Kyoto: Our 5-night, 6-day Itinerary

If you are thinking of going to Kyoto, I highly recommend spending at least 4-5 days there. Many of the package trips offered at the on-base travel office are for 3-days, 2-nights, and honestly, I have NO IDEA how people see everything in that amount of time. There are so many great sights in Kyoto, and it was nice to have plenty of time to see them all. So, in case it might be helpful to you, I'm posting our itinerary from our trip. I grouped things into areas of Kyoto to save time on traveling throughout the city. There are two great websites to use to plan your trip: Japan-Guide.com, and Inside-Kyoto.com. Inside-Kyoto was by far the best website I found for in-depth knowledge of Kyoto.

Good luck, and have a great trip!

Day 1: Arrival & Central Kyoto

• Ride the shinkansen into Kyoto (a 2-hour trip from Tokyo) and arrive around lunchtime.
• Once in Kyoto, we grabbed a taxi and checked-in to our rental home.
• We went to Nijo castle this afternoon. It’s one of the only things that’s on the tourist list for central Kyoto. 
• Open from 8:45am-5:00pm (last admission 4pm).

Day 2: Southeast Kyoto

• Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine
• Open dawn to dusk, free admission.
• Gion Corner
• Miyako-Odori performance (only in the month of April)
• 2,000 yen for walk-in tickets
• Dinner at Kyoto's Ninja restaurant

Day 3: Southern Higashiyama

• Kiyomizu-dera Temple (“must-see” temple with balcony)
• Open 0600-1800
• Adults 300 yen, children 200 yen
• Ninen-zaka & Sannen-zaka streets
• Many shops don't open until 10:00am
• Chion-in Temple (Pureland Buddhist temple, staircase featured in “The Last Samurai”)
• Open 0900-1630
• Free admission to grounds
• For temple: Adults 300 yen, children 150 yen
• Nanzen-ji Temple
• Open 0840 to 1700
• Free grounds
• 500 yen to go up in the huge front gate. It's worth it!
• 500 yen admittance to Hojo and rock garden

Day 4: Northern Higashiyama

• Sanjusangendo ("Hall of 1,000 Buddhas" - it's located in Southern Higashiyama, so we took a cab from Kyoto station and then took a train to Northern Higashiyama)
• Open 0800-1700
• Adults 600 yen, children 300 yen
• Philosopher’s Path
• Honen-in Temple (a favorite among locals, special Amida Buddha statue)
• Open 0600-1600
• Free admission
• Ginkaku-ji Temple (silver pavilion)
• Open 0830-1700
• Adults 500 yen, children 300 yen

Day 5: Arashiyama, Northwest Kyoto

• Kinkaku-ji Temple (golden pavilion)
• Open 0900-1700
• Adults 400 yen, children 300 yen
• Ryoan-ji Temple
• Open 0800-1700
• Adults 500 yen, children 300 yen
• Tenryu-ji Temple, with lunch at the temple restaurant (vegetarian, Buddhist cuisine!)
• Open 0830-1730
• Free admission to grounds
• Hojo garden and temple admission: Adults 500 yen, children 300 yen
• Lunch set starts at 3,000 yen and is worth every penny.
• Monkey Park
• Open 0900-1700
• Adults 550 yen
• Food for monkeys 200 yen (I think...)

Day 6: Downtown Kyoto

• Nishiki Market (traditional food/shopping)
• Head home on the shikansen!

Kyoto: Day 6 (Nishiki Market and our return home)

On our last morning in Kyoto, we had a little bit of time to waste before catching our afternoon train. We decided to visit the popular Nishiki market to do some browsing and grab some lunch. Nishiki market is 5 blocks long and is filled with over a hundred shops and restaurants. Most of the shops sell foods that you'll only find in Japan. It started with the first fish shop that opened in 1310, and many families have operated the same shops for generations. I read that the market location was chosen because of the underground springs (which made it easy to get water for fish vendors) and because it was not to far to carry food to/from Nijo castle.

Our friends had lunch at what they say was a marvelous vegan restaurant while we had lunch at a little Indian restaurant. We caught our train around 2:00pm, and were walking in our front door by 5:30pm. It was a great visit to Kyoto, though it was hardly a vacation. We jam-packed our days with things to see and do, and I have no idea how people visit Kyoto in just a 3-day trip. I'll be posting our itinerary for our trip tomorrow if you are planning a trip to Kyoto yourself. Kyoto is the place to go for a trip to Ancient Japan. It's one of the only cities in Japan that wasn't destroyed during the War so many of the buildings are originals - not reproductions. If you find yourself in Japan, Kyoto is definitely one of the places you should squeeze into your trip.

Kyoto: Day 5 (Arashiyama)

On our fifth and final day in Kyoto, we headed to the far western edge of the city. The Arashiyama area is known for the Golden Pavillion, the most famous zen rock garden in Japan, Tenryuji temple, and the bamboo grove that is so often seen in pictures, and on postcards, of Japan. 

The famed Golden Pavilion is the Zen temple, Kinkakuji, and the top two tiers are completely covered in gold leaf. It was the retirement villa for a shogun, and in accordance with his will, it was turned into a Zen temple in 1408. It has burned down multiple times, and was most recently rebuilt in 1955. My 4yo loves all things gold, so she really liked visiting this temple. I, however, didn't enjoy it as much as other places we'd been to because of the insane amount of tourists visiting. 

After leaving Kinkakuji, we walked a little ways to Ryoanji temple. Ryoanji is home to the most famous rock garden in all of Japan. Originally, it was an aristocrat's villa and was converted into a Zen temple in 1450. Surprisingly, little is known about the rock garden's origins. No one really knows when it was constructed, and there are just guesses about its designer. Even more of a mystery is the garden's meaning. Some say the rocks are meant to represent a tiger carrying its cubs across a pond, islands in the sea, or... maybe an abstract concept like infinity. The temple also had some beautiful gardens on the grounds. In all honesty, we enjoyed the gardens more than the rock garden.

Deep in thought.... maybe.

Sