Kyoto Temple, Shrine, Geiko & Sake Private Tour

I pick you up at your Hotel / Kyoto Station at noon and we will head to my favourite Zen Temple where I will take you through and up into the main SANMON gate and we will see beautiful views of Kyoto.

We will then walk through the Temple grounds, offer incense for loved ones passed on and then through an aqueduct to a secluded waterfall where people have practised ‘Misogi’, a Japanese Shinto practice of ritual purification, for over 800 years. This is a National Historical Site.

We then head to a famous 1,300-year-old temple that shines in Vermillion. We will meet the guardians at the gate and will enter a dark, underground passage to cut our ties to fears we have and offer prayer. Once we enter the main hall, you will ring a bell to alert the gods you are there and offer a prayer.

We will walk the grounds and view Kyoto from the mountain. Here you will have great picture taking opportunities. I will introduce you to Jizo, the keeper of lost babies and children. We will end up at a small waterfall split into three cascades of Love, Health and Wisdom. You get to pick one to drink from.

From there we walk to a beautiful 5 story pagoda but not after traversing a shopping street and then head on to the famous Geisha Gion District.

Here I will give you time to explore Shijo Street which is filled with literally hundreds of shops, Yasui Shrine, Yasaka Shrine and then we will meet back and explore the famous Gion District and Pontocho Restaurant District during the early evening hours.