Tours in Kobe/Kyoto

[cinci4u]

Hi,

We will be docking in Kobe for about 10 hours and we are looking for suggestions for tours preferably in Kyoto with transportation to and from the ship.

Will we be able to spend enough time in Kyoto and make sure we make it back to our ship before it departs?  If Kyoto does not work, what other tours/locations would you suggest?  We prefer private group tours.  However, if needed we will take a cruise sponsored tour.

Thank you,

Bryan and Terri

 

[ebslcc]

16 hours ago, cinci4u said:

Hi,

We will be docking in Kobe for about 10 hours and we are looking for suggestions for tours preferably in Kyoto with transportation to and from the ship.

Will we be able to spend enough time in Kyoto and make sure we make it back to our ship before it departs?  If Kyoto does not work, what other tours/locations would you suggest?  We prefer private group tours.  However, if needed we will take a cruise sponsored tour.

Thank you,

Bryan and Terri

 

With only 10 hours in port I would not venture out to Kyoto on your own (definitely not!!!) or on a non cruise line excursion.  IMHO it is too risky.  You really only have at most 9 hours since you will not be able to get off the ship right on the dot and there is the earlier than sail time "all aboard".  Osaka is much closer than Kobe perhaps others who has been there or is more familiar with Kyoto and Osaka can give you better recommendations.  Looking through the cruise sponsor tours first and seeing what may interest you would be a good start.  You can also look through old posts on this board to see what others experienced and see if you want to do the same.  Go to this post and scroll down to see my Kobe DIY plan. I will post a trip report sometime in the future. 

 

Laurence

[cinci4u]

Laurence,

Thank you so much for the information.

Bryan and Terri

[BruceMuzz]

If you speak Japanese and / or are familiar with the Kansai area, what you are proposing to do would be easy. Since you probably do not speak the language, nor know the area, play it safe this time with a ship-sponsored tour. You can have a relaxed tour, knowing you are guaranteed to get back to the ship.

[cinci4u]

17 hours ago, BruceMuzz said:

If you speak Japanese and / or are familiar with the Kansai area, what you are proposing to do would be easy. Since you probably do not speak the language, nor know the area, play it safe this time with a ship-sponsored tour. You can have a relaxed tour, knowing you are guaranteed to get back to the ship.

Yes, I would agree with you that is best to do a ship-sponsored tour since we are limited on time.  Thanks for everyone's help.

Bryan and Terri