Experience Food tours in the best of
Kyoto with Withlocals

"Ryuki was so fun and knowledgeable. He took us places we wouldn’t have seen in Kyoto and had us try food we never would have thought to order on our own. Yummy! Definitely a must do. Yuki is the best!"

"Our group of four agree we could not have been in better hands. Maha was an absolute pleasure for two days exploring Kyoto. She was upbeat and knowledgeable. And our time together went way beyond the usual tour experience. I mean when’s the last time you engaged in metaphysical discussion with a tour guide? We clicked immediately, sharing thoughts and feelings about lifestyle and politics. She offered plenty of perspective on the history and culture. We bonded. And man did we eat well. A wonderful time. Do yourself a favor and book Maha. "

"Ted is an absolute treasure and we highly recommend him. He showed us stalls in Nishiki Markets that we would never have found or tried if we were by ourselves. Everything from freshly cooked rice crackers to fugu (puffer fish sashimi) with quail egg stuffed baby octopus, foot long tempura prawns, wagyu beef nigiri to deep fried ice cream. With enormous local oysters, octopus balls (an Osaka specialty), beef gyoza, multiple spice mixes and sake thrown in. On top of that he was punctual, funny, very informative and very flexible - he made suggestions but if we said 'no thanks' or 'what about that instead?' it was all good. A wonderful morning - and go hungry :)"

"Eiji was an excellent guide with amazing knowledge. He explained the market and we had tastings from long term tenants. After a number of tastings we explored the geisha area. Eiji took many photos of us enjoying ourselves. We were very lucky to see many trees in blossom."

"Thanks to Ted we had a great experience tasting Japanese street foods. He shared so many unique foods with us. "

"Our family of four spent half a day with Ryuki and couldn’t be more pleased. He took us to just the right places, hidden ramen gems and busy street food stalls that we wouldn’t have found on our own, and he was very in tune with what we wanted. He told us about the history of Kyoto and helped us plan the rest of our stay with suggestions about everything from shrines to sushi. We highly recommend him! "

"Our group of 3 adults and 3 teens did the Nishiki Market food tour with Tiro and everyone agreed it was a highlight of Kyoto. Tiro was fun, knowledgeable, and very engaging. We enjoyed talking with him not only about Kyoto and the food but also just enjoyed conversing with him. He even took us to a shrine afterward and gave us some insight into the significance of shrines. I highly recommend. "

"We couldn’t have been more happy and pleased about our experience. It was an absolute pleasure to meet Eiji. His knowledge about the city from the little things to the big things really helped us get acquainted with Kyoto and definitely makes us want to come back. We so appreciate the time you spent with us and we can heartily recommend him to anyone else who needs a great guide."

"Yoshihiro (Ted) did an amazing job of getting us through the market. He knew exactly the right spots to stop, the right things to try, and encouraged us to do lots of sampling when it was available. Ted was gracious, kind and so knowledgeable. We loved our morning. "

"Eijii was a fantastic and gracious host. We did the tour with my family of four - my wife, my 9 year old, and my 1 year old. Eijii was friendly and personable and half way through the tour, he was taking turns holding the baby, who really took a liking to him. My wife asked for us to book a food tour and it was the one thing she wanted to do in Kyoto. She was not disappointed and even my daughter, who is not normally an adventurous eater, said that it was her favorite thing we did in Kyoto. My daughter was a super good sport and promised to try everything that Eijii recommended and to be polite even if she didn’t like it. She was a champ and made good on her word. We ended up discovering that she now likes sashimi! The market is huge and there is so much to choose from, so it was nice to have a local to make recommendations and a bonus to learn about the rich history of Kyoto and the market place. I would recommend doing this tour early on in your trip so that you can get your bearings in the market and figure out what you wanna go back and try. There’s too much to see in one visit, so it was even worth it just to get a preview of the market - what kind of food they got and what kind of shopping is available. We actually finished the tour with an hour to spare. Eijii was willing to go back into the market and hit some other spots, but by the end of it we were all full and tired from a full day of walking (we were out exploring before the tour started and we lugging bags with us). I definitely recommend packing light or finding a coin locker, since you’ll have a lot of ground to cover. When we visit Kyoto again, we will definitely book Eijii for another round of exploring and food tasting. We appreciated his thoughtfulness and that he took us to family-run shops that have been there for generations. He even pointed out the “tourist traps” - businesses that don’t use authentic ingredients or had inferior quality foods. We invited Eijii to come visit us in Guam so that we could return the favor and take him out on a foodie adventure in our neck of the Pacific. "