Here’s what I’d do if I were to visit Kyoto again. I’m not sure if this is helpful to people as I’m not super familiar with this subreddit – feel free to upvote or downvote it depending on how much utility you think it has for others.
I’d orient a lot of my trip around the mornings and prepare my backpack, look up the route, pack a breakfast, etc. for the mornings when I’d go check out some temples using the itineraries from japan-guide.com.
I’d definitely see Ginkakuji and walk along the Philosopher’s Path and see other temples there, and eat at Junsei, and then see Heian-jingÅ« Shrine if I had more time and energy. I’d see Arashiyama using the itinerary on japan-guide.com. I’d skip the monkey park in Arashiyama (since you can go to a zoo back home, and it wasn’t that cool, and was out of the way). After seeing Tenryuji and the bamboo grove when they first open, maybe follow the rest of the itinerary on japan-guide.com for Arashiyama – we never tried that part. Ryoanji was cool but sort of out of the way up north. Kinkakuji could be a nice stop after Ryoanji, since it opens at 9am and Ryoanji opens at 8am. Or Ninnaji. Then I’d spend the afternoons and evenings in shops like Nishiki Market or just a local electronics store or department store, and eating food. Even local electronics stores, convenience stores, and Don Quijote were fascinating to us because we are new to Japan. Maybe eat one night in Gion if you’re interested in a nice expensive meal. The food in Japan is incredible. After 2 mornings of seeing temples you’ll probably have had enough temples for a while, but 3 mornings is also a good option, and maybe there are hidden gems if you want to stick around longer.
A note about getting places:
We were new to the public transport system in Japan, and our experience is going to be different from someone who has lived in Japan for years. I’d at least take a taxi in the morning if running behind so that I can get there when the temples open, and might take a taxi whenever I’d have to take a bus instead. Taxis are $10-$30 each way, but they save you an hour of time and frustration each way trying to figure out your route and getting lost (although maybe you’re able to figure out how to navigate via bus, we struggled a lot with buses). If the route is only on subway then maybe just take that instead, and walk a bit, as we found navigating via subway easier than via bus (although if you’re staying in Japan a month or more, maybe it’s worth investing the time into figuring out the bus). But consider how much you’re spending on hotels, flights, etc. to be here, and so the value of your time here is even more than if you were sitting back at home. You could get more done in a day and save money overall if you stay one fewer day but take taxis the whole time. Your mileage may vary and maybe you figure out the buses like a pro, but we missed a lot of things in Hakone for instance because we kept taking the wrong bus, and we didn’t see as much in Kyoto because we walked a long way instead of just paying for a taxi.
8 comments
Good to know you want to visit again!
Re buses, it depends a lot on your experience with public transport.
I am Australian, but have lived in other Asian cities, they are all pretty similar tbh, and I don’t find it difficult. Of course since I don’t speak Japanese, a little research will be handy, but Google maps is great.
apparently I can cross Kyoto on foot, river to river in about 30 mins ( just did this yesterday)
starting early is a good idea, its less crowded, and with limited opening hours it maximizes the things you can do while there
but its not the end all and be all of things like some people make it out to be. you can only start early once every day. after the first POI or even while you are there, it will be getting crowded and then you are there on your second POI just like people with their first.
Ginkakuji and the philosophers path is nice. And Heian-jingu is okay.
Spending a day in Arashiyama is nice. I think Kinkakuji is on the must see lists for a reason. Its out of the way. Indeed, Ryoanji is an option and you can walk, Ninnaji also an option but I would not walk that distance. First Ryoanji then Kinkakuji, thats very smart.
