Annnd I'm back again to talk about the second leg of my Japan trip! Osaka and Kyoto are very close and should definitely go hand in hand. I actually would say Kyoto was my favorite city to visit so far in Japan. It's full of beauty and history and, of course, many tasty things to eat. PS....this is gonna be a long one!
Hotel: Aranvert Hotel Kyoto
179 Higashikazariyacho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, 600-8107, Japan
I liked this place! The front desk is very helpful with transportation to a lot of the famous tourist attractions, and the rooms were bigger than Hotel New Hankyu in Osaka. The only issue I had was with the elevators - they took forever and were very small, so over the weekend, I'd have to wait through several elevators stopping at my floor before I could actually squeeze onto one. And, there were no stairs available to take!
Things to Do:
Kiyomizu-dera - Highly recommend visiting this temple! From the main street, you walk up an incline surrounded by shops and food vendors. Be careful, it's a narrow street full of pedestrians and cars (those poor drivers). There's some pretty tasty treats though - we had to get some spinach baos filled with pork. They looked like leaves and were piping hot! We also passed by some giant siumai, matcha soft serve, and grilled mochi that we couldn't resist.
Once you get to the temple entrance, it gets pretty chaotic with the tour groups and people who've come to check the place out, particularly during cherry blossom season. This place is definitely on the lists for places to visit during the sakura season! There's plenty of grounds to check out, and some awesome views no matter the time of year. The only unfortunate part is that the main hall is under renovation until March 2020. While you still can purchase tickets to enter the main hall for 400 yen, it looked incredibly busy and the renovation looked like it would hinder the views a bit. We chose to skip out on that this time.
On the way back, we stopped by a chestnut mochi place and a cream puff store. It's hard to resist good looking food in Japan, amiright?!
Gion - This is a fun area to walk around and get some coffee! I will say a lot of the food seems to be priced higher than I expected here, but I'm sure it's all delicious. You can get lost in all the little alleys, and you may even see a real geisha! There was one building that we stopped near after getting stuck in a foreign tour group - turned out they were waiting for a geisha sighting. There were a couple of traffic officers shouting at people to get out of the way, so as long as you aren't obstructing the flow of traffic, it seems they're cool with you waiting around. My sister caught a glance of a real geisha, but I missed her!
PS - you also may see some live Mario Karting going on in the streets! Oh, and make sure you see the Gion Theatre while in the area - it's particularly beautiful at night.
Yasaka Shrine - Another highly recommended place to visit! It's helpful that it's right in the Gion area, so you can knock out two birds with one stone. Also, it's about a 20-30 minute walk from Kiyomizu-dera.
You enter through the main gates and are greeted with the awesome smell of food tents and grilled foods. I believe there are two paths you can take - we went left and saw a tented haunted house! Honestly, I was somewhat tempted to buy a ticket since you could hear the screams of the people inside.
If you love seeing lanterns (like me!), this is the place to go. I could spend hours just taking photos, especially since you can keep walking and reach Maruyama Park to see some weeping willow cherry blossoms. If you can't go during the sakura season, try going in July - the biggest festival in the country is held here (Gion Matsuri)!
Kyoto Station - This may seem strange to say a subway station is worth visiting, but I have such an appreciation for Asia's public transportation, and this is a great example why. This station is huge and super modern, and, most importantly, it has tons of food and restaurant options! (Also, it has a Mister Donut, so even more points).
We ended up eating here twice since prices are decent and food is good. We had really tasty sushi as well as awesome tonkotsu:
Tsukiji Sushisay - Great quality sushi for decent prices.
Wako tonkatsu Isetan - delicious tonkotsu chain restaurant where you can ask for free refills on the rice, cabbage, and miso soup!
Fushimi Inari Taisha - One of my favorite places in the world! When I come back to Kyoto, I want to dedicate more time to exploring this place (and go on a weekday). The entrance is grand, but then you get to the gates, and it literally takes your breath away. There are thousands of orange gates, some smaller and some large, and walking through them amongst the serene mountain surroundings is so peaceful.
Even with tons of people, this place definitely feels spiritual. It's almost as if everybody agrees to communicate in hushed voices - except for the children running through and counting the gates in Japanese...I wish I knew the numbers so I could know how many gates I'd passed!
The whole path probably requires several hours to walk the whole thing, so we didn't. You can turn back at any time. And, once you're done, you can check out the outside food vendors for a snack or two! We also might have brought some snacks with us...mountain walking is hungry work :)
Heian Shrine - We didn't spend too much time here actually, since we still needed to hit up the two following places this day. I will say that the square itself is pretty impressive, and if the cherry blossoms were more in bloom, we may have been more interested in purchasing a ticket to the garden in the back.
Ginkakuji - This is known as the Silver Pavillion, and is a Zen temple that was modeled after the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji). I would definitely recommend you visit the silver one first. While the grounds and surrounding gardens are BEAUTIFUL, the pavilion itself is not super impressive comparatively. Contrary to its name, it's more of a brown color. However, it's less than $5 to enter, and it's worth walking around.
It's also right near the Path of Philosophy, which is a lovely area to take in cherry blossoms. We saw a few vendors and shops and stopped to snack on a green tea tart.
Nishiki Market - What can I say? Food markets are awesome, and this is no exception. The market itself closes at 6 PM, and stalls begin closing around 5. We had some more of the quail egg-stuffed baby octopus, some tamago as well as a tamago sandwich, a corn dog with tofu sauce that was surprisingly delicious, and some soymilk donuts!
Arashiyama - This district a must-see! It's a little bit of a trek, but so, so worth it. The Arashiyama Bamboo Forest is incredible - it's beautiful and absolutely serene. Not only are you surrounded by the beautiful green bamboo, you also hear them "whisper" as the wind blows! I'd say that people were probably the nicest here about waiting on others to take pictures, since everybody was trying to get that perfect shot!
You must visit the Tenryuji Temple that's by the entrance. It has the most gorgeous gardens with weeping willow cherry blossoms and tons of other flowers. They label a lot of the trees and flowers with charming wooden signs. We paid 500 yen to enter, though you can pay an extra 300 yen for access inside the temple buildings. I believe there are several temples and shrines in the Arashiyama area, but this by far is the most impressive. It's even a world heritage site!
After checking out the bamboo forest and temple, I'd recommend walking toward the Arashiyama bridge. There, you can find restaurants and shops. We stopped by a very elegant tofu restaurant where all the dishes were focused on soy and tofu. I'm usually not into tofu being the star of my meal, but this was certainly the exception.
Kinkakuji - Finally, the Gold Pavilion. Such a beautiful building, and I can't imagine the upkeep it requires. It literally shines and sparkles, even in gloomy weather! My mom told us that it's particularly beautiful when the sun shines upon it. It's 400 yen for admission, and the temple is the first thing you see when walking in. You'll have to wait to take the perfect picture, but once you're done, you can walk at your own leisure through the grounds!
It's a beautiful walk, and as you exit, you'll see food vendors and shops. You'll see more food shops after exiting, and that's where we feasted on some black okonomiyaki manjoo (bun), matcha dango, black sesame dango, chestnuts, and, of course, more matcha soft serve. The manjoo was incredible, and the rest of the goodies were tasty, too!
PHEW! We did a lot in Kyoto, and it was all worth seeing and tasting. Fitting it all in three days was definitely a feat, and I think I'd like more time to explore next time I go.
Have you been to Kyoto, and if so, what was your favorite thing to do or eat?
- HungryDeb
PS - Check out my videos on traveling in Kyoto below!
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