[Continuing from my previous post](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1badle0/trip_report_first_time_in_japan_spent_19_days/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Kyoto Chapter :
Number of days : 7.
Stay : Backpackers K’s house, a full fledge social hostel near Kyoto station.
**Day 8 : Kyoto, Gion \~ by far the least favourite day of the entire trip**
Places visited :
\- Gion
\- Kennin-ji temple
\- Yasaka shrine
\- Kodai-ji temple
Total distance walked : 24.27 KM \~ mostly buz I was walking back and forth and dodging the crowd.
Caught a Shinkansen to Kyoto at 9:30 AM and arrived at my hostel by 1 PM. It was pouring rain in Kyoto, with temperatures reaching 10°C, and I had only packed Uniqlo Airism shirts.
Gion :
Headed out around 1:30 PM to explore Gion in the rain, navigating through the crowd and bone-chilling wind. I got confused, took a wrong street, and found myself in front of Kennin-ji Temple. I don’t know why, but the vibes were a bit hostile here as I felt a lot out of place and sensed people judging me. There were few tourists in this temple. I went about exploring it and came across a dragon painting on top of a roof, which was spectacular. It was a nice visit, but I won’t visit it again just because of the vibes that day.
Next, I walked to Yasaka Shrine and explored the temple grounds, and then made my way to Kodai-ji. Kodai-ji felt a bit touristy, but the views from the top were amazing. Then I walked up to Ninenzaka, which was overflowing with tourists. The most annoying part was the “influencers” wearing Kimono walking at the pace of penguins and giving “looks” if you ruin their Instagram photo. The whole place felt like a human traffic jam because everyone is doing a camera shoot there.
Slowly I made my way to Kiyomizudera Temple, which was even more crowded. By this time, the wind had picked up, and with the overcrowded streets, miserable cold, I just felt miserable to be there. I explored the temple grounds until 5 PM. I was a bit hungry at this point and found “Kumonocha” nearby. It’s just for Instagram; the cakes and drinks are overpriced and taste terrible. At first, I thought it might be my taste buds, but when I went to return my plate, I saw stacks of half-eaten cakes and nearly full drinks.
The rest of the night was spent just exploring Gion. By this time, the streets were completely empty, and I could properly explore a few places. I went back to Yasaka Shrine to see their night lanterns, which were mesmerizing.
Day 9 : Kyoto
Places visited :
\- Heian-Jingu shrine
\- Keage incline
\- Nanzen-ji temple
\- Blue bottle cafe
\- Eikan-do temple
\- Philosophers path
\- Ginkakuji temple
\- Fushimi Inari shrine
Total distance walked : 29.18 KM
Started the day early at 7 AM and arrived at Heian-Jingu Shrine by 7:40 AM. Luckily, it was clear and sunny that day. Heian-Jingu Shrine is one of the biggest temple grounds I have seen, and there were only four more people in the entire temple complex. After spending about 20 minutes there, I walked over to Keage Incline. It’s a nice spot to take photos with a bit of history, but nothing special as such. After taking a couple of solo pics, I went to Nanzenji Temple.
Nanzenji was beautiful. The autumn colors were in full bloom, and the sunny weather made it even better. The aqueducts were a nice surprise, along with the hidden gardens. I also went on top of Sanmon gates to get a 360-degree view of the temple grounds and Kyoto city.
Then I went to the Blue Bottle Cafe nearby. The cafe was amazing and a nice pit stop. Next, I went to Eikan-do Temple where the temple grounds were covered with autumn colors. After spending around 30 minutes there, I took the Philosopher’s Path and walked all the way to the very end toward Ginkakuji Temple.
It was 1:30 PM by the time I completed everything. I thought it might take my entire day, so instead, I went to Fushimi Inari Shrine and walked all the way to the top of the mountain, which was way quieter compared to the crowd at the entrance of the shrine.
For the night, I explored central Kyoto and called it a night.
Day 10 : Arashiyama \~ another miserable day
Places visited / Activities :
\- Arashiyama
\- Arashiyama bamboo forest,
\- Arashiyama view point
\- Tenryu-ji temple
\- Daihikaku Senkoji temple
\- Romantic train
\- Boat ride
\- Kyoto station
Total distance walked : 22.90 KM
I was expecting a huge crowd at Arashiyama, so I started out very early at 6:15 AM and arrived at the bamboo forest by 7:30 AM. However, I was late, and there was already a huge swarm of tourists along with their photographers blocking everyone’s path. It was another cold day made miserable by hordes of tourists. After exploring the bamboo forest and its viewpoints for a while, I went to Tenryu-ji Temple. The sand art there was amazing. Then I took a stroll around the river and came across the longest queue at Arabica Coffee Stand. With no destination in mind, I wandered around for a while and made my way to Daihikaku Temple, which is nestled on top of a hill far away from the bamboo forest. It’s a quiet temple with nothing much going on, but it provided much-needed refuge from the crowd. After that, I went to Arashiyama Station and tried a few street snacks before hopping on the Romantic Train ride.
