Photo: FIND/47 / CC BY 4.0Prices, reviews and availability from the operators' Viator listings · checked · Takumi Yamada
When a guide earns its money here
Three tests. If a day fails all three, walk it and keep the money.
The clock does not work
Anything more than about an hour from the berth eats a short call alive. A driver who knows the road is the difference between seeing it and seeing the car park.
The thing needs explaining
A shrine, a battlefield, a craft workshop. Without someone to tell you what you are looking at, you are looking at a building.
You cannot get in alone
Private homes, tea rooms, workshops, some festivals. A booking is the door, not a convenience.
Everything else in Akita you can do on your own: the timed plans show how, and the DIY-or-book verdict says when a guide is worth the money here.
What Princess Cruises charges for its Akita excursions
A ship’s excursion comes with one promise nothing else can make: the ship waits for its own bus. An independent booking does not, which is why every day on this site is cut to the call with an hour kept before all-aboard. What you get for the difference is usually a smaller group, a start at the pier rather than a coach queue, and free cancellation until the day before.
Princess Cruises prices as shown on its public Akita excursion page on 25 October 2026, per person, before any sailing-specific change. Tour prices on this page are the operator’s current from price.
Every guided day from this berth
Tours that fit the 9-hour call most ships make here come first. Then shared cars with a guide (what passengers actually book), private cars, and walks and workshops. Prices are the operator's "from" price and move with the season.
Private car · per person6h tourAkita Private Custom Tour with Local Guide
A six-hour private guided day that lists Kakunodate, Lake Tazawa, Gozanoishi Shrine and Akita city's castle park.
US$227 each · US$454 for twoMeets at the pierneeds an 11-hour callFree cancellation 24h ahead5.0★ · 22 reviewsWhy it is here
Private8h tourSavor Fresh Sake and Discover the Charms of Yurihonjo City Akita
A private eight-hour day in Yurihonjo, south of Akita, with a castle-site park, a wooden toy museum, a large wooden Kannon statue and a tasting of Tenju sake.
US$211 per person for 2 · US$421 per carPickup at the pierneeds an 11-hour callFree cancellation 24h aheadNew listing · 1 reviewWhy it is here
Small group2h tourWalking Tour of Wealthy Merchant's Storehouses in Akita
A two-hour guided walk through the merchant houses of Masuda, a preserved country town where storehouses were built inside the homes.
US$42 each · US$84 for twoTaxi ~95 min from the shipneeds a 10-hour callFree cancellation 24h aheadNew listing · 6 reviewsWhy it is here
Small group3h tourHalf Day Kakunodate Tour of Crafts Culture and Cuisine
A three-hour guided walk through Kakunodate's merchant and samurai districts, with a bark-craft workshop, a miso brewery tasting and a samurai house.
US$204 each · US$408 for twoTaxi ~60 min from the shipneeds a 10-hour callNon-refundable5.0★ · 17 reviewsWhy it is here
Private3h tour3 Hour Cycling Tour in Kakunodate
A three-hour private bicycle ride through the countryside and samurai streets around Kakunodate, starting with a local one-car train.
US$125 each · US$250 for twoStation ticket gate in Kakunodate; confirm with the operatorneeds a 10-hour callNon-refundableNew listing · 4 reviewsWhy it is here
Private2h 30m tourSword Martial Art Experience in Kakunodate
A two-and-a-half-hour private iaido lesson in a Kakunodate dojo facing the samurai street, ending with a test cut on a cardboard figure.
US$291 each · US$582 for twoDojo entrance on the main samurai street, Kakunodateneeds a 10-hour callNon-refundableNew listing · 4 reviewsWhy it is here
PrivateFull Day Tour to Akita, Samurai Town and Lake Tazawa with Guide
A private full day from Akita Station to Lake Tazawa and the samurai houses of Kakunodate, with a local guide who drives.
US$194 per person for 2 · US$388 per carTaxi ~15 min from the shipneeds an 11-hour callFree cancellation 24h aheadNew listing · 6 reviewsWhy it is hereBooking through these links costs you nothing extra and pays for this site. We do not take money to rank anything, and we leave out the ones we would not send a friend on.
The Akita days we would book
Our own ten for this port already mark which ones we think are worth handing to a guide. Here is the reasoning.