Bamboo & Gold Kyoto

  We organised this tour after successfully using Backstreet Guides 7 years ago on our first trip to Japan. Our gorgeous guide Mayu came and met us at out hotel in... read more Shinjuku on our first day in Tokyo... she was fantastic - we had arranged in advance what we would like to see with our 2 kids (10 and 14) as we had been to Japan before - she took us straight to the subway and helped us organise our pasmo cards - we then spent the morning at Tsikuji markets, walked through Ginza to Asakusa temple, had lunch in a great Ramen join near the temple, went on to Akihabara and then navigated us back to our hotel in the late afternoon. She had perfect English from her time in Australia and perfectly gauged the interest level of our family so we had plenty of information without being bombarded with too much info. The kids enjoyed having a local person to question and talk to about our differences in culture etc. It was a perfect way to start our 9 days in Japan as it gave us the confidence to navigate on our own. Backstreet Guides also organised our Sumo tickets and Baseball tickets which we thoroughly enjoyed and had a bit of drama getting organised online. Id highly recommend this company and use them again!

  Exceptional Tokyo Experience with Backstreet Guides and Rie  - Our experience with Backstreet Guides was absolutely perfect. Planning our trip was really fun thanks to Hiroko, who helped us craft a thoughtful two-day itinerary: she made sure everything flowed... read more well in terms of travel distances and incorporated all the special stops we wanted to include. Her attention to detail made a huge difference and it was incredibly rewarding to see it all come to life during our visit.

Our guide Rie was phenomenal! She is a true professional who brought so much knowledge, energy, and joy to our time in Tokyo. Her historical context added so much meaning to every place we visited, and she always knew the most efficient ways to navigate the city. Rie is also a fantastic photographer! She knew exactly how to pose us to capture the perfect shot every time (a huge bonus we hadn’t expected!). What we really appreciated was how she was able to adapt our itinerary on the fly. Whether we wanted to spend more time somewhere or make a spontaneous change, Rie was always flexible and made it all feel seamless.

Rie and the Backstreet Guides made our Tokyo experience truly unforgettable!

  Fantastic day tour of Tokyo with Junko from Backstreet Guides  - Fantastic tour of Kyoto with Junko. She was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and took us through all the major sights of Kyoto AND encouraged us to take fun detours along the... read more way. Having a private guide like Junko was perfect - much better than the giant tours swarming Kyoto.

  Great, busy day  - We had a fabulous, fun filled day with Seiko along with lots of laughter and jokes. She met us promptly at the port and off we went on a... read more train and subway to see the main sights of Tokyo. She was very knowledgeable and customized the tour to fit our needs even making a slight change during the day to adapt for us. Be prepared for lots of walking, lots of steps and lots of subways-but it was actually what we were prepared for even some rain. Would highly recommend her and the tour to anyone!

  Terrific time in Tokyo  - We had a very enjoyable day touring Tokyo and seeing the sights we requested plus a few others recommended by our guide, Rei. The restaurant she chose for lunch... read more was excellent and both Rei and our driver were very helpful and accommodating for the older members in our group. It was a great experience we won’t forget!

  10/10 once in a lifetime experience!! - This tour was incredible, and Hitomi, along with our driver, made the experience unforgettable! There’s no way we could have seen as much or appreciated the sights as deeply without... read more them. It was truly the highlight of our trip — we can’t recommend it highly enough!

  Highly recommend this tour with Rie! - Rie was an excellent guide. Besides her knowledge about the sites visited, we learned a lot about Tokyo’s history. Highly recommend!

  The Backstreet Guides worked with me to create a one day tour for my husband, 8 year old son and myself. We covered a lot of ground starting at 9am.... read more Our guide was Mayu. She was friendly, spoke excellent English, and was able to engage my son throughout the day. It helps that our guide has boys of her own- so she understands kids! In addition to walking, we used the subway system (which my son enjoys). She helped explain certain customs and culturally signifcant parts. It was a very enjoyable day!

She recommended a great Udon noodles place for dinner and also helped me brainstorm some ideas on where to take my son the following day.

  We took the Group Tokyo Night Tour on our first evening in Tokyo having landed early that day. It was the perfect way to get over our jet lag... read more as it got us out and about walking (we walked a lot (!) which was great). Mayu was a brilliant guide - she is super friendly, very knowledgeable and has excellent English. Our group was only ourselves and one other couple - I imagine with a bigger group it might feel a bit chaotic. Maya took us to all the “classic” Tokyo sights in Harajuku, Shinjuku and Shibuya. The only thing I would maybe have changed was that where the tour finished in Roppongi didn’t seem particularly interesting. Though that may have been because by that time we were tired.
The next day we took a private morning tour with Mayu where we visited sights on the eastern side of the city, imperial palace, tsukiji market etc. Again Mayu was brilliant - we especially enjoyed seeing the market with her as if we’d gone by ourselves we probably wouldn’t have tasted as many foods or even understood what they were! All in all the two tours really set us up for the rest of our time exploring Tokyo on our own, and I think they were great value.

  Rie was awesome. Patient and great with my kids and made it a terrific experience for first timers to Tokyo.  - Rie was awesome. Patient and great with my kids and made it a terrific experience for first timers to Tokyo. We didn’t know what to expect, but she took care... read more of everything and helped to navigate the city with ease. Wonderful learning experience for all.