All Iya Tour

A comprehensive tour of our amazing valley

Understandably, our most popular tour

For those who want our advice for a complete Iya Valley tour, then this is it. On this special course one of our English speaking local guides explains every part of Iya including local life, customs, culture, and history. We will take you along the original Iya road through Manpu Gorge and its breath-taking footbridge, and your guide will lead you on a special in-depth walk upon the ancient paths of Ochiai Village where you'll also have an inside tour of a historic thatched-roof farmhouse.

You will also go to the historic home of Iya former ruling Samurai for a personalized tour, walk through the hauntingly unique Scarecrow Village with a chance to meet the artist, go out to the tranquil Double Vine Bridges which are by far everyone's favorite, and stop at various viewpoints along the way including Iyakei Gorge's famous Peeing Boy Statue.

We will also stop for great lunch at a Iya-style restaurant, either for some hand-made soba noodles and other Iya treats, or to a local place that is known for its fresh vegetables and range of dishes, including some with wild game hunted by the owner. For sure, this is a thoroughly satisfying and comprehensive tour of the Iya Valley, and you are sure to enjoy!

Base Time:

7 hours

Not available on Wednesdays.
Includes pick-up and drop-off from any Iya Valley or Oboke area accommodation and/or via JR Oboke Station. Pick-up or drop-off elsewhere also possible, just let us know.
This tour typically lasts about 7 hours, but it can be reduced a bit if needing to catch a particular departing train from Oboke Station. Just let us know.
If going both ways via the Oboke area then it may not be possible to include the Peeing Boy Statue due to time constraints.
Add On sights possible, see below.
In winter (December 1 to March 31) the Samurai House is closed so we will visit the Iya History Museum instead. And the Double Vine Bridge may not be accessible due to winter road conditions, so we may go to the main Kazurabashi Vine Bridge instead.

Price:

Standard Taxi (1-3* people) ¥ 63,800

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Jumbo Taxi (3-8 people) ¥ 82,700

with groups of 4 or more, please see the box below.

This is total price per private group (not per person)
All prices include tax
Includes vehicle, driver, and English speaking local guide
3 people in Standard Taxi is only recommended if 3rd person is a child or you are 3 small adults.
Meal fees not included (see below about options)
Please pay your guide's lunch fee (about ¥900-1500)
Entrance fees not included (¥550/person Double Vine Bridges, ¥320/person Samurai House. Children are discounted)

Peeing Boy in Iyakei Gorge

Visual odyssey across continents

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Historic Iya House

Stark beauty of desolate dunes

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Scarecrow Village

Portraits of people from around the globe

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Double Vine Bridges

Breathtaking colors of our planet

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Itinerary (fixed route) :

Pick-up from any local accommodation or JR Oboke Station
Iyakei Gorge Viewpoints (Hi-no-Ji Bend, Peeing Boy Statue*)
Ryugugake Park and Manpu Gorge Wire Bridge
Historic Iya Samurai House
Local Lunch (options explained below)
Traditional Ochiai Village Walking Tour
Nagaoka-ke Historic House
Scarecrow Village Walk
Oku-Iya Double Vine Bridges**
Ochiai Village Viewpoint
Drop-off at any local accommodation or JR Oboke Station

* If going both ways (starting and finishing) via the Oboke area, we can visit the Hi-no-Ji Bend Viewpoint but will probably not be able to include the Peeing Boy Statue due to the extra time needed for going both ways via Oboke. If you would like to include the Peeing Boy Statue, then we will either need to reduce the time at other spots, or increase the tour time by an extra 30 minutes (so 7.5 hours total). The Oboke area includes Oboke Station, Hotel Obokekyo Mannaka, and SunRiver Oboke Hotel.

** From Dec 1 to March 31 the Double Vine Bridges may not be accessible due to winter road conditions closed, so we will go to the main Kazurabashi Vine Bridge instead if it is not possible to go there.

Details About this Tour
- This is a Fixed Route Tour. If you would like to change the locations for this itinerary, please see one of our Custom Tours.
- From Dec 1 to March 31 the Double Vine Bridges and the Samurai House are closed, so we will go to the main Kazurabashi Vine Bridge and the Iya History Museum instead.
- This tour can start anytime between 8:00am and 11:00am.
- We are generally not available for this tour on any Wednesday.
- Pick-up and drop-off can be from any local accommodation or JR Oboke Station. Other locations that are not in Iya or Oboke can also be arranged but may include an additional fee and require extra time.
- We ask to please pay your guide's lunch fee (approx 900 -1500 yen. Details explained in "Lunch Options" below.)
- On heavy rain days, it may not be possible to walk through some places such as Ochiai Village (but we will provide umbrellas), so we will just tour these places by car and extend time at other points. Also, the guide and driver will do their best to accommodate anyone who may be physically unable to handle the walking tours.
Lunch Options
- On this tour we have a few restaurant options, often based on the day of the week (not all locations are open every day). These locations include a couple hand-made Iya soba noodle restaurants, or a local restaurant which has a variety of fresh dishes including wild game (deer) as well as soba noodles. Vegetarian is possible at any place (but please understand about the often unchangable use of dashi whether here or anywhere in Japan). Meal prices typically range from about 900 to 1500 per person at all places, but could be a bit more if looking to have large set or special side dishes.
- Also, we ask that you please pay your guide's meal fee for lunch at any restaurant.

For Groups of 4 or More People

We always aim for you to have the most enjoyable time possible, and with groups of 4 or more people, we often tend to move through the sights and have lunch a bit slower than usual, so it may be better to add an additional 30 minutes to the tour time, especially if going via the Oboke area and/or Hotel Iya Onsen. With the Jumbo Taxi for such groups, the extended 30 minutes would be 5,900 yen extra, so the total fee for the 7.5 hour tour would be 88,600 yen. We will explain more after contacting via email.

+Add On options for this tour:

Though the All Iya Tour is already pretty thorough, we can Add On some additional points to this tour to make it even more fantastic!

Rates for every 30 minutes of extension:

Standard Taxi with guide + ¥4600

Jumbo Taxi with guide + ¥5900

*these extension fees are per group, not per person.