We are going to Japan for about 2 weeks in October and spending 2 nights/3 days in Kyoto
I’m just roughly starting the daily plan and would love some input to help with time management and any must-do’s or things you’d skip… Is it too much, is there room for more anywhere? I’d love to fit a tea ceremony in somewhere.
We like to have some free time to shop/explore/eat.
Tuesday 10-Oct
Shinkansen – Tokyo to Kyoto
Kiyomizu-dera
Sanneizaka/Nineizaka
Hokan-ji Temple
Ryozen Kodai-Ji Temple
Pontocho Alley
Nishiki Market
Wednesday 11-Oct
Arashiyama
Bamboo Grove
Monkey park?
Tenryu-ji Sagano Romantic Train
Thursday 12-Oct
Nara or Kinkaku-ji ?
Shinkansen – Kyoto to Tokyo
3 comments
Kinkaku takes about 30 min, also if you do Kinkaku you should do Ginkaku as well since they go together essentially. Also, kyoto is big, it takes a minute to get around and unless your are arriving in kyoto at 7AM that’s ALOT in 1 day. You better have the comfiest shoes possible cause that’s going to be a lot of walking. Another thing about japan in general. Most shops don’t open until 10-11 and a lot of them close by 6 like nishiki market for instance, go after 6 and 80% of all the shops are closed so you really only have a 9-5 window to do things or see certain things. Nara you’ll spend 2-3 hours and Nara is better than kyoto in my opinion. So I’d consider doing Nara and replacing something in kyoto so you can see Ginkaku and Kinkaku. But what your planning is ALOT in a small window In my opinion, might be better to consider cutting out a few things so you can take your time.
Looking at your itinerary, move things from Tuesday to Wednesday, monkey park, bamboo and train is probably just a half day of things.
Day one seems like a lot, so I’d pick the top three things you want to do and plan around that. You might be able to make it to most of the places, but definitely try not to rush through the sites to get to everything!
The two times I’ve been to Kiyomizu-dera, I spent most of my day there – arrived early and probably didn’t leave until the early afternoon. I spend a ton of time around the area, looking at small shops and trails, trying to take everything in.
I recommend following some of the lesser traveled paths around Kiyomizu-dera if you have the time (maybe difficult if you’re trying to reach everything on your list). I definitely recommend following the paths back to Seikan-ji temple. On the path back to the Koyasunoto Pagoda, there’s a gate with a warning about monkeys. If you go through the gate, there’s a small road with fewer tourists since it isn’t “the main attraction” (at least when I went Dec 2022, we only saw one other group of ~3 people on the path). Its a bit of a hike, but there’s a tiny little kitchen about half way along the trail that makes fresh dorayaki for a few yen. When you get to the end of the trail, you’ll end up at Seikan-ji Temple. It feels a bit like a hidden magical place – super beautiful and really nice since there are not tourists swarming it like you’ll see in kiyomizu-dera. When I visited, there was a man selling some pottery in one of the temple buildings. Definitely worth visiting if you’re going to that area!