Hi all,
I made an itinerary check post earlier this week and really appreciated all the helpful comments I received. I changed some things up and wanted some more feedback. In particular, there are a lot of temples I want to visit and I don’t think I have enough time to see them all. I was hoping I could receive some advice on which ones I could skip and/or won’t fit into my schedule. Here’s my itinerary so far:
Day 1:
Morning: Fushimi Inari Taisha (6am), Tōfuku-ji, Nishiki Market
Afternoon: Daitoku-ji, Kinkaku-ji, Ryōan-ji
Evening: Shinkyogoku Shopping Street, Pontocho
Day 2:
Morning: H̶e̶i̶a̶n̶-̶j̶i̶n̶g̶u̶, Hōnen-in, Ginkaku-ji,
Afternoon: Nanzen-ji Temple, Kiyomizu-dera
Evening: Higashiyama Ward, Kodaiji Temple
Day 3:
Morning: ̶A̶r̶i̶s̶h̶i̶y̶a̶m̶a̶ ̶M̶o̶n̶k̶e̶y̶ ̶P̶a̶r̶k̶, Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji, Jojakkoji Temple
Afternoon: Giō-ji, Otagi Nenbutsuji, Daikaku-ji
Evening: Gion Corner
Thank you in advance!
10 comments
Day one and day two seem fine for me. Similar to my stuff but I was solo… And didn’t overstay my welcome. Can’t speak for day three as I did the forest and walk around the area but no monkey park
That’s *a lot* of temples in three days. Be aware of temple fatigue.
I’m a true believer in less is more, and there’s always next time.
Day 1: I would probably suggest replacing Daitoku-ji with Ninna-ji or Kitano Tenmangu, unless you want to visit a specific precinct, but is generally doable outside autumn foliage period (and queues at Tofuku-ji)
Day 2: It would probably make more sense to start with Kiyomizu-dera (around 7:30-8am), even if you intend to come back to Kodai-ji for the evening light-ups and go up (Yasaka Shrine, Heian-jingu, Nanzen-ji, Honen-in, Ginkaku-ji) for ease of logistics.
Day 3: You will most likely not get to Daikaku-ji, unless you will do a speed run.
I spent a week in Kyoto this spring and saw many amazing temples, but one that really stuck out to me was Sanjusangendo (Rengeo-in).
When we were there we just happened to be walking past it about 30 minutes before closing and decided on a whim to check it out. It was really really cool and I would consider it a must-see
One thing I’ll be mindful of is going to Gion in the evening: in my experience from a week ago, after 6 it becomes pretty much empty. We had to go to Gion one more time during the day to actually catch all the touristy stuff 🙂
**Day 1:** Fushimi and Tofuku-ji together is great, that’s exactly what I did
Why is Nishiki market in the morning on day 1 whilst the shopping street and pontocho are the evening? Nishiki is basically in the shopping district and next to pontocho so it’d make sense to do them together, be mindful of closing time of Nishiki is usually around 5pm from what I was told.
**Day 2:** I think you are doubling up on your distance. The order should probably be like Nanzen-ji -> Honen -> Ginkaku -> Heian so it creates a loop. Make sure to walk the philosopher’s path from Nanzenji -> Honen -> Ginkaku, I didn’t intend to do it but accidentally stumbled my way there and did the whole walk which was absolutely beautiful.
But also I’d potentially cut Heian just because I think you’re doing a lot of temples and the fatigue is REAL. I just got back and did only half of the temples you have listed and I was burnt out. You could potentially start the day at Kiyomizudera instead and then work your way up to the above temples.
**Day 3:** I can’t comment much on the temples here as I didn’t go to any of them. I did arashiyama bamboo grove first thing in the morning, got there by 8am and it was great. It doesnt take much time there though but make sure to go to the bridge here as it is a must see sight. Check the order of the temples as you may be doubling up on walking/travel.
I stayed in Gion so I’m a little biased but its definitely an amazing place to hang out at, I think the evening is totally fine, I often walked around and had dinner at night, the lights are absolutely beautiful and serene at night and it will feel like another world, I much prefer it to the touristy feel that happens when everyone is around. If you are eating out in Gion, make sure to look up some places first and make reservations, some places can be booked out or require reservations.
OP can you do me a solid? Could you post a temple rating of a sort after your visit?
Be aware that things tend to close quite early – my boyfriend and I were there last week and there aren’t many shopping options after 5 or 6 pm from what we observed. I would maybe just research closing times in the areas you plan to hit that are more shopping-oriented (Gion, Shinkyogoku) before committing to going in the evening. Some temples/shrines might be better in the evening while shopping may be better earlier in the day.
The sun will be setting very early when you’re going and, in our experience, a lot of things (especially shops and smaller food stands) close when the sun goes down, but that doesn’t seem to really apply to most shrines or temples.
Things always take longer than expected, especially getting from place to place, and Kyoto is pretty spread out so just keep that in mind!
This is a lot
The temples really are not that interesting after visiting like 3 in one day.
And this is coming from someone who visited at least 1 temple per day on my 23 day trip recently.