SMALL GROUP KYOTO FOOD AND CULTURE DIVE
Dive deeper into Kyoto culture and cuisine on this night walking tour guided by a bi-lingual, truly English-fluent local.
Dive deeper into Kyoto culture and cuisine on this night walking tour guided by a bi-lingual, truly English-fluent local.
Discover the allure of Kyoto’s food scene with our exclusive night food tour at Pinpoint Traveler. Kyoto offers a vibrant culinary landscape waiting to be explored, especially in the famous Gion neighborhood.
Our foodie tour of Kyoto is an all-inclusive experience, ensuring no unexpected charges pop up. But there’s more to it than just food. We delve into the broader aspects of culture that shape local culinary traditions, offering insights into what Kyoto residents eat and why and how they eat it.
Interested in a deeper exploration of Kyoto’s gastronomic delights? Join us! We limit our groups to a maximum of six guests, allowing for a more intimate and insightful stroll through the enchanting streets of Gion. Along the way, we share intriguing stories and cultural nuances.
The tour includes stops at two handpicked restaurants, where you’ll get to taste at least ten different local specialties. By the end of the tour, expect to be fully sated, both in terms of a delicious meal and a richer appreciation of Kyoto’s unique culture and culinary heritage.
If you’re spending a few days in the city, check out our other Kyoto Tours. And we definitely recommend an Osaka Tour from Kyoto – the cities are so close to each other yet incredibly different. Come see for yourself!
We get it: There are tons of walking tours in Kyoto that you can choose to join. Our small-group tours are geared toward the culturally-curious travelers…those who want to learn about history and culture while also feeling like a local wherever they go. We want you to truly experience Kyoto, with its rich history and its rich culinary scene.
We also promise your guide will be fluent in English and in Japanese, and will be able to share interesting insights as a local. From the history of Shintoism to the evolution of the neighborhood streets where we walk, we love to share it all with those who are interested in diving deeper into Kyoto culture and history.
As for the food, we focus on regional specialties during our Kyoto food tour. We do not serve “challenge foods” for the thrill of it (though please feel free to try raw chicken on your own time). We also never serve endangered species. We are happy to cater to dietary restrictions if you just let us know in advance. That includes vegetarians and vegans.
Come join us for three hours of well-paced eating and strolling on our Kyoto night foodie tour. It’s sure to be an evening you won’t forget!
If you have any questions at all, feel free to contact us. We’re always happy to help!
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There are few places in Japan that can rival the richness of history in Kyoto. Spending a night in the most famous restaurant and entertainment district in the city is every foodie’s idea of a fun adventure.
Real English, real skills, and great personalities. Our guides have the expertise to provide you with an interesting, fun, and memorable tour. Professional, yes, but also like a night out with a knowledgeable friend.
Our tours never leave you to wander about on your own. And with a maximum of six guests per group, plan on enjoying a Kyoto food tour with true, personalized attention. Don't waste your precious time on a Kyoto night tour with hordes of strangers!
This tour starts just outside a famous Kabuki theater (Minamiza), making meeting up an anxiety-free experience. Detailed meeting spot information provided after booking.
Take a peek at the experience that awaits you.
After about an hour or so of anthropological adventure, you’ll be ready for some food and drink! And we know just the places. You’ll get to try a few different regionally-representative dishes and a beer — or perhaps you’d like a whiskey soda “hi-ball”, shochu, or some sake (Japanese rice wine) instead?
For the vittles, the selection varies by season but, between this stop and our second restaurant, there will be at least ten varieties, so you’re sure to find things that suit your taste. Being a Kyoto food tour, we’re also sure to include regional specialties. We let the other guys trot out the generic dishes.
The restaurants we go to are known as “tachinomi”, which can be loosely translated as “standing bar” in English. These are not, however, bars in just the drinking alcohol sense. While they do serve alcohol, it’s really more about the food, with full kitchens preparing made-to-order dishes.
Less so than the format, what tachinomi are about is small plates (think: tapas) and a convivial, Happy Hour-type atmosphere. You’ll notice some customers coming as co-workers, others with friends, and some just stopping by alone, which is quite comfortable due to the inherently social vibe.
Incidentally, the restaurants we frequent often have tables to sit at, but sometimes we stand, just like the locals. Also, just like the locals, we generally only spend around half an hour or so at a given restaurant. Time will fly during this truly local experience.
Between restaurant visits, we take a short stroll through what are both youthful and classic restaurant and entertainment districts on the west side of the Kamogawa River, including Ponto-cho, Kiyamachi, and the Kawaramachi area. The old narrow streets along Ponto-cho embrace the traditional Kyoto style, while the younger areas just a street or two away show you how eager Kyoto people are to also firmly live in the present.
A short walk down Shijo-dori (loosely translated to “4th Avenue”) brings us to Yasaka Jinja, a grand beacon up a gentle slope at the top of the street. It can only be fortuitous to begin an evening with a brief stop by a shrine. Enjoy a breezy but interesting review of Shintoism in Japan – it’s all the better under the stars, with dramatic lighting and far fewer people. We’ll spend around 15 minutes here.
Almost directly across the street from Yasaka Jinja, the Gion starts. Our meandering and storytelling will take about 45 minutes.
With our initial cultural endeavors behind us, it’s time for a drink and some food. Depending on the night, the restaurants we go to vary, but you can be sure there will be a variety of small plates to choose from. We’ll also explain the sights and sounds of the typical “tachinomi”, or standing bar-restaurant. We spend 30-45 minutes here at this first restaurant (closer to 45 if we sit down, which we almost always do).
The old, riverside district of Ponto-cho (street) gives us a great opportunity to discuss Kyoto food away from the Gion nightlife scene. Most restaurants specialize in a certain type of Japanese cuisine, and we just love explaining them to our guests! We’ll also swing through the Kiyamachi and Kawaramachi areas before heading to our next restaurant. This walk will take around 30 minutes.
No Kyoto foodie night tour would be complete with just one restaurant stop, so we’ll visit yet another of our favorite Kyoto restaurants. There will be more tasty dishes for your culinary consideration and, of course, another (included) drink in accompaniment. Plan for about 30 minutes here.
By the end of our time together, it is our sincere hope that you will have learned a bit about the past, felt like a local, and had a fantastic night of it all.
There are a few things we’d like you to take note of before joining us.
Inclusions:
Exclusions:
Options:
Solo Travelers:
In order to keep our pricing as low as possible, we aim to never charge more for solo travelers. However, if the minimum of 2 guests is not met for this tour we will offer you as a solo traveler one of the following 3 options.
This tour starts just outside a famous Kabuki theater (Minamiza), making meeting up an anxiety-free experience. Detailed meeting spot information provided after booking.
We've got around a dozen guides at your service. Here we showcase a few of our most active ones.
Not profiled here are guides who speak Spanish (Kyoto, in addition to Dan in Osaka), French (Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo), and German (Kyoto and Tokyo).
We'll start the tour alongside the river, conveniently located on the cusp of the Gion.
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