But I will tell you a “problem” there. 99% of posts are “here is my 6 days in japan, so day 1-4 tokyo, then day 5 kyoto with nara, day 6 osaka then back home”
Okay maybe not that extreme. but most people, they dont have the time to stay a day in Arashiyama, or to explore north Kyoto, and even walking the philosophers path is, if they have never been to kiyomizudera or fushimi inari and kinkakuji and arashiyama, not my first pick. Sure, for some people it would be a better fit. but i dont know those people. and in general, i have to go with the best fit for most, and that is to try to get them to see the unique and most sought after spots. and even then you have to make compromises.
you are in no way wrong, and I would totally recommend for people to actually do, but for your level of thoroughness in exploring a region I would suggest spending at least 3-4 days
I also agree with your assessment of the monkey park.
about the bus system. you make it sound worse than it is. but, and i have to tell people sometimes as well, it can lead to missing connections, going the wrong direction, and that means that if you think you can get from a to b in 23minutes just because google tells you, it may not be that easy.
if people have a really tight schedule they may need to rely on taxi. like you said, it costs money, but it is the fastest and most relieable way.
the subway in kyoto is unfortunately a joke. a not so funny one. they have two lines one e-w and one s-n almost ALL POIs are well outside where you would wanna walk from a subway station. its better than nothing, but there is not nothing, there is bus driving and taking a taxi. even renting a bike. if it fits, it fits, fine, but I would not recommend anyone to “forget the bus, just take the subway”
anyway, the bus, it can be full, it can get stuck in traffic (so can the taxi), and it takes time to get used to it. and still you might not quite make it the way you were planing.
but its still a viable way, and it takes not too long to understand. I cant explain it well in text, but the important thing is to understand that many stops have 4 stops, depending on which way the bus is going (n,e,s,w), and that bus lines may go two ways, if you know which direction your line is going, then you kinda should know where its coming from and where its going, so you know which bus stop you should wait for the bus.
most people may end up seeing google maps telling them, walk 100m to the bus station, ah yes, and wonder why the bus did not come on time and why it took another route. google maps dont really know too well which bus station, and the resolution is not good enough to be certain that you should be standing 15m on the other side of the road…
My point is, it can be worth it to figure them out, but if you have the budget, taxi will usually beat the bus any time, even if its just that the taxi will go where you say, the bus wont…
I personally still like Monkey Park since the view you get of the whole Kyoto is pretty nice, and you do get to walk around with monkeys a little and feed them from behind safety bars. The hike can be tiring though, managed to work up a sweat in Jan winter.
Buses are relatively convenient, Google Maps work well enough to direct you to bus stops and the direction to take, and the buses back in 2019 already had signs in English ie, next stop, Kyoto station. 200 yen per trip, or 600 for the day pass means it’s pretty cheap.
I would say skip most temples besides the two famous ones in kyoto (kinkakuji and ginkakuji) and find more local temples to visit and have a feel of the atmosphere in kyoto more. Arashiyama is only cool once and then pass it to to go to Gion and shopping. Eat matcha parfait or drink traditional matcha. Go to a Maiko tea ceremony.
I agree about taking taxi. It saved me a lot of time and energy to spend at attractions instead of on public transportation in Kyoto. We stayed in Gion so we could easily walk to all temples and shrines in Gion. Other than that, we used taxis to go to everywhere else, including Fushimi Inari, Kinkaku-ji and Arashiyama. My husband also told me the same thing you said, given how much we’ve spent on flight and accommodation in Japan, our time here is way more valuable than what we may save by using public transportation.
Just today we took a taxi from Odawara station to Gora area and it allowed us to spend over 4 hours at the Hakone Open Air museum which is absolutely beautiful.
Actually, the places that enjoyed the most in Kyoto were not in guides, they were things that we found randomly or that I found on a broader search. Kyoto has a ton of nice places to visit that area not on the main guides, so my advice would be to do some of that kind of exploration as well instead of 100% dedicating your time to a classic guide repertoire. We ended up not going to the monkey park, for example, but went to a nearby buddhist temple and the monk there was super friendly, came to talk to us, and the view was fantastic. It was a steep climb, though (they had free walking sticks available at the bottom and a sign saying that the view was worth it 😂).
If I knew how crowded it would be, I would have arrived at the famous bamboo forest before 6am, just so I can take some photos without trying the whole time to avoid other tourist.