Kyoto was one of my most anticipated places in the whole of Japan. This historical and traditional city evokes every image of Japan that most people have – incredible temples, narrow streets with quintessential Japanese architecture, pagodas rising up in the distance, beautiful Japanese gardens, red torii gates, shrines lit up at night with lanterns, cherry blossoms in the springtime, and brief glimpses of geisha in kimono.
In fact, Kyoto was even more than that. The food is some of the best we had in Japan, the streets are out-of-this-world beautiful, and it’s so simple to get out into nature that it’s easy to forget you’re in a busy city. Beyond that, Kyoto is far more modern than I expected. While you might picture the traditional streets of the Gion district, most of Kyoto is, indeed, a city, and all that comes along with it. It’s the perfect representation of what Japan is – history inextricably intertwined with modernity.
It might not have the futuristic elements of Tokyo or Osaka, but it’s a living, breathing city beyond the tourist sites.
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On the downside, it is touristy. It was by far the busiest place we experienced on our entire trip, and it was hard to escape the crowds. When you only have a couple of days to explore, let’s face it – you want to make the most of the highlights.
We also wanted to slow it down a little after our hectic few days in Tokyo, so it was hard to get the balance right. There were things on my list that we didn’t get to see, which may have been quieter, but we managed to see all the MAIN things, including a couple of huge bucket list items.
I also think we could have organised our days slightly better, so this post will hopefully give YOU an idea for a good itinerary!
Here’s everything we got up to in Kyoto.
Day 1 – Gion district, Yasaka shrine, Kinkakuji Golden Temple, Nishiki Market
We actually arrived the previous afternoon, but ended up repeating a lot of our walk in the morning (there is nothing wrong with doing this, of course – especially somewhere like Kyoto!) so I’m condensing it into one day. I would highly recommend exploring Gion later in the day as well, and definitely see Yasaka Shrine at night – this was a highlight!
The Gion district stretches along the right hand side of the river, so this area can take as long as you like to explore. Note that the alleyways are now completely off-limits to tourists, so please be mindful of this – photography was already restricted, and we saw tourists getting in trouble from the police for taking photos. Don’t be that person! However there are still so many incredible streets to explore.
When we arrived the previous afternoon, I made a bee-line for the famous view of the Hokan-Ji Temple to get there before sunset hit. We walked along Hanamikoji Street, one of the main streets of Gion, and turned off at the end through a small precinct with some shrines, including one I’d read about.
Yasui Kompiragลซ Shrine has a hole in the middle which you can climb through to either leave a bad relationship behind, or cement a good one. I think you climb through it one way or the other for each, and I couldn’t remember which so I didn’t do it, just in case! Haha.
From there we turned onto the main road and carried on past the temple in order to join the streets behind it – but this is probably where we went a bit wrong, because it’s pretty steep up the hill and you have to walk back down Sannenzaka towards the temple. On the other hand, it was possibly the best way to do it – wandering these gorgeous streets until THAT view appeared, rather than walking up and having to turn back constantly. If we’d had more time, it could have been a pleasant wander up, looking in all the shops, and then a meander back down.
(My original plan actually was to get to Kyomizu-dera, one of the temples we ended up missing. However, I didn’t realise it closes at 6pm, which was before sunset!)
Anyway, I have a story about the above photo on the left. A moment before this photo, the entire street was packed with people. I was happily snapping away, knowing that there was no way I’d get an empty shot without getting there at 6am. Suddenly… there was only one person in front of us! An entire crowd waiting with baited breath for her to move, while she was completely oblivious, scrolling on her phone.
Eventually, an Italian guy piped up. “HEY LADY!” he yelled. She looked up, realised the situation, and dived off the street!! I’ve never heard so many camera shutters going off at once!!! What a great moment! Seconds later, it was packed again; the magical moment was over.
I ended up wishing we’d spent more time in this part of Gion, as we explored the “other side” a bit more. I loved those streets, but this side felt more quintessentially Kyoto.
It’s definitely worth crossing the main street that leads up to Yasaka Shrine though, as the other side of Gion is also beautiful. I had made a note of the Gion Tatsumi bridge, and we stumbled across it as we wandered. It’s actually a great place for cherry blossoms too, but sadly they were running late when we were there!
Once it was dark, we headed up to Yasaka Shrine before dinner. This is one of the best places to come at night! It’s absolutely BEAUTIFUL lit up!
We also re-visited in the morning because we hadn’t been able to enjoy the gardens so much at night (plus there was a HUGE cherry blossom tree) – but you know what? Little bit of a let down, to be honest. Plus it was heaving with ladies dressed in kimonos for photos.