Tip: Get an even-numbered ticket if you’re going from Arashiyama to another station, and an odd-numbered ticket if you’re going the other way around to enjoy the 30-minute sightseeing. Most of my views were blocked because I got 1A, so it was just an expensive 30-minute toy train ride.
For the way back, I chose to take the river boat tour. The 2-hour boat ride was quite nice, but the views were so-so due to the overcast weather. I was back at Arashiyama by 4:30 PM and spent the rest of the evening trying other street snacks.
By 6:30 PM, I was at Kyoto Station and decided to explore the huge station complex, which was a welcome surprise. I tried Mister Donut, which felt like 40 grams of sugar pushed into a donut shape—yuck!
Later at night, I visited Uniqlo and a few other stores to shop for winter clothing, but I couldn’t find anything. Most of them were either oversized for me or just way too expensive.
Day 11 : Nishiki Market, Central kyoto, Nijo castle, Kinkakuji temple, Railway museum
Places visited :
\- Nishiki Market
\- Central kyoto
\- Here cafe
\- Nijo Castle
\- Kinkakuji Temple
\- Railway museum
\- Nishiki Market at night
Total distance walked : 22.36KM
Based on past experiences and how weather can change the mood of a place, I decided to opt for indoor activities due to the overcast weather.
My first stop was Nishiki Market. I arrived a bit too early at 8:30 AM, as hardly any stores were open, and the ones I wanted to try were set to open at 9:30 AM, which felt a bit too late for me. After clicking pictures for a while, I started exploring downtown Kyoto, which was a complete opposite from the crowded Gion area. It felt like walking through an anime town, and on the way, I came across this cute cafe called ‘Here’ and spent an hour there because it started pouring outside.
Having lost much time, I decided to visit Nishiki later in the evening and instead made my way to Nijo Castle. At this point, I was losing hope because it was raining on and off throughout the day, and the cold weather made it miserable. Then suddenly, the sun pierced through the clouds, and the sky turned blue.
I immediately hopped on a bus straight to Kinkakuji Temple and made it there near the golden hour. The Golden Pavilion Temple was shining in its glory, with the sun illuminating its bright golden side. There were tourists here as well, but it wasn’t as bad as Gion. After spending about 45 minutes around the temple, I went to the Kyoto Rail Museum and made it just an hour before their closing time. It wasn’t enough time, but it was just enough to hop on a bullet train engine and explore different trains. I also got to watch one of the huge steam engines in action. It was 5 PM by then, and I made my way back to Nishiki Market to give a second try on snacks, but sadly, the ones I wanted to try were sold out or closed by then.
Day 12 : Nara & Uji.
Places visited :
\- Nara
\- Deer park
\- Kofuku-ji temple
\- Todai-ji temple
\- Feburary Hall
\- Kasuga Taisha Shrine
\- Mochi pounding
\- Uji
\- Byodo-in
\- Uji – Jinja shrine
Total distance walked : 26.28KM
By now, I realized that there’s no point in starting the day early as most places really opened after 8 or 9. So, I started at about 8 AM from Kyoto and was at Nara by 8:45 AM. It was a bright sunny day with blue skies.
Nara :
You’ll know you’re near deer as soon as you smell shit in the air; the deer park especially smells a lot, but if you can get over it, then you’ll spot deer soon.
The first stop was Kofuku-ji Temple, one of the pilgrimage trail spots.
Next was Todai-ji Temple; the giant Buddha was magnificent. I liked its architecture and history. Then I hiked all the way up to Nigatsu-do Hall to get a view of Nara city.
Next, I hiked to Kasuga Taisha Shrine, one of the World Heritage Sites, and there’s a room where you get to see hundreds of glowing lanterns. If I am not wrong, they light up thousands of such lanterns during certain festivals.
Then I wandered around smaller shrines around Kasuga Taisha; it was a nice getaway from the crowd and deep into nature.
By 12:00 PM, I was back at the central area, which was not flooded with thousands of tourists and even more deer. I am glad I came early here.
Watched the mochi pounding show at around 12:30 PM; the fresh mochi’s are to die for! After getting a few more mochis for takeaway, I wandered around for a bit. I think I visited Nara on the wrong day because most of the shops were closed. With nothing else to do, I left for Uji at 1 and reached there by 1:30 PM.
Uji:
Uji is a typical picturesque anime town; there were very few tourists there and almost no crowd. I tried lots of small matcha snacks around the town as I made my way to Byodo-in.
To be honest, Byodo-in felt a bit too expensive as you’ve to pay 500 yen for entrance and an additional fee to view the main treasure room. The temple grounds are nice but definitely not worth the entrance fee.
