Couple in our mid 20s heading to Japan for 10 days for the first time next month and super excited! We are going to Tokyo, Kyoto and Lake Kawaguchiko, and I am feeling particularly overwhelmed by the amount of things to do in Kyoto. We are planning to spend 3 days there including a trip to Nara, looking for input if this itinerary seems doable, if there is anything we are missing and anything we should skip.
We are active, love food, architecture, culture and wandering around charming areas- don’t want to have a tightly scheduled day but also want to know what the good spots are to hit. Thank you in advance for the help!
Day 1:
\- early morning departure from Tokyo -> Kyoto on bullet train
\- spend a few hours at Arashiyama: bamboo grove, Tenyru-Ji Temple, and the monkey park are main attractions for us, is the train ride enjoyable?
\- can check into our hotel (near Kawaramachi st) after 3pm
Day 2
\- Fushimi Inari shrine: aiming to get here at 8, should we try for earlier? not planning to hike the full thing unless we feel so inclined, planning on going up halfway
\- Nishiki market
\- Teramachi and Shinkyogoku shopping streets
\- Higashiyama district + Kiyomizu-dera temple
Day 3
\- Half day trip to Nara, aiming for an early morning train: we plan to feed the deer, see Todaji temple (maybe some others in the park as well?) and see the mochi
Day 4:
\- return to Tokyo at our leisure, could stay in Kyoto for a bit longer if we had stuff we missed out on
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All of these days put us at ending around 3/4 in the afternoon and I am not sure what activities to fill in afterwords, especially since Kyoto is pretty spread out. some we were thinking of:
\- To-ji garden and temple
\- Philosophers path + silver pavillion
\- Kinkakuji (golden pavillion)
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and if we have time these sounded interested but don’t seem like can’t miss activities, please let me know if I’m wrong!
\- Yasaka-jinja
\- Kyoto Imperial Palace
\- Nijo Castle
8 comments
I think philosophers path is a must, a enjoyed it so much (I want really early and had it all to my own).
I would do nishiki market + gion the first day, try to fit in also Higashiyama and Kiyomizu dera as it is all pretty close for a walk.
Second day I would do fushimi inari very early 7-8am and then Nara.
Day 3 I would do first Philosophers path and then Arashiyama, this two things are far away one from each other but I think Philosophers path is much more enjoyable than Arashiyama. If you go early (7-8 am) you could be at like 12 at Arashiyama and altough it will be packed you can do the whole route anyway
I think it is better grouped like this
day 1. home much time does your day have when getting from tokyo to kyoto, then seeing tenryuji and the bamboo grove, and hike the monkey park, then head to kawaramachi and its only 3pm – I think you can all do that in a day, but I am certain it will be later in the day when you get to the hotel. the train ride from kyoto station to arashiyama is a short ride, neither pleasant, but not pleasant either.
[if you are done with arashiyama at 3pm like you planned you could make kinkakuji easily]
day 2 is okay
day 3 okay
I think kinkakuji is pretty mandatory, toji and silver pavillion is okay. nijo I would put in the mandatory pile, yasaka as well (especially because you can see it after 5mp), the imperial palace, its pretty good if you get inside and not just stay in the park.
a 4th day would not hurt at all
> day 1
The Kyoto -> Arashiyama train ride is a generic commuter train, the ‘famous’ ride is called Sagano Scenic Railway which is different.
> days 2 & 3
8am in Fushimi Inari is fine, if you are allergic to people then go earlier. Actually since you are only doing a half day in Nara, I would shift Fushimi Inari to the morning of day 3 (it’s on the same train line as Nara), then do Kiyomizudera first thing in the morning on Day 2. It’s vastly more peaceful at 7am than at 9am.
> evening activities
I like walking around Gion, Shirakawa Lane, etc. after dark, very atmospheric and facilitates digestion after dinner. Also you might see real life geisha.
> other items
Philosophers Path is average in October (it’s stunning in cherry blossom season and above average in foliage season), only go if you want to see other stuff in the vicinity (Ginkakuji, Nanzenji etc.). I am not a fan of Kinkakuji as it’s super crowded and basically a one trick pony, but it is of course very famous. Nijo is interesting, Yasaka is 24/7 so you can stroll by after dinner or something.
We did a similar itinerary in September.
In hindsight, I would have skipped Nara. Todaiji was nice, mochi tasted good, deer park was terrible as it had the stench of deer urine and droppings. Skipping Nara will allow you to explore more of Kyoto. I prob would have done Uji instead of Nara, as it’s more quaint and the tea culture there intrigues me.
You can do Golden Pavillion by taking a taxi after you finish Arashiyama
If you are insistant on Nara, it would make sense to do Fushimi Inari v early (6am) then followed by Nara from 9am-1pm. Then are served by the Nara train line.
For us, one or our favourite memories of Kyoto was exploring the little hidden streets of Higashiyama and spending time meandering Sannenzaka and Nannezaka. It’s smthg that is easily missed if you are speedy through Kyoto on a tight itinerary.
An important part of Kyoto is learning to let go of your FOMO and promise yourself you’ll visit again in the future. There is simply too much to do and see in that magnificent city and 3 days is simply not enough. The goal of travel is to enjoy the experience and not be anxious about what you might miss. You are already blessed to be able to visit.
For fushimi inari, highly recommend going as early as possible. My wife and I got there for 7 and went to the top and back by like 930-10 and by the way down it was PACKED with people. We were able to get some great scenic pictures with less people when we got there right away and then just relaxed and enjoyed our way down even though it was so overcrowded by that point.
Also highly recommend Kinkakuji, it’s a very serene place and it’s stunning to see in person. We went after our morning in Arashiyama so again it’s super crowded but manageable.
Our experience was for Kyoto we ended up having very early mornings and doing everything we wanted by like 3pm, went back to our accommodation to shower and relax for 2 hours then find a restaurant for dinner and walking around then ending the night relatively early. It’s completely opposite of how we spent our time in Tokyo where you sleep in a bit because not much is open early, then staying out later at night for the night life.
Fushimi Inari is amazing. In my opinion, it is one of the coolest spots in Kyoto. If you feel at all like you really want to experience it the best way possible: get there EARLY. Like as early as possible. Like sunrise. We went at 9am and it was a (excuse my language) fucking zoo. Shoulder to shoulder people. Selfie sticks and tripods everywhere. Influencers making Tiktoks. You get the point. I thought 9am would be early enough. It wasn’t. Hindsight, I’d go at the break of dawn because I think it would be magical.
I would agree to not packing too much into the trip, you’ll want some down time to enjoy a coffee or snack, rest, and take in the environment. I personally like Arashiyama close to golden hour / dusk. Seeing the river start to light up by the river boats and nearby businesses is really magical.
There are a lot of temples in your itinerary. I went with 3 of my Architect friends (I myself am in architecture) and we got pretty temple’d out. I would pick one or two that really resonate with you or convenient to your main itinerary. I would agree with the Golden Temple being a bit of a one trick pony, HOWEVER, it might be a good opportunity to see fall / autumn leaves (if they haven’t fallen by then). We went in the dead heat of summer last month at like noon so we could only stay for like 15 min, haha.
Regarding Nara, could you attach that to the morning you head back to Tokyo if you are leisurely going back? It is a little out of the way, but with the JR pass it could be fairly easy considering you probably can’t check into your Tokyo hotel until 3. There should be storage lockers at the train stations.
Hit fushimi inari in the morning before going to Nara. It’s along the same train line and convenient