Kochi Highlights Tour | Omakase Tour

Kochi Highlights Private Day Tour with local guide

A full day across Kochi with a local guide: the castle, Hirome Market, Makino Botanical Garden, and the five-story pagoda of Chikurin-ji.

Overview

Kochi sits on the Pacific coast of Shikoku, away from the main tourist routes and still moving at its own pace. A historic castle, a covered food hall built around forty small restaurants, a botanical garden on a quiet summit, and one of Tosa's great temples: six and a half hours are enough to cover Kochi's centre with a local guide and the town's own rhythm. This is rural Japan at full scale, and the day is built around it.

Your guide meets you at your hotel in Kochi city and stays with you through the day, using public transport (bus and tram) with a one-day ticket and leaving space to linger where something catches your attention. Lunch is at Hirome Market: try the seared katsuo no tataki, a Kochi specialty, with salt and sliced garlic as the locals do. An unhurried, conversational look at one of Japan's least crowded prefectures, led by someone who lives there.

Details

❖ Hotel Pick-up

Your guide meets you either at your Kochi city hotel lobby or at the Harimayabashi Tourist Bus Terminal at the scheduled start time. A short briefing on the day ahead, then on to the castle on foot or by tram.

❖ Kochi Castle

1 h 30 min

Also known as "the best castle on the Nankaido," Kochi Castle is one of only twelve pre-Edo castles still standing in Japan and the symbol of the city. The current main tower was rebuilt in August 1747 and, unusually, served not just as a military fortification but also as the residence of the Tosa lords. From the top floor the whole of Kochi opens up under the coastal hills.

❖ Hirome Market (Lunch)

50 min

Next to the castle, a covered hall gathers around forty food stalls, souvenir shops, and local producers. Lunch here is built around katsuo no tataki, Kochi's seared bonito, typically eaten with salt and a slice of raw garlic. Your guide points out the stands worth trying and orders with you. On Wednesdays, when Hirome Market is closed, the lunch venue is substituted with a nearby local restaurant of similar style.

Boarding time of bus to Makino Botanical Garden:

11:53 (Harimaya Bridge) → 12:12 (Makino Botanical Garden)

12:53 (Harimaya Bridge) → 13:12 (Makino Botanical Garden)

❖ Makino Botanical Garden

1 h 15 min

A short bus ride from the centre, the garden sits on the summit of Mt. Godaiyama and was opened in 1958 in honour of Tomitaro Makino, the Kochi-born botanist known as the father of Japanese plant taxonomy. Approximately six hectares of landscaped paths hold around 3,000 species of plants and trees, changing with the seasons, in one of Japan's leading integrated botanical gardens.

❖ Chikurin-ji Temple

25 min

Adjacent to the botanical garden, Chikurin-ji is one of Tosa's great temples and the thirty-first stop on the Shikoku 88 pilgrimage. Built up by the devotion of the Tosa lord and joined over centuries by monk disciples, the temple became the centre of Tosa culture and a renowned study temple. The five-story pagoda in the precinct is the only one in Kochi prefecture and holds stupas brought from Bodh Gaya in India. A principal Buddha, considered secret, is shown to the public only once every fifty years.

Boarding time of bus to Harimaya Bridge:

15:01 (Chikurin-ji Temple) → 15:19 (Harimaya Bridge)

❖ Hotel Drop-off

Your guide accompanies you back to your Kochi city hotel at the end of the tour .

OPTIONS

Notes

The itinerary can be adjusted to your preferences (pacing, optional stops, lunch choice). Flexible start time between 08:00 and 10:00.
Hotel pick-up is included within Kochi city. For hotels outside Kochi city, please contact us in advance.
On Wednesdays, Hirome Market is closed and the lunch venue is substituted with a nearby local restaurant of similar style.
Cruise passengers: please confirm with the cruise staff whether the shuttle bus from the port to Harimayabashi Bus Terminal is provided free of charge.
Cruise passengers: drop-off at Harimayabashi Bus Terminal must be scheduled at least 1 hour 30 minutes before cruise departure time. Direct port drop-off, at least 1 hour before cruise departure, is available with the Private Car for the Whole Tour add-on.
The Private Car for the Whole Tour upgrade provides a chartered car for the full duration of the tour, with pick-up and drop-off from either a hotel in Kochi City or directly from the cruise port. Capacity up to 8 guests plus 1 guide. When this option is selected, cruise passengers should choose "Kochi Port" instead of a hotel name in the pickup location field.

Meeting Point

Hotel pick-up & drop-off (within Kochi city) - default meeting point.
Harimayabashi Tourist Bus Terminal - required meeting point for cruise passengers. The cruise arrival time varies; please allow approximately 1 hour from cruise disembarkation to the Bus Terminal (about 30 minutes from cruise arrival to guest disembarkation, plus a 20-minute shuttle bus to Harimayabashi). Please confirm with the cruise staff whether the shuttle bus is provided free of charge.
Cruise drop-off timing - the standard drop-off at Harimayabashi Bus Terminal is at least 1 hour 30 minutes before cruise departure time.
With the Private Car for the Whole Tour add-on, guests can be returned directly to the cruise port at least 1 hour before cruise departure time.

What's included:

English-speaking guide
Hotel pick-up & drop-off (within Kochi city, by public transportation)
One-day bus and tram ticket
Entrance fees
Photos of tour participants
Tax

What's not included:

Food & drinks (including lunch)
Private transportation between tour sites
Cruise port pick-up & drop-off
Shuttle bus from the cruise port to Harimayabashi Bus Terminal (when not provided free of charge by the cruise line)