Then I crossed over the bridge; the views were far better than the ones at Arashiyama. Crystal-clear blue water, peak autumn trees, and very few tourists. I wandered around the river for the rest of the evening, clicking lots of pictures, and it felt as if I was transported to a live adaptation of an anime movie. Uji is also the place where I found the friendliest locals who eagerly talked with no agenda of selling goods. I remember a broken conversation with a fisherman who eagerly showed his huge catch of the day and an ice-cream vendor calling me “kawaii” because I was wearing a green shirt that matched matcha color lol (I instantly turned red).
I was back in Kyoto by 5:30 PM, and I wanted to try ramen but was taken aback by the long queue at Ramen Sen-no-kaze. So instead, I went to another street and had a nice bowl of chicken broth ramen at Ramen Engine with zero waiting time.
Day 13 : Tofukuji, Gion, Kifune-Kurama hike.
Places visited :
\- Tofukuji temple
\- Cafes in Gion
\- Kifune – Kurama hike
\- night illumination train ride.
Total distance walked : 18.55 KM
Tofukuji temple :
The original plan was to visit Fushimi Inari, but due to last-minute changes, I decided to give it an impromptu visit. The entry ticket was expensive at 2000 yen. The autumn foliage was absolutely beautiful, one of the few places where I could see autumn in its full glory.
Gion:
After spending more than an hour there, I walked around Kamo River and explored Gion on foot. This time around, there were very few tourists, and most of the streets were empty, so I could explore its many streets. I visited a panel cafe and got seated by the river. It’s nothing special apart from paying a premium for its location.
Kifune-Kurama shrine :
At around 12 PM, I left for Kifune-Kurama Shrine, bought a day pass at the station, and enjoyed a nice 1-hour ride to Kurama. I decided to hike from Kurama to Kifune as I wanted to see Kifune night illuminations.
My legs were kind of sore that day, so I decided to take a cable car up to Kurama Shrine. I kind of regretted the decision and wished I had hiked all the way up. From there on, I followed the path through the mountains. It was a beautiful hike which I took slowly and reached Kifune by 4 PM, which was perfect as the evening started to set in.
I explored a bit around the Kifune River. By 5 PM, there was a huge crowd of tourists there, all lined up to watch the night illuminations around Kifune Shrine.
I made my way back to Kifune Station, which was a short 20-minute hike. In hindsight, it was a stupid decision to walk alone in darkness.
Tip: Google the timings for the open roof train to watch the night illumination.
The main purpose of visiting Kifune was to watch the autumn maple tunnel illuminations. For this, I specifically waited for the train with glass rooftops and a 360-degree view. If you plan to do the same, then it’s better if you catch the train from Kurama as it comes packed, and there’s hardly any space even to stand at Kifune Station.
The night illumination tunnel experience was breathtaking; they slowed down the speed of the train so that you could take it all in.
I reached Kyoto by 8 PM and spent the rest of the night walking along Kamo River. I went back to Ramen Engine to try their chicken broth ramen, and it was amazing!
Day 14 : Last day in Kyoto, Kiyomizudera, Nishiki Market, Arashiyama.
Places visited :
\- Kiyomizudera temple
\- Nishiki Market
\- Arashiyama
\- Otagi-Nenbutsuji temple
\- Ogura Chaya
\- Kodai-ji night illumination
Total distance walked : 28.99KM
Kiyomizudera temple :
Felt lucky that weather had been bright and sunny since past few days so decided to give the Kiyomizudera another try. I reached there 8:30AM and there were tourists already lining up, so this time around I clicked pics of main pagoda and surroundings from outside which was now at it’s peak beauty with blue skies and oranges-red leaves, kinda regret not going back buz the view must’ve been amazing. I bought few treats and souviniers from shops around here and slowly made walked my way to Nishiki market, clicking pics of all the little things along the way.
Nishiki Market:
Reached around 10AM and I was able to try all the food places on my list. Highly recommend soy milk donuts and strawberry mochi.
Arashiyama:
Seeing the bright sun, I decided to give arashiyama another go, this time I decided to explore the inner parts of arashiyama, starting with Otagi-Nenbutsu-ji temple, it’s about 30-40mins hike from Arashiyama station and is filled with beautiful autumn foilage views and old town japan vibes. The temple itself is serene and has hunderds of mini statues representing monks who came there to study there. After exploring for abit, I headed back and stopped at Ogura Chaya which server an delicious bowl of vegan udon noodles.
The central Arashiyama was busy as usual so didn’t waste my time here and headed back to central Kyoto packed my bags for early morning departure the next day.
Kadai-ji :
It was still at around 7:30PM so I went back to Kodai-ji temple to watch their night illumination which was an absolute treat for eyes and then explored abit of late night Gion, this was the first time during my entire stay in kyoto where I spotted traditional Geishas around the streets.
by akhil1996
