Japan 🇯🇵 - Kyoto

Tips 👏

• Kyoto is incredible, but the crowds can be intense. We arrived in the afternoon for our first day, but in hindsight, a full day starting early would have been better to beat the rush.
• Most temples require you to take off your shoes, so wear slip-on footwear if you can.
• To move around and not loosing time, Taxi and Metro is perfect.
• If you want to dress up in a kimono, definitely book it in advance as the popular spots fill up fast.

Accommodation 🏠

We actually based ourselves in Osaka and commuted to Kyoto, which worked out great. We stayed at the Ostay Shin-Osaka Hotel Apartment. It was affordable, clean, and super convenient for the trains.

Getting there 🚲

We took the Shinkansen direct from Shin-Osaka to Kyoto Station station, only 15mins and multiple times an hour, nothing can beat that.

Duration ⏱

We spent one evening and one full day in Kyoto. While we managed to see a lot, two full days would have been more relaxed. The huge number of temples and districts means you have to prioritize, so having that extra evening really helped us tick off the main night sights before our full day of exploring.

Restaurants 🍜

• Engine Ramen: Touristy but one of the best ramen of our trip, includes vegetarian options
• Shishikura: Very tiny izakaya ran by one super nice cook (no waiters). Cozy, great food and great vibes, a must-do if you're lucky enough to get a table. Thanks Yoshi!

Night Temples & Street Food 🏮

We arrived in the late afternoon and took a taxi straight to Sannenzaka to walk up to Kiyomizu-dera. The street leading to the temple was packed with local and touristic shops, along with tons of original street-food options. Took a bite on our way to the temple, and took a spot is the super crowded area to see the light turning-up at dawn (it was a special day where the temple was opened at night). While the scene was incredible, the crowd made it unbearable. So after a couple of pictures we made promptly our way down.

We stopped at Kodai-Ji temple, which was a total contrast to the crowds above, featuring a small bamboo forest that felt incredibly peaceful and serene. We continued walking down to Yasaka Shrine, which glows orange at night, and grabbed another quick bite from a stall.

Gion & Geisha Districts 👘

From Yasaka Shrine, we walked over to Hanami-Koji street. We wandered around until we found the lovely Shirakawa Canal. This area is magical at night, with high-end restaurants overlooking the water. It feels very traditional and is exactly what you picture when you think of Kyoto. We even spotted a running geisha in the street!

Silver Pavilion & Philosopher’s Path 🍂

Next day after arriving and grabbing an amazing coffee at AG Coffee (awesome and helpful staff), we visited the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-Ji). It is understated and peaceful, with stunning sand gardens, and very little crowds.

From there, we walked down the super relaxing and scenic Philosopher's Path amongst lots of Japanese tourists (including some that stopped us to pray for us). Lots of cherry trees on the side so doing so in spring must be amazing! We arrived at the beautiful and majestic Eikando temple where we unfortunately met once again the big crowd. Even so, the place was amazing with beautiful views, packed with red-leaf maple trees, pagodas and ponds.

Kimonos 👘

We wrapped up the day by by going to our pre-booked traditional clothes experience at Kyoto Geisha Show & Experience Gion MAIKOYA. We first got provided clothes by the staff, fitted on demand, and then started wandering in the old-city, exploring nearby shrines and viewpoints. Note that shoes are not that easy to walk with, so don't go too far! Also it gets cold in autumn so pack something with you.

We then headed back to the shop and met for 45mins with a geisha, understanding better their roles in the Japanese culture, asking lots of questions and even playing games with her. It was pricey but felt real and authentic!

Hope this was helpful, you can ask us any questions on Instagram.