Kyoto is where Japanese culture has flourished for more than 1200 years. The accumulation of profound tradition is still well maintained by proud people there, thus the city keeps attracting more and more people whether they are from Japan or somewhere else.
Kyoto is a must-visit in Japan, so I made a list of travel hacks to your better stay in Kyoto. In this article, I included some model route plans that I would enjoy by myself. I hope it helps!
Supreme Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion)
Don’t try to see the whole Kyoto in one day
What you have to know first of all is that Kyoto city is big, and ‘Kyoto’ does not only mean Kyoto city but is also the name of the prefecture. Kyoto city, the capital city of Kyoto prefecture has 11 Wards such as Ukyo-ku, Sakyo-ku and Fushimi-ku. There are really a lot of things to see for both traditional and modern experiences, from a huge dynamic Buddhism temples and Shinto shrines to a lovely passage with gift shops, a tea house and Japanese garden, sake breweries, a sweets factory, national museums and lovely modern galleries, hiking sites, great restaurants of noodles, tempura, home-style ‘obanzai’ dishes and even Italian and French. When you see broader to the whole Kyoto prefecture, there are scenic sites like at the coastal area of northern Kyoto that is usually called ‘Umi no Kyoto’ (writes 海の京都, meaning seaside Kyoto).
So, I encourage you to take three days or more to see around Kyoto. Don’t try to go to the two top must-visit in Kyoto, the golden pavilion and Fushimi Inari shrine, in one day, because they are located diagonally opposite in the city. You don’t want to waste much time for transportation but have fun to see other wonderful destinations around each of the spots.
Fushimi Inari Shrine is located in Fushimi Ward, that is famous for sake production. It is regrettable to miss the brewery area since it has sake museums, historic paths, nice restaurants, souvenir shops and cafes. You can easily spend a day only around Fushimi: start a day at Tofukuji temple, go walk the whole Fushimi Inari mountain taking uncrowded pictures and enjoying fresh air for one or a couple of hours in the morning, move to Fushimi brewery area and have lunch, try sips of sake and sake sweets, and visit Terada-ya, where samurai-related incidents happened.
Around the golden pavilion, there are Ryoan-ji (‘ji’ means temple), Nin-na-ji, Kitano-Tenmangu Shrine and other small, uncrowded but lovely temples. The area is close to Arashiyama area so it would be a good one day plan to visit those temples and Arashiyama.
*See this Localests blog about must-see in western Kyoto.
1 Day Trip in Western Kyoto – Explore beautiful gardens and bamboo forest-
So, think of the day’s destinations area to area, including lunch and dinner places.
Visit Kiyomizu, Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama early morning
Fushimi Inari’s Torii
Whenever you visit Fushimi Inari shrine or Arashiyama bamboo path, you will be bumped into a crowd. Those super famous and high-rated-on-TripAdvisor spots are also in the typical plans of group tours for both Japanese and international tourists. So, visit there before group tourists start their day (basically they start a tour at 8 am)! There are much fewer people around. I think there are people thinking in the same way, so those places start crowded these days, but still better than 11am-3pm.
Fushimi shrine and Arashiyama bamboo path don’t have certain opening hours so accessible for 24-7. It would be lovely to visit Fushimi in the evening too. It feels like you are lost in another world. Kiyomizu temple opens around 6am. Try the refreshing morning visit and picturesque view from the hilltop.
Be aware of different railways’ different stations
It’s very confusing to figure out which railway takes you to the right station. It causes troubles even to local people because there are more than five different railway services running in Kyoto city to different directions: JR lines from Osaka, Nara and Shiga to southern Kyoto, Hankyu line from northern Osaka (at a better price than JR line) and Kobe to middle-east Kyoto Kawaramachi area, and Keihan line from central Osaka (with the most comfortable seats) and Shiga to northeast-southeast of Kyoto city and Uji, Kintetsu from Nara to southern Kyoto.
JR Kyoto station is the biggest main station of JR line and has a good access to southbound Fushimi, or northbound Nijo castle. On the other hand, Hankyu railway’s Kawaramachi station and Keihan railway’s Gion-Shijo station are much closer to sightseeing places such as Gion, Kiyomizu temple and Nishiki market.
There are more railways called Kyoto metro for, Randen, or Arashiyama Dentetsu for Arashiyama to Kitano area, Eizan railway for northern Kyoto like Mt Hiei, Kurama and Kihune, Torokko Sagano for Sagano area. For more details, see the railway map below.
It sounds complicated, but it also means various Kyoto areas are accessible by public transportation. It is also very possible to visit Kyoto from another city like Otsu in Shiga or Osaka, or even a suburban area like Takatsuki-shi or Ibaraki-shi of Osaka prefecture when a hotel in Kyoto city is very expensive or too difficult to book. As long as you avoid weekday morning rush hour, it would be a comfortable ride.
To see around the city, Kyoto metro +bus pass became more affordable at 900yen/day now. Keep this in mind too 🙂 There are also other passes such as Keihan one-day pass for Uji and Fushimi.
Oh, don’t forget to stand left at the escalator when you come from Osaka, where people stand at the right side.
Maple and tea house
Want a deeper Kyoto trip?
Ask for a guide to make your own travel itinerary! There are still many beautiful and quiet places away from the hustle and bustle 😉
Read More : Create Japanese accesories with paper and bamboo !
Cherry Blossom 1 Day Tour in Kyoto -Wheelchair Users Available –
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