So I will be visiting Kyoto with my family on 02 – 04 April as part of a week-long trip to Kansai. Jet lag will not be a problem for us since we come from a similar timezone. We have been to Japan before but the last time we went to Kyoto (in 2014), I didn’t plan properly and we spent a lot of time in transit. I requested three days in Kyoto and so am in charge of putting the itinerary for this leg of our trip together. This is a rough schedule but I tried to leave out some spaces to have some room for error/delays.
​
**02 April (Sunday)**
* **9 AM:** Travel from Osaka to Kyoto. Upon arrival, we will be keeping our baggage in the lockers/baggage room at Kyoto Station.
* **\~10 AM:** Coffee at Kurasu Kyoto near the station since I’ve wanted to visit them for a while now.
* **12 NN:** Lunch at Nishiki Market and probably wandering around the area.
* **3 PM:** We’ll retrieve our bags from Kyoto Station and check in at our hotel near Imadegawa (Villa Front Kyoto Seimei). After a quick rest we will travel to the Yasaka Pavilion.
* **4 PM:** Explore Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka en route to Kiyomizu-dera; I’m considering stopping by at a cafe in this area to rest a little bit as well.
* **7 PM:** Kiyomizu-dera for the evening illumination. This is apparently the last day of the special night viewing so I would like to be able to visit it on this evening.
* **Rest of the Evening:** We’ll be going for a leisurely walk along Hanamikoji-dori and Gion Shirakawa/Tatsumi Bridge, and have dinner at Pontocho before retiring for the night.
​
**03 April (Monday)**
* **6 AM:** Travel to Arashiyama to visit the Bamboo Grove and Tenryuji before having breakfast.
* **9 AM:** Walk/hike up to Daihikaku Senko-ji to chill and enjoy the view.
* I think we would be hungry by the time we back down to the Saga-Arashiyama area, so we’ll probably be having lunch at this point. I was thinking of sushi at Arashiyama Daizen.
* **1 PM:** We will take the Sagano Scenic Train to Kameoka.
* **2 PM:** Hozugawa River Boat Ride back to Arashiyama. I understand this would take roughly 2 hours but I think this is something that my parents would appreciate.
* Leaving this space out for time to chill or have snacks/desserts at Arashiyama, maybe rest at the hotel, and possibly have an early dinner at Ramen Sen no Kaze.
* **Evening:** Toji temple to see the sakura in evening illumination before retiring for the night.
​
**04 April (Tuesday)**
* **6 AM:** Fushimi Inari Taisha. The plan is to hike up to the top and back down with my parents, but it depends on their mood that day.
* Last time I was here climbed alone from late afternoon til early evening (somewhat unintentionally). I thought I got lost without GPS so it was sort of exciting and scary for me since there were no more tourists when I got higher up.
* We’ll have breakfast at Vermillion cafe before returning to the hotel.
* **10 AM:** Check out time at the hotel, we will move our bags to the lockers at Kyoto Station.
* **Lunch:** Men-Ya Gokkei in Ichijoji
* **Afternoon:** Ginkakuji, Philosopher’s Path, and Nanzenji before returning to Kyoto Station to pick up our things, maybe shop at Isetan, and travel back to Osaka.
​
**Questions:**
* Does it look like our itinerary has too many activities crammed each day? I tried to base the plan around the locations to avoid wasting too much time in transit since that was the rate-limiting step in our previous trip to Kyoto.
* Has anyone had any experience with the hotel Villa Front Kyoto Seimei? I noticed some reviews online saying that the check-in is in a different area from the actual location.
* Any experience using the baggage lockers at Kyoto Station? Are there other locations that have a similar service and are closer to the hotel?
* I’m a bit confused about the process of getting the Sagano Scenic Train tickets. Would it be better to reserve them and pick them up at the Midori no Kenbaiki at Kyoto Station, rather than buying them on the day at Arashiyama Torokko?
* What are your experiences with the Toji temple at night?
* Any suggestions on alternative places for meals or desserts?
1 comment
I think your schedule is solid. Remember you can leave your luggage at your hotel.
Our check in time was 3:00 pm but we’re able to drop off our luggage at our hotel ahead of time.
As far as the early departure for Arashiyama remember places don’t tend to open around 9-10am