded travelers matched to them.

We’ve handpicked them and we’ll match you to your perfect one!

From tourist sights to secret gems

Kyoto may be known for iconic attractions like the wood-built Higashiyama district, ancient temples, and traditional teahouses, but there’s so much more to be explored when you have one of our knowledgeable private tour guides in Kyoto leading the way. Whether you jostle through centuries-old Nishiki Market, the crowded “Kitchen of Kyoto”, join locals snacking on gyoza dumplings as the sun sets over Kamo River, or even belt out a song at a karaoke bar, our private tour guides in Kyoto will help you strike the perfect balance between the highlights and hidden gems off the tourist trail.

A range of top-notch tours

City Unscripted offers a wide range of diverse tours in Kyoto – simply pick your type of tour, and our private tour guides in Kyoto will personalize the experience for you! You might want to squeeze in as many tourist sights as possible on a must-see experience, or take a day trip to the Arashiyama bamboo grove. Perhaps you’ll book our fantastic food experience, or maybe you’ll simply spend a full day with one of our private tour guides in Kyoto exploring a combination of iconic sights and hidden gems you wouldn’t find in your guidebook. Whatever you decide, we’ll make this a day to remember.

Itineraries 100% tailored to you

At City Unscripted, we understand that no two travelers are the same. You could be a history buff who wants to move between Kyoto’s ancient temples and shrines, a culture-lover eager to catch a geisha performance at Gion Corner, or a fanatic foodie who dreams of experiencing traditional Kaiseki dining. That’s why our private tour guides in Kyoto take the time to plan the perfect tour 100% personalized to you! All our itineraries are created with your personality and passions in mind. With one of our private guides in Kyoto planning your trip, your dream day will be made a reality.

Kyoto travel tips and inspiration from our Travel Magazine

Find essential city info, travel tips and the best things to do in Kyoto and around the world recommended by our local hosts

Latest reviews from our guests

We had a lovely time with Tiana visiting Kyoto. She was really knowledgeable and was great catching the interest of the kids with many details about shrines, temples and also life in Japan in general. It was really a great guided tour.

April 2024

Nicolas D
We had great time with our Guide Irhasy / Hashi in Kyoto. He is knowledgeable, very kind to accommodate request and his English is excellent. We had great lifetime memories in Kyoto.

April 2024

Kaley W
Masaya was an excellent host during our trip in Kyoto. He accommodated us every step of the way, meeting us at our hotel, answering all of our questions with history and humor, giving us advice on the best places to eat for the food we wanted. Couldn't have asked for a better guide during our tour. 10/10

April 2024

Sarah Z
We started our day at dawn at Fushimi Inari Shrine on a solo trek through the gates-if you wait it gets too crowded to go with all of the group tours. Then we met up with Yuko- she was a great guide who knows Japanese culture and sights really well and yet she speaks perfect English! She led us to the old Imperial Palace (Kyoto Gyoen) and gardens where she filled us in with lots of history and we saw some beautiful Sakura and Plum trees. Then, because Yuko had researched, we were fortunate to catch a glimpse of Anaraku-ji Temple which is only open during camellia blooming season as the lovely grounds there are covered with them. We had already seen the Golden Temple, so Yuko suggested we see the Silver Temple which was wonderful. The view of the city when you walk up the path around the garden is spectacular! This is a great spot for panoramic photo of Kyoto. Afterwards, we headed over to the Market for buying a knife and kimono which was so nice to have Yuko to help find a store for these items. We were a little hungry and tired and wanted to sit to eat so she took us to this perfect spot where we had sake, soup and other light delicious bites and we learned more about food culture and sake tasting. Lastly, we went to an ikebana (Japanese floral art) display which was fascinating and I took soooo many photos. Thank you for the best day Yuko!!!

April 2024

Patrick F