Hi again,
I’m very excited for my upcoming trip, and eager once again to ask for this community’s help.
My party of four will be staying in Kyoto, in Nakagyo Ward, for five days. We’d like to hire a car *[with a driver]* on one of them. (Sept 5.) We’d leave from Hiiragiya, our lodging, after breakfast (\~10:30), and get dropped off at Sushi Iwa, our dinner spot, at \~19:00.
We’d like to visit three or four or five interesting spots that day, with minimal time \*in\* the car. We’d also like to avoid walking too much—it’ll be hot, no doubt, and my 72-year-old mother can’t move like she used to.
I’ve found a car service I trust, but they require a proposal for an itinerary before booking.
We’re in no hurry to see or do anything in particular; the only experience that’s vital to me in Kyoto is seeing the sunset from Kiyomizu-dera, as Kawabata described in *The Old Capital*. That doesn’t have to be on our car-day, though.
We enjoy ancient places, extraordinary gardens, renowned sites, and shopping for art and crafts—antiques, in particular.
So, if you had a driver for 8 hours in Kyoto, and wanted to take advantage of that to visit temples, gardens, shrines, markets, etc. that would satisfy our preferences & are spread out and/or inconvenient from Nakagyo Ward without a car, what sort of itinerary would you propose?
Again, thank you for your attention & suggestions!
4 comments
Following. – would you share the cost of that and company? Can dm if prefer.
I am sorry, I offer no solutions, only a word of warning.
Lets not talk about the costs, making sure you are allowed to drive and actually driving on the left side in a foreign, big, “confusing”, city.
you do realise that the “lots of walking” happens not because you lack a car and it happens between the parking space and getting back to it? I think taking a taxi which can potentially drop you off closer would be a much smarter choice than a car in most typical kyoto tourist attractions
with a car you could make it possible to explore north kyoto a little better, ryoanji, kinkakuji, daiokuji, kitano-tenmangu, maybe even arashiyama, especíally the nenbutsuji / more northern temples
you can make kibune possible. kurama I am not sure… if you can drive up fine, if you need to park down there, even with the ropeway its still quite a good bit of walking uphill
you could get outside the city. amanohasidate. although that also kinda requires you to walk a few km unless you rent a bike
again, I must impress on you. “lets take a car, my mother cant walk that well” is half the solution, and the other half can not be cheated. you will still be walking a lot from the parking spot, and on location especially.
You must pick locations that have close parking (or again, taxi), and then requires little walking inside. Kinkakuji for example is very “little walking” – fushimi inari would be the opposite.
and you might need to not make the day too full. like, sit in a cafe for an hour after seeing kinkakuji before moving on…
I don’t know what it is like in September, I went during June for hydrangeas, and the sides going down into the valley might be hard, but if I was paying for a car service, I would go to Yoshimine-dera. We went via bus. The bus is fine, but there is only one an hour and unlike some of the bigger temples in Kyoto, there aren’t a plethora of taxis just waiting outside at any given time.
I would also think about Ohara. I really enjoyed it, though again, the walk to Sanzenin is uphill and I am unsure how it would work with cars. Like Yoshimedera, there is a bus that goes there (we took it) but it only runs once or twice an hour, so having someone to just take me there so I don’t need to line up for the bus, would be great.
If you can get reservations, Shugakuin Imperial Villa was really nice.
Good luck!
I would second Ohara, although, yes, it is a bit of an uphill walk to Sanzenin. You could have your driver drop you off closer to the top to visit the temple (it is well worth a wander) and walk down into the village proper afterwards. There are some cute handicraft shops along the way. Cafe Kirin is a great farm-to-table spot in Ohara but I’m afraid it’s closed on Tuesdays. 🙁
Also in Northern Kyoto, you could check out Kamigamo Shrine and Entsu-ji (less-touristed and famous for its shakkei/borrowed scenery and views of Mt. Hiei) and then have your driver take you back down to the Kyoto Botanic Gardens. The gardens are also close to Kyoto’s best ramen shops if that interests you at all.