Kyoto's West Gems Walking Tour

While there is some trouble in certain districts of Gion regarding proper etiquette when walking in the geisha quarters, we have a good relationship in the area, and our office is in one of the geisha districts. We will remind you of proper etiquette regarding photo taking, and ensure we are respectful of the local area and customs.

Luckily the drivers in Kyoto are very used to sharing the road with bicycles. In fact, with such narrow streets the pedestrians, cars and bikes all share the space on the small side streets and there are very few dedicated bike lanes. We try to take you on the most calm and safe streets but you definitely want to be a confident rider before you sign up.

Helmets are available for use while cycling. We will offer you one and if you choose not to wear one you do so at your own risk but note that you are not required to wear one by law in Japan.

Luckily Kyoto is quite flat so the bicycle tours can be done by almost anyone who has enough stamina to do a 15-20 km ride. Plus we stop several times throughout the day to explore the temples and gardens on foot. As far as the hikes go, they are a bit more of a challenge but there is only about 30-40 mins of serious hiking with the rest of the courses being easy enough. People with mobility issues would be best suited to our Private Custom Tours of Kyoto as we can suggest temples and gardens that don't have too many slopes or stairs to deal with on your private tour.

For private tours, we accept and often have kids from 9 years old and up join but we always retain the right to stop the tour and continue on foot if we feel anyone's safety is at risk. For group bike tours and hikes, the minimum age is 12 years. At the moment we do not offer bike tours with infant seats or ride alongs due to the safety risks involved. We do have a special tour just for families and can accommodate even those with small infants. Stroller rental is available free of charge.

Yes, we like to thank our customers who book more than one tour. Let us know at the time of booking and we will apply a 10% discount to your second booking or third (or fourth) booking. Note that the discount applies to the lesser valued of the tours that you book.

Looking at our reviews you can see that we put a lot of care and effort into giving our guests a great experience. As such we don't really have the resources to plan your full itinerary until after you have made a deposit. Once you have booked we send out a questionnaire and work together on a plan for the day.

We let you cancel with a full refund if you let us know 48hrs before your arrival. The policy may be altered due to outstanding circumstances, but understand that if you book and later cancel you are denying another customer the chance to take a tour with us. We are happy to issue receipts for travel insurance purposes. You can also avail of our travel protection option when you check out. For a 15% surcharge, we allow you to cancel up to 1hr before the tour starts giving you peace of mind if things change when you get here.

We have been lucky to be ranked highly on TripAdvisor by our past customers. For our first two years in business, we were rated #1 in nightlife and #2 in outdoor activities, and we've been going strong since 2014! We look forward to giving you an amazing experience in Kyoto and for you to rave to your friends back home about how a trip to Kyoto with help from Kyoto Fun is the way to do it!

Most hotels and cafes offer Wi-Fi, and there are also public Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the city. You can also purchase a local SIM card for your phone.