Dressing up in a kimono was something that was on our “maybe” list. It would have been pretty cool getting some nice photos in traditional Japanese dress… but honestly, after seeing hundreds of people wearing them in varying qualities, it all felt a bit, dare I say it, “basic bitch”. Plus my friend and I aren’t really the “posing for nice photos” type – we are definitely not Instagrammers!
This was my one issue with Kyoto; it just felt very touristy. We had also talked about booking a tea ceremony, but because we visited in high season, they were virtually all booked out. And I just thought… is that something that’s also going to be touristy; that people are doing it for the sake of it? And is somewhere like Kyoto actually the most authentic place to do it, or are they all run by people cashing in on it as an experience to sell to tourists?
This might be an unfair comment given that we didn’t do it. Maybe the tea ceremonies are all amazing, and maybe we should have rented a kimono. These are two REALLY cool Japanese experiences, after all! Will we regret NOT doing them? Time will tell.
(As an aside, the one thing I DO regret not doing, is booking a tour with a “samurai” guide in his 90s!! We actually had this booked in 2020, but he only offers private tours now which are a lot more expensive. While we dithered over it, it sold out for our dates. OF COURSE. Given that he’s in his 90s, this isn’t something we can “just do next time”!)
Anyway, I digress.
For dinner, I recommend simply going to Pontocho Alley every night. On the first night, we had yakitori (meat skewers) at a great place near the top end of the alley, pictured above, and on night two, we had some amazing yakiniku (grilled meat) which I’ll talk about below!
We wasted some time in the morning, if I’m honest, and also re-traced a few footsteps, which is why I’m going to recommend an order to do this in afterwards. We did add in a few stops like the Nintendo Store (of course!).
In the afternoon, we hopped on a bus to Kinkakuji Temple. I have to add now that this was busy AF, and I was in two minds about it at the time. On the one hand, taking the bus was a great local experience. On the other, it was absolutely packed and locals were struggling to get on. Since our visit, they’ve actually tried to discourage tourists from using the local buses, and I can see exactly why.
I was also in two minds about visiting Kinkakuji. It wasn’t a must-do for me, and I wondered if we’d be going through the motions of visiting it just because it’s one of the top things to do in Kyoto. However trust me – like many things, it is one of the top attractions for a reason!
It’s absolutely STUNNING! What I loved even more was the gardens surrounding it. Probably the best gardens we saw in Japan.
It is also… INCREDIBLY busy. What surprised me was all the masses of walking tours from cruise ships. Kyoto is nowhere near the sea! And yet, people come here for the day to see sights such as this. As such, it was so busy. There’s a dedicated path around the pond, along the back of the temple, and then back up through the park to the exit. Because it’s all just one path, it’s impossible to get away from the crowds. (Though as you can see from my photos, it’s easy to get photos without other people in, except in the distance!)
On the way back up, there are also some little statues where people were throwing money and trying to get it into the bowls. This turned into a game at every one we passed, which was actually pretty fun!
Overall this place is so, so pretty, and well worth visiting despite the crowds.
Back in the city, we wandered down Nishiki Market for some food and to pick up some souvenirs. Despite buying lots of nerdy stuff on the trip, we didn’t actually have many opportunities for real Japan souvenir shopping. There’s a store in Nishiki that does personalised chopsticks – however it was too late to get them that day! I’d recommend going at lunchtime and tie it in with food.
In the evening, we had decided to splash out on a yakiniku meal at Kyoto Yakiniku Suzuki, where you grill your own meat at your table. This ended up being one of our favourite meals of the entire trip! Highly recommended – and it was even served on a Japanese bridge!
Our whole itinerary in Kyoto became a little haphazard across day one, so I would actually recommend the following:
- go to Kinkakuji in the morning. The afternoon was really crowded and like I said, there were so many cruise ship tourists. If you go earlier, it should be much less crowded. You can then grab food at Nishiki Market for lunch (as well as personalised chopsticks!)
- this then leaves you with a full afternoon to explore Gion, finish up with sunset in the narrow streets, and then head to Yasaka Shrine once it’s dark before going for dinner on Pontocho Alley.
Day 2 – Fushimi Inari Shrine & Arashiyama
On our second full day, we explored complete opposite ends of Kyoto, starting with one of the most iconic sights of all and ending in a suburban district that has also become very touristy.
