5 Nature Bike Tours in Japan Worth Booking

1.Arashiyama Bamboo Forest & Hidden Gems Bike Tour (Early Bird)

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 613 reviews · from $106Our pick

Start at 8 a.m. near Saga-Arashiyama Station for a private 3 to 4-hour ride with an English-speaking guide such as Rob, Milo, Yuki, or Ray. You’ll walk through the bamboo forest, visit Tenryu-ji, pedal quiet lanes and rice fields, and finish at Togetsukyo Bridge on a standard Cannondale bike.

“The best thing about this tour is your tour guide. Rob is an interesting, witty and caring person who is anxious to share his keen insights into various aspects of Japanese culture, religion and history. He makes the ride so much more than a pRead more”

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2.Afternoon Kyoto Bike Tour: Bamboo Forest, Monkeys & Hidden Spots

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 283 reviews · from $106

Ride standard Cannondale city bikes from Saga-Arashiyama Station with an English-speaking guide such as Yuki, Ray, Peter, or Rob. This four-hour afternoon tour combines Iwatayama Monkey Park, the Bamboo Forest, Tenryu-ji Garden, Togetsukyo Bridge, local lanes, and plenty of photo stops.

“Our tour guide was great and gave us lots of interesting facts as we ride through the town! We could have never done this on our own!”

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3.Arashiyama Bamboo Forest E-Biking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 183 reviews · from $116

This four-hour Kyoto ride uses electric bikes to link Arashiyama’s bamboo grove with Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, Tōji-in, temple lanes, and rural roads. Guides including Yuta, Michael, Sean, and Henry lead groups of up to eight, with bikes, helmets, temple fees, and snacks included.

“I had a great time, however I haven’t biked in years so this really hurt my butt! lol. The biking was made easier since it was an ebike, but I will say I got unlucky with a bad battery and my bike died as I was going up the steepest hill XD I’ll also give the heads up, their bikes mainly accommodate people taller than me, I’m 5’0 (150cm) and struggling to stop n stand. Overall though, a beautiful view of Kyoto you wouldn’t normally get from just wandering the city!”

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4.Arashiyama Bamboo Forest Morning Tour by Bike

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 115 reviews · 3h 30m · from $103Best value

Join an English-speaking guide such as Ray, Rob, Milo, Yuki, or Peter for a 3.5-hour morning bike tour through Arashiyama. Ride to the bamboo forest, Togetsukyo Bridge, Tenryuji gardens, small shrines, temples, rice fields, and quiet residential lanes. Bikes, helmets, water, and admission fees are included.

“Excellent knowledge and communication with all of the group about the interesting history aspects throughout the tour. Much more than a bike tour - very worthwhile”

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5.Afternoon Bamboo Forest and Monkey Park Bike Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 83 reviews · 4 hours · from $106

Ride with an English-speaking guide such as Yuki, Ray, Peter, or Rob through Arashiyama’s bamboo groves, quiet back roads, Tenryuji’s Zen gardens, and Togetsukyo Bridge. The four-hour tour includes a bicycle, helmet, water, and admission fees, plus a 20-minute uphill hike to Monkey Park.

“The entire tour was amazing!! Yuki was our guide and he was incredible. He really made sure we all had a great time. He was very friendly and informative (and told interesting stories - not just boring facts). He was generous with his time (not rushing us when we were all enjoying ourselves with the monkeys). Our favourite part was definitely the monkey forest, but we all really enjoyed the temples we visited. Riding through the quaint towns was fun and super easy too. We all agreed it was one of our highlights of our time in Kyoto. I can highly recommend this tour.”

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