Audio walking guides in Kanazawa
Photo: KimonBerlin · CC BY-SA 2.0
These are self-guided audio walks around Kanazawa. You pick a route, put one earbud in, and the guide talks you through it stop by stop — what you are looking at, and why it is there. There is no group to keep up with and no meeting time. 10 walks covering Kenroku-en, Higashi Chaya, Myōryū-ji, The 21st Century Museum, Kanazawa Castle & Oyama Shrine, The Southern Bank, The Kaga Hot Springs, Shirakawa-gō and more, 291 minutes of narration in total.
Start your free guideA free account is needed before a guide plays. Hear a minute first if you would rather try it than sign up for it.
Every walk in Kanazawa
Kenroku-en: The Garden of Six Virtues
Welcome to Kenroku-en, which Japan ranks — officially, on signboards, without embarrassment — as one of the three great gardens of the country. Its name explains its ambition:…
Higashi Chaya: The Teahouse Quarter
One step into this street and you know you are somewhere deliberate: two facing rows of dark two-storey wooden houses, every facade a rhythm of fine vertical lattice,…
Castle, Market & the Samurai Lanes
Start under the Ishikawa-mon, the white gate facing Kenroku-en, and notice its strange beauty: walls plastered snow-white, roofs gleaming a pale silver-grey unlike any other castle you have…
Myōryū-ji: The Ninja Temple
Before you go in, look up and down this street, because the street is part of the trick. You are in Teramachi, which simply means temple town, and…
The 21st Century Museum: A Circle With No Front
Walk all the way around this building before you go into it, and try to find the front. You will not. It is a glass circle, a hundred…
Gold Leaf, Silk & the Crafts of Kaga
Start with the name. Kanazawa means, more or less, marsh of gold. The story the city tells is that a poor man who dug wild potatoes for a…
Kanazawa Castle & Oyama Shrine
Start under this gate, the Ishikawa-mon, and look up at its roof, because it is doing something strange and it explains the whole personality of this castle. The…
The Southern Bank: Temples & the Other Teahouses
You are in Teramachi, which simply means temple town, and the name is not decoration: there are around seventy temples packed into these few blocks, one after another…
The Kaga Hot Springs
About an hour south of Kanazawa, still within the old Kaga domain the Maeda ruled, is a cluster of hot-spring towns that were the resorts of that wealthy…
Shirakawa-gō: The Thatched Village
You have come a long way to get here, up into a remote mountain valley a couple of hours by bus from Kanazawa, and the reward is one…
Questions about walking Kanazawa
What is the best self-guided walking tour in Kanazawa?
It depends how long you have. Kenroku-en: The Garden of Six Virtues (35 minutes, 6 stops) starts at The Katsurazaka entrance and is the one most people begin with. Higashi Chaya: The Teahouse Quarter covers a different part of the city in about 29 minutes. All 10 walks in Kanazawa are listed on this page with their length and starting point.
Do I need to book a walking tour in Kanazawa?
No. Every wanderaudio walk is self-guided, so there is nothing to book and no departure time. You start whenever you arrive, and you can stop halfway and pick it up the next day.
How much do the Kanazawa audio guides cost?
Your first guide is free. You make a free account before it plays, with an email address or a Google login, and no card. After that a single guide is $4.99, a 30-guide pass, spendable on any guides in any cities, is $29.99, and every guide in Japan is $59.99. It is a one-off payment, not a subscription.
Are these tours in English?
Yes, all 10 Kanazawa walks are narrated in English. Other languages are not available yet.
Can I do these walks alone?
Yes — that is what they are built for. There is no group and no guide waiting for you, so walking alone works exactly the same as walking with someone. You choose the pace and the order.
What can I do in Kanazawa if it rains?
4 of the Kanazawa walks are indoor walkthroughs rather than street walks, so they work in rain and in the August heat. They are marked "indoors" in the list on this page. Check opening hours and admission separately — wanderaudio does not sell tickets.