If you’ve ever seen a photo of a shrine in Japan, it’s probably Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto. This has been on my list for as long as I can remember ever wanting to visit Japan and I was so excited to finally see it for myself.
If I have one tip for visiting, it is GO EARLY.
I had joked that we should get there at 6am. Instead, we got there for around 8am, and it was absolutely packed. I heard someone else say “I *told* you we should have got here at 5am!!!” as we got off the train. Let’s bear in mind that we were there during the busiest month in Japan’s entire history though, so that didn’t help.
It actually meant that I got basically zero photos up to the first viewpoint, because it was just rammed. We felt like cattle being herded through an auction. I think I’ll talk more at some point about overtourism in Japan, because it’s a huge problem, but first – let me say that we DID get away from the crowds.
After the first viewpoint, I was actually amazed by just how quickly the crowds petered out. Almost instantly, we were on our own.
The red gates become less densely packed for the most part, which is another reason the first section is SO popular – it’s probably the most photogenic. But I still got some great photos further up. More dream photos!
We weren’t planning to necessarily go all the way to the top, but that’s what we ended up doing – and you know what? I’m really glad we did. It was a little busier at the top, and there’s no real view to speak of, but the path there had been incredible. We stopped at a couple of shrines on the way that were unbelievably peaceful. It wasn’t what I had expected from this place at all, as you always just see the photos of the torii gates.
This was a real bucket list visit for me, so I was glad that it didn’t disappoint.
We headed back into town to enjoy the sun, and even sat by the river for a while, watching the herons. Also speaking of birds, one thing I hadn’t seen ANYONE mention is that there are red kites flying all over the river in Kyoto! Actual red kites, and loads of them! It’s so cool.
We also ate lunch at the absolutely ridiculous Issen Yoshoku, a cafรฉ full of lifesize dolls. Creepy or what? The second I read about it, I knew I had to go.
Apart from anything else, this is outside!!!
They specialise in one dish and one dish only – their version of okonomiyaki. I’ve got to be honest and say it wasn’t great, but I’m glad we went because the whole place is just absurd. One song played on a loop the entire time we were there, and although we weren’t seated with any dolls, we DID have all these hanging up next to us. Totally mad!
In the afternoon, Ash and I headed across Kyoto to Arashiyama. The main attraction in Arashiyama is the famous bamboo forest, which we skipped entirely. I’m sure it’s lovely, but it also gets so incredibly crowded and I know several people who have been really disappointed by it.
One of my highlights was actually the journey to Arashiyama itself.
Because we were there at a weekend, we were able to catch the weekend-only zen garden train, or the Kyo-Garaku train. This special train has six carriages themed around different seasons, and it runs between Kyoto and Osaka. We sat in the sakura carriage which was very tastefully decorated, but there is an even more incredible one with an actual Japanese garden in it!! How cool is this?!?
It runs four times a day in each direction, so we caught it mid-afternoon. You can get on it around 20 minutes before it leaves, which gives you a chance to explore all the carriages before you choose your seats.
Genuinely, if you are in Kyoto or Osaka at a weekend, CATCH THIS TRAIN!
We only rode it for two stops before changing at Katsura to get the train up to Arashiyama on the Hankyu line, but the full journey takes around 45 minutes between Kyoto and Osaka.
I read about the zen garden train on Differentville – Helen now has a full guide on her Japan specific site. Her blog was invaluable for our Japan research, especially as, like me, she loves the quirkier side of travel!
View up-to-date service info for the Kyo-Garaku train here.
Arashiyama was our first real taste of cherry blossoms, too! A couple of streets were lined with them, and the mountains were covered in them! The river, which was full of canoes and wooden boats, made for a beautiful, serene scene, and we really found ourselves enjoying this whole area. It didn’t feel like we were in a city at all.
We decided to head up to the monkey park, which is half way up one of the mountains. I have to say I was apprehensive about this, given Japan’s track record with animal welfare. I’d seen photos of monkeys behind bars, and I was worried they would be enclosed.
So I am very pleased to say that they had *total* freedom of the mountain! They choose to hang out a lot around the visitor centre because they do get fed and looked after, but overall they are totally free to go where they want! And the bars I’d seen in photos? It’s actually the PEOPLE who are caged! If you want to feed them, you have to go inside and the monkeys will come to you.
What a refreshing place. We watched monkeys fighting and playing and socialising. We saw baby monkeys being looked after by their mothers, and stepped out of the way of male monkeys strolling through the park. It was absolutely brilliant!
I, of course, had to get a photo on the giant banana.
And the views are pretty incredible, too!
