Tokyo Private Tours

  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!

  Our KYOTO ADVENTURE with the wonderful Saki - Our Kyoto Tour was absolutely unforgettable.
Our wonderful tour guide SAKI was knowledgeable and shared fascinating historical and cultural insights that brought each site to life.
This tour gave... read more us a deep appreciation of Kyoto's traditions and hidden details we would have missed on our own.
Highly recommended for anyone visiting Kyoto for the first time.

Craig and Richard

  Tokyo half day - Great Tokyo tour from Backstreet Guides delivered by Lei . Didn’t have much time as our cruise times weren’t great but Lei filled our time with some great stops .... read more Communication was brilliant before hand we were picked up and delivered back to the ship which made the whole process very easy . Would recommend to anyone

  Historic Tokyo Tour  - Our customized trip with Rie was perfect and efficient. Rie fit a lot in for a full city tour and explained so much of the context and history. 10/10 stars.

  We completed two half day walking tours of Tokyo. We had a fabulous guide by the name of Yoko and she was fantastic. If you have not visited Japan before,... read more then this is a great way to learn about the basic customs and an excellent way to understand how the public transportation works especially the train system. Make no mistake, Tokyo is always busy so get accustomed to dealing with crowds.

Our trip was for 9 days and we had purchased a Japan Rail Pass which we did not want to activate until day 2 as we needed it for longer trips in the latter half of our stay, so she helped us purchase Pasmo travel cards (tap on and off) which can even be used on vending machines. It costs 500 Yen per card (refundable) plus whatever you need for fare costs. You need to purchase one for the guide as well. On day 2 she then helped us activate our Japan Rail Passes at Tokyo Station which was remarkably quieter than Shinjuku-Ku Station and also assisted us to book our trip to Kyoto.

We visited the outer market at Tsukiji. This was filled with traditional Japanese foods and food-related items. We then went on to Asakusa to have a look at the Buddhist Sensoji temple and then had lunch (Chicken rice bowl) at a side street restaurant. From there we traveled to Yanaka which is a suburban shopping street. We could have spent more time there however we needed to get back to our hotel for another commitment.

On day 2 we started off going to the East gardens of the Imperial Palace which stands on the site of the original Edo Castle and is home to the emperor. We then moved on to the Shinto Meiji Jingu shrine. After that we had a ramen lunch.
From there we were taken to the Harajuku and Omotesando districts. This is a crazy busy and vibrant area. We also got to visit a photo booth store where we experienced a Japanese teen hangout zone. We also asked Yoko to take us to the Shibuya Scramble which was not a problem, so don’t be afraid to tailor the trip if you need to.

This is a walking tour and you do walk a reasonable amount including traversing stairs and escalators. If you don’t enjoy walking or crowded public transportation then this trip is not for you. We however could not recommend it more highly! Thanks Yoko for your excellent knowledge and for taking care of us so well over the two days!

  Private Day Tour - Tokyo - Rie was the absolute best tour guide!! We thoroughly enjoyed our day, learned so much, and were able to partake in new and authentic experiences. Would recommend to anyone and... read more book again!

  The BEST Tokyo Guides - This was our second time booking with The Backstreet Guides. We had an amazing private tour with Rie! We were so grateful to have her with us for 3 days.... read more We found things we never would have seen, ate foods we would have missed, and shopped in spots I’m confident we couldn’t find again even now that we have the address!

Absolutely excellent! Every wish was granted. We couldn’t have hoped for anything better!

  Our guide Mayu-san met my two young adult sons and I at our Shinjuku hotel in the evening. Although I had been to Shinjuku, my sons had not and I... read more thought they'd be interested in a night-time tour of this area. We had a brief discussion as to the plan of the evening; Mayu-san took account of what we had done on our first day around Shinjuku and adjusted her itinerary for us accordingly. We started with a very short (and crowded!) train trip to Harajuku from where we walked to Shibuya and back to Shinjuku investigating all the things these areas have to offer. Mayu-san made us walk a lot and was very very informative. We stopped in Shibuya for dinner at an izakaya. I can attest my sons and I highly enjoyed their 5 hour guided tour with Mayu-san. We were very happy customers! I would certainly used Backstreet Guides again for another party of Tokyo or Japan (if they had any going). It's really a marvellous way to see the sights with a knowledgeable and friendly local.

  I had the best day. visiting Nikko dressed in its Autumn foliage- Mayu from Backstreet Guides was so organised and thankfully her English was impeccable (as my Japanese was very,... read more very limited). Mayu picked me up from my hotel and we headed via metro to the Nikko train- Mayu explained what we were doing on the day and after some obligatory photos at the train station (as the leaves of the trees were superb), we were introduced to our wonderful driver who drove us all over Nikko- showing us the best leaves and going to the magnificent Nikko Shrines and Temples as well as the countryside and the sublime views and vistas of this area. This tour was more than I had hoped for and Mayu provided information about the places we visited and the best things we should note- it was a wonderful, calm way to see this amazing area and exceeded all of my expectations!! Thank you for such a brilliant day in Nikko- I shall always remember the fun time we had.

  Great day in Tokyo  - We had a wonderful day in Tokyo on the Market & Modern Culture tour with our guide, Rie. She showed us the best spots in Tsujiki market that locals... read more prefer, taught us so much about the city, and helped us overcome the language barrier when we wanted to do a little shopping. Would highly recommend the Backstreet Guides!