Kyoto tour guide - recommendations?
 

So, after much searching and nary a word on Fodor's about Kyoto tour guides, I'm reaching out to find some help so we can secure one for our 5 days there in April.

After months of research and asking friends, we finally got a supposedly fantastic recommendation for a Kyoto guide--one from a friend who had used a high-end tour company and personally knew the tour guide that company used directly. So I contacted her and all seemed fantastic (great unique proposals, very in-tune to our needs) but after weeks of correspondence back and forth we finally got her price: $600/day. I nearly fainted. That's not happening.

So I wonder if anyone can recommend someone they've used. Or do you think that our best bet is going directly through our hotel in Kyoto (Hyatt) to find someone? There's so much we're looking forward to seeing in Kyoto and I really would love to have the history and context behind some of the things we're seeing as opposed to just blindly walking around. That, and the ability to take a day trip to Nara with a guide/driver would absolutely be a plus.

I think ANYTHING other than what we're looking at would be considered a deal...even through the hotel directly (which I know is always overpriced to being with.)

Hoping someone has a great recommendation for us.

Goodwill Guides are free. The price you were quoted is the gOing rate for a paid private guide, and doesn't even include transportation usually. Most people don't use a guide at all.

Thanks, Kim. Am I crazy to think that it's beneficial to have some context around the temples and sites...and to have the benefit of being able to cover more ground with a driver/guide?

Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way...?

BTW, what, exactly, is a Goodwill Guide?

A driver in Kyoto would be a burden. Parking is limited. Traffic is terrible. Hop in a taxi if you want, but don't pay a driver for the day (which would be about ¥30,000 for 8 hours, at least). Buses are ok, but also suffer from congestion, both traffic and passengers. Subway can get you around to some places. We find we drive to Kyoto from Kanazawa, and park until we leave or go somewhere out of the main city area. We tend to use taxis. With 4 of you, 2 taxis will be better, but 1 is ok. The fare is not like Thailand, but it won't add up to the cost of a driver for the day.

To Nara, take the train. Kintetsu line gets you closer to the temples and deer park than JR. Use taxis there too, if you don't like walking.

Goodwill guides are volunteers. Most of them are retired people who want to practice English. They do have some training, and it is a crapshoot whether you'll hit it off or not and whether they'll be good or not. Isn't it always though? You can reserve them ahead, in fact, you need to. I don't have a handy link and I'm short on time, so just google and you'll find them.

I suppose context around sites is a good thing. We get it from the excellent Japanese language magazines that map out walking routes and provide photos and explanation. It's a shame no one has picked p on this idea in English. Hmmm...

Depending on your energy level and how long you tend to hang out in one place, you might see between 2 and 5 places per day. For us, we are slow. We spend 1/2 a day at Kiyomizu alone, and another 1/2 day at Nijojo. 2 days in Arashiyama. Others, they pack it in. Depends on you. If you breeze through a place, rest assured there will be a slew of taxis waiting to take you to your next destination. There is a gross oversupply, except when it is pouring rain.

Is Johnny Hillwalker still doing tours?

You mean this Lucy?

http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/h-s-love/

How funny--I was just Googling tour guides and that site came up. Looks like the also offer private tours for a much more reasonable price.

I assume Johnny is a company and not a person? Have you had first-hand experience?

Johnnie is the person pictured in the website. I did his walking tour when I was in Kyoto in 2006 - it was extremely informative and pretty much off the beaten path and explained a lot about the city. I read somewhere that he doesn't do it himself all the time anymore as he is up in years....

it seems to me Johnnie-san seem to love some odd places.
basically, i would not go south of Gojo street, such as the kyoto station area.

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-503.pdf
i think this "Kyoto Walks" map by JNTO is relatively well written. you would be able to walk without a tour guide.

just my two yen, as a northern Higashiyama local.

Filmwill, I've never gone with him, but know several others who just loved his tours. Haven't heard from anyone who's gone recently though. We would have booked him, but just never seemed to have enough time!

I am a HUGE fan of Kodansha Publishing's guide books;

http://www.kodansha-intl.com/categories/travel/

<i>Japan Solo</i> (all of Japan) and <i>Kyoto; Seven paths to the City </i> are really all you need to self guide yourself. These are not books full of hotels and restaurants, but more to guide you around once you get there.

Unfortunately, their very best book <i> Gateway to Japan</i> is now out of print. I write them about once a year begging them to update it. The sections on history, culture, food, religion, architecture, etc., are incredible.

We had a volunteer guide a couple of years ago and she was excellent. You just have to pay for her transport costs. We also paid for her meals and I brought her a gift.

Here is a site with some of the Goodwill Guides listed and a brief explanation. Press the "List of volunteer guide" link:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/es...deservice.html

Johnny H now does only two days a week with a travel agency taking over for him and doing the rest of the days.

Kodansha books are really good and an used copy of <i>Gateway to Japan</i> on Amazon.com can go for over $100.00 US but have also seen them for cheap.....

Aloha!

An excellent book for Kyoto is Kyoto, A Cultural Guide by John H. and Phyllis G. Martin. It describes many sights in great detail and is available on amazon.

Filmwill: Johnny is a Kyoto classic..be sure to take his walk when he's available. We just showed up at the JR station and met with Johnny and about 15 tourists..he lines us up against the wall, counts heads, and collects the 2000 yen.

<b>Heeeeeres, Johnny!</b>
http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/MoreKyoto#

also recommend a 40-minute bus ride thru the rural countryside to the scenic Miho Museum (IM Pei). It sure is a different wooded setting.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...hoMuseumIMPei#


some random pics of the city...
http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...ndOtherScenes#

I strolled the empty streets of Kyoto 65 years ago as a furloughed GI...the city had been spared any bombing out of respect for the shrines and its history. Not a tourist in sight of course....just a bunch of young teenaged GI's. Finally went back in '07.

stu tower L.A.