We only visited the castle but it was our fault as we traveled from far and had issues there. The castle was nice but we hoped to have the guide in there with us to talk about the history and answer the many questions my kids had.
Although our tour guide was nice, she was not very knowledgeable about Osaka. During our 30-minute walk to the Osaka castle, she offered very little information about the buildings and parks that we passed by. And when I asked her questions about the city's history and landmarks, she did not seem familiar enough with the city to give specific answers to my questions. When we got to the Osaka castle, she waited outside, while all of us tour participants went inside to tour the castle on our own. And when she brought us to go on the river cruise, she did her best to tell us what she knew about the sites along the cruise route -- but there was already a pre-recorded tape of a different tour guide blaring over the ship's speakers, explaining the sites in both Japanese and English. So we could not even hear our own tour guide over the blaring speakers. I was hoping to gain more knowledge and appreciation for Osaka by taking this tour, but I think I would have been better off just going to the Osaka Castle and taking the river cruise on my own.
This tour was great because our guide Yuki was very knowledgable about the history of Osaka and other facts about the castle, this tour only consisted of a tour inside the Osaka Castle, in case you might wander around the castle grounds you have to do it some other time since this tour has time constraints. After the Osaka Castle we headed to the river cruise, for me it was just OK, i honestly got a little bored with it as there is not much interesting to see, or maybe if they provided a great audio guide on the building and places we passed by that would have been great.
Although our toyt guide was nice, she seemed inexperienced. Also, I was hoping to get a good overview of Osaka, since it was my first time to visit this beautiful and historic city. But it seemed like our tour guide simply accompanied us to the Osaka Castle, where she waited outside while we toured the castle on our own. On our walk there, our tour guide did not offer much information about the city. And she gave simplistic answers to the questions I asked her, and I was better off just Googling the info myself. I actually received a MUCH better and much more informative tour by taking the Osaka evening walking tour that was included as one of many attractions under the Osaka Amazing Pass that you can buy at the Osaka Airport and at many local subway stations.
Enjoyed the walking tour! Tour guide was very helpful and gave us good information and overview about the area.