Top 6 Best Rated Kyoto Cycling Tours

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Bike Tour Exploring North Kyoto

Rating:  5/5 Stars

Duration: 5-6 hours

Overview

Currently the highest-rated cycling tour on the Viator website with over 730 5 star reviews.

As its title suggest, this tour provides the opportunity to explore the northern parts of Kyoto by bike. Your local guide will make sure you don’t get lost (always reassuring!), and will show you to back alleys and hidden corners that you might otherwise completely miss.

Of course, you'll also get to see some of Kyoto's most famous attractions, so you won't miss out on those. Cycle on a comfortable bike, pausing for an authentic Japanese lunch, fueled up and ready for the afternoon stint.

What's Included

Customer Review

Is This Tour For You?

The day itinerary (and price) includes entry to Shinto Shrines and Buddhist Temples along the way, including the magnificent Kinkakuji Temple, aka The Golden Pavilion. 

Real Kyoto on Bike: Cycle Along the Ancient Canals

Rating:  4.5/5 Stars

Duration: 3 hours

Overview

Pedal through the historic streets of Kyoto as you visit its magnificent temples and shrines by bike during this small-group tour limited to nine participants.

Take a spin down the Path of Philosophy on a tour that gives you an overview of the city while using a mode of transport preferred by locals: the humble bicycle. See shrines, temples and mountains - this is an enlightening escape from the hustle and bustle of the city centre.

What's Included

Customer Review

Is This Tour For You?

Takes in several of my favourite spots in Kyoto, including Kyoto Station (where the tour starts and finishes), the Kamo River, Heian Jingu Shrine, Nanzen-ji Temple and the Philosopher's Walk.

Hidden Kyoto E-Biking Tour

Rating:  5/5 Stars

Duration: 3 hours 30 minutes

Overview

Cycle past a mix of Kyoto’s most-famous sights and its lesser-known 'secret' spots during this half-day Hidden Kyoto e-bike tour.

Take an 8km (4.9-mile) ride that starts by winding past iconic Kyoto temples and shrines like Kinkakuji, Koto-in, and Kitano Tenmagu.

You’ll continue ‘off the beaten path,’ discovering intimate Zen gardens and charming backstreets known only to the locals. It's a chance to see of the city’s more intimate spaces, lesser-known side streets and quiet gardens

This is a safe and easy ride suitable for all fitness levels and anyone over age 13, and is the perfect chance to ‘go beyond your guidebook’.

What's Included

Customer Review

Is This Tour For You?

Customer reviews frequently praise how informative and knowledgeable the English-speaking guides are on this tour, saying that it gave them the chance to see and learn about 'hidden' spots they would otherwise not known about and missed. 

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Beauty of Kyoto Small Group Tour

Rating:  5/5 Stars
Duration: 5 hours 30 minutes

Overview

Discover the beauty of Kyoto on this 'highlights' tour that has over 190 5 star reviews.

Cover a lot of ground while getting an intimate perspective of Kyoto on this fun bicycle tour.

Avoid the risk of getting lost in this busy city with maze-like lanes when you tour with a guide and a small group of no more than six. Along the way you'll learn about Kyoto’s history and culture as you cycle past geisha houses, Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, and through the old parts of town.

Ideal for families, first-timers to Kyoto, or those who want to 'check off' several of Kyoto's best-known sights in a single day.

What's Included

Customer Review

Is This Tour For You?

The praise from reviewers for the tour guides at this company is second to none, showing that the staff not only must love their jobs but can clearly convey that to their customers by providing top service and assistance.

5 Top Highlights of Kyoto Tour

Rating:  5/5 Stars
Duration: 7-8 hours

Overview

Kyoto’s traditional neighborhoods and scenic parklands are ideal for exploring by bike, and at 40km (25mi), this is the longest Kyoto cycling tour route included here, taking between 7-8 hours to complete. So not one for the faint-hearted or those short on time.

This tour around the city focuses on visiting five of Kyoto’s most popular attractions in one day. 

Enjoy stunning views of the Golden Pavilion and views over Kyoto from the magnificent Kiyomizudera Temple; pose for photos by the red torii gates of Fushimi Inari Shrine. Hop off to stroll around Arashiyama, Kyoto's bamboo forest and explore Gion - Kyoto's world-famous geisha district.

Only the active and energetic should book this one.

What's Included

Customer Review

Is This Tour For You?

This tour will take some effort as it covers around 40km (25 miles) across a day lasting 7-8 hours, but the company is up front about that, ensuring only those up for the challenge book this one. The customers reviews reflect their candor with almost 100% 5-star reviews.

Arashiyama Bamboo Forest Bike Tour (Early Bird)

Rating:  5/5 Stars
Duration: 3-4 hours

Overview

This cleverly conceived tour currently has over 100 reviews and (at the time of writing) they're ALL 5-star rated!

Kyoto's Arashiyama bamboo forest is one of the city's most visited sites but you can avoid the worst of the crowds by joining this early morning bicycle tour. Enjoy the forest and temples at their most serene and also venture to a few off-the-beaten-path spots nearby.

Your tour is carved out with a perfect balance of serene temples, rural landscapes, and iconic views of Kyoto’s old country. You will begin with a meet up at the rendezvous point at 07:40 prior to an 08:00 scheduled departure on a multi-speed Cannondale bicycle.

This meeting point for this activity starts at Saga-Arashiyama Station, in Kyoto's Ukyo Ward, and returns back there at the end of the tour.

What's Included

Customer Review

Is This Tour For You?

What an excellent idea! Kyoto's Arashiyama bamboo forest is world-famous and that attracts BIG crowds. Cycling to the location early in the day is a great way to beat the worst of those crowds and bag a few 'me alone in the forest' selfies.

You Might Also Like: An Expert Online Tour of Takayama's Merchant Quarter

SLACKER'S BONUS! Kyoto Rickshaw Tour

Rating:  5/5 Stars
Duration: 30 minutes to 3 hours

Overview

For those who don't much fancy all that cycling, take the easy option with this bonus tour and let someone else do all the hard work instead!

Step into an authentic Japanese rickshaw for the ride of a lifetime, through some of the most scenic and historic districts in Kyoto, Japan's former capital.

You have the option of exploring the verdant bamboo grove and impressive shrines of west Kyoto’s Arashiyama district or the intriguing wooden buildings and stone alleys (maybe even spotting a geisha or two) in Kyoto’s famed Higashiyama area, all with a knowledgeable local guide and rickshaw driver.

This authentic, customizable Kyoto adventure is a fun introduction to a beautiful city.

What's Included

Customer Review

Is This Tour For You?

Maybe after reading all those cycling options you realised, actually, I'd much rather see all those wonderful sights but without all the effort? I knew some of you would, which is why I had to include this fun (aka slacker's) alternative. 😉 

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