Overall, I’m so glad we made the effort to come here! Such a cool place.
Our time in Arashiyama wasn’t quite over though. We headed to the other Arashiyama train station (or tram station) to check out the really cool kimono forest. The reason I’d planned to come here in the afternoon was so that we could see these lit up at night as we left. It wasn’t quite totally dark, but it was still awesome!
And then we had a foot spa. On the train platform. Yes, that’s right, there is an actual foot onsen in the train station. We caught it shortly before it closed, so it was perfect timing – and much needed after being on my feet so much during the trip!
Arashiyama made for the perfect end to our time in Kyoto. You could really spend a whole day there, with boat trips along the river, the romantic train through the forest, and of course the bamboo forest. There was also a shrine that I really wanted to visit, but we discovered it closed pretty early and wasn’t easy to get to. For the record, it was Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple.
I definitely feel like we got the second day spot on too, so no notes here!
I will add that my friend Nele put together a fantastic 2 day Kyoto itinerary which is very similar to what we did – I definitely got some inspiration from her, so I recommend checking out her blog for Japan content!
How many days should you spend in Kyoto?
We had – sort of – two and a half days in Kyoto. I’d say three days would be perfect for a first visit, but two is do-able. Some people even do Kyoto as a day trip, which I’m afraid is crazy. It’s a huge city, not a quaint town like the photos might make it appear. And, being honest, it’s probably the one place I wish I’d planned a little better as there were a couple of things I missed. (The Samurai & Ninja museum looks like so much fun, and there were one or two shrines I meant to find.)
That said, it was also a fun place to just wander and lose yourself, so there’s no harm in going a little off-piste, but when there are so many amazing shrines, it makes sense to plan it so you see the ones you want to see.
Being totally honest, Kyoto wasn’t my favourite place in Japan. We had gone from organised chaos in Tokyo, to actual chaos in Kyoto. The locals in Tokyo follow lots of rules and everything just works; in Kyoto, we were dodging tourists constantly and even watching people get in trouble with the police for breaking the rules!
Despite that, I did love it. It’s spectacular in so many ways, and there was nowhere in Kyoto that I didn’t enjoy. It’s incredibly diverse, full of so much beautiful culture, and you could easily spend a week there and still not see everything.
So for us, two (and a bit) days was truly a perfect introduction for hitting the highlights.
Read more about our incredible trip to Japan:
โญ My Top 10 Highlights Of Our Trip To Japan
โญ Our Perfect Two Week Itinerary For A First Time Visit To Japan
โญ Five Days In The Bright Lights Of Tokyo
โญ A Love Letter To Osaka, Japan: Why Itโs Worth More Than A Day Trip
โญ Hanging Out With The Polite Deer In Nara, Japan
โญ An Overnight Trip To Hiroshima, Miyajima & Himeji From Osaka
โญ A Semi-Helpful Guide To Mount Fuji & How To Visit From Osaka
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Between the train, the bamboo and the cerry trees, Arashiyama appeals to me the most thanks for all of the information. Maggie
Kyoto is gorgeous! I went with my family several years ago, and it was absolutely stunning. From the temples to the Arashiyama Forest, everything looked like out of a painting! I didn’t go to Monkey Park, but I’ve heard of it, and the monkeys look so cute (even if a bit naughty, haha)! Glad you had a wonderful time ๐
Kyoto is my #1 place I want to go to in Japan. Hopefully I’ll be able to go in the off-season whenever I finally get there. It looks amazing, and now I know to give myself several days. Thanks for the tour.
Fantastic guide to a place that has always intimidated me a little bit. More and more I want to visit Japan ๐
That train! I *wish* I had known about it when we visited, as it looks like such a neat experience. If I had to pick a favourite part of Kyoto, it would be between Kinkaku-ji (it’s a real shame to hear that over-tourism has led to tourists being encouraged not to use the local bus network) and Fushimi Inari. By any chance, was the park with the monkeys Kameyama-kลen Park? I remember visiting a park in Arashiyama near the bamboo forest, but we didn’t see any monkeys ๐ Like you, Kyoto wasn’t my favourite place in Japan, but there were elements of it that I really loved. For us, it also served as a great base from which to explore Nara and Kobe. Really enjoying reading what you got up to in Japan, as it’s bringing back lots of memories for me!
Absolutely beautiful photos, I’d love to visit Kyoto one day!
It looks gorgeous ๐. What a nice adventure you had.
Kyoto is just magnificent – the most brilliant city in Japan IMO. I hadnt heard of the train though, that looks so awesome!