Kyoto Sightseeing

Kyoto Sightseeing

All the useful information I wanted to convey are written here. I just pick some and categorized by the area. Check the closing hour of each temple as most of them close at 4pm or 5pm. Shrines are open 24 hours (as long as you don't walk into its buildings, which are off limit anyway for the most part).

  • Get cash
    • Pretty much every single temple charges admission fee. Sometimes multiple fees for multiple sections of a (large scale) temple.
    • Fee varies from 400yen (US$3) to 1500yen (US$15).
    • Shrines are almost always free of charge except a designated area or its museum.
    • No temple/shrine accepts a credit card
  • (Optional) Get a Shuin book
      If you are planning on visiting multiple temples and shrines, you may want to consider purchasing a shin book (朱印帳: shu-in-cho) at the first temple/shrine you visit, and collect stamps (shuin) as you visit. This will be a great memorabilia.
  • Sunscreen
      If your skin is sensitive, you may want to get one though depending on the weather. There is a drugstore (Matsumoto Kiyoshi=マツモトキヨシ or Matsukiyo=マツキヨ for short) inside Kyoto station, on the Hachijo side, the ground level, so you can purchase one there.

Kyoto by Areas

It's safe to say it's impossible to visit all the popular sightseeing spots in Kyoto in a day. I've listed by the following areas below:

  • Arashiyama (嵐山 = storm mountains): far north west corner of Kyoto
  • Kitayama (北山 = north mountains): north end of Kyoto
  • Higashiyama (東山 = east mountains): north east end of Kyoto
  • Kiyomizu/Yasaka (清水/八坂): just south of Higashiyama
  • Near Kyoto station
  • Fushimi (伏見): south/east of Kyoto station

You probably will need half a day to a full day per area below. Please note that

  • most of the areas are scattered around the edge of Kyoto city limit
  • so it takes time to get to by public transportation. The exceptions are Arashiyama and Fushimi (though they are opposite from each other), which can be easily accessible by JR Train from Kyoto station.
  • But some areas are very close from one another (e.g. Arashiyama and Kitayama, and Higashiyama and Kiyomizu/Yasaka). So those two areas can be visited in a day.
  • But going from Arashiyama to Kiyomizu/Yasaka, for example, can be challenging unless you are willing to take a taxi (probably US$50)
So, you will want to plan accordingly.

  • Arashiyama (嵐山 = storm mountains)
    Arashiyama is about 20 min by train (Sagano line) from JR Kyoto station and is a popular spot for autumn leaves, and you would be confronted with a sea of people had you visited in fall, maybe not so much in summer. You may want to allocate at least half a day in case if you are interested in.
    One caution is that the platforms for Sagano-line (something like 31~33) is somewhat hidden in the north west corner of the station behind Platform 0 (zero), which is also confusing. And there’s no platform 11 ~29 as far as I know.
    • Togetsu Kyo bridge
    • Monkey Park: in case if you are bored with temples and like hiking
    • Arashiyama Park Observation Deck
    • Okochi Sanso Villa: I was there in Apiril 2023, and enjoyed it.
    • Bamboo Groves
    • Tenryuji
  • Kita yama (北山 North Mountains)
    Located in the north side of Kyoto, the best way to get there from Kyoto station is by bus (30~40min to Kinkakuji). Getting there from Arashiyama requires two buses, or a cab ride (3,000 yen? to Kinkakuji), or take Keifuku (non-JR) line from Arashiyama station near the main entrance to Tenryuji temple, and then transfer at Katabiranotsuji (帷子ノ辻) station, and get off at Omuno-Ninnaji (御室仁和寺) station and start from Ninnaji in the reverse order of the list below. You probably don't want to walk to every single one of them below in a hot day.
    • Kinkaku-ji temple (金閣寺): The gold pavilion, probably the most popular temple in Kyoto, possibly in Japan as well
    • Ryoan-ji temple (龍安寺): The famous zen rock garden
    • Toji-in temple (等持院): Largely unknown, the resting place of the Ashikaga shogunate, you will be able to see wooden statues of most of Ashikaga shoguns, if you care. And a pretty garden too.
    • Ninna-ji temple (仁和寺): Probably the biggest temple complex in the Kita yama area. A number of halls, a tower and a massive gate, you may want to schedule at least two hours.
  • Higashi yama (東山 East Mountains)
    There’s no efficient way to traverse from Arashiyama or Kitayama to Higashiyama. Taking a bus, it will take about 50min, and you may have to wait up to 20 min for the bus. And a cab ride could be almost 5,000yen. So, you might want to schedule it on another day.
    • Ginkaku-ji temple (銀閣寺): The silver pavilion. While the rich grandpa (Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, 3rd Ashikaga general) who made fortune by trading with Ming Dynasty in China built the gold pavilion with real gold foils, the broke 8th (Yoshimasa) built a place of refugee from the war he caused, and didn't have the money for the gold or the silver. A good reference starts roughly at 2:44 of this popular video. He was politically incapable but astute artistically, and influenced the Japanese culture that lasted to this day (or at least till the 20th century). You might find interesting to compare the two.
    • Philosopher’s Path (哲学の路): Narrow stone path originating/ending at the foot of Ginkakuji-temple, to its south. It's nice for a walk, if it's not too hot.
    • Eikando temple
    • Nanzenji temple and the aqueduct
      • To me Eikando and Nanzenji is either one or the other. There is a good Tofu restaurant near Nanzenji, so I ended up going to Nanzenji more often. Nanzenji is easy to get to by subway, so you could start from Nanzenji and walk up north along the philosopher’s path.
  • Kiyomizu Yasaka (清水 八坂)
    • Kiyomizudera (清水寺): One of more famous temples featuring a dance floor/platform and a shopping street on the way.
    • Yasaka shrine
    • and the tower between the two, though you can’t walk in. This is a popular photo spot.
    • Ninenzaka: iconic shopping alley
  • Gion/Shijo
    • Nishiki market: 400 year old popular food market.
      • There are many more places.
  • Near Kyoto station
  • Fushimi (伏見)
    • Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社): The shrine of thousands of trii gates. Voted the most popular tourist spot among visitors to Japan some years ago. You will have to take a local train for Nara from Kyoto station (2nd stop, express trains will skip).
      In summer, I'd recommend you go there early (like 6am) and quickly hike. With less people, you should be able to go up to the top of the mountain and back in 100min to 2 hours. The shrine is open 24 hours.
    • Tofuku-ji temple (東福寺): This is a beautiful temple roughly 15~20min from Fusimi Inari if you don't get lost. It's probably easier to walk from Tofukuji to the shrine than the other way around, which case you will need to get off at Tofukuji-station (at the first stop) and then 10min walk.

Last Update: 2024-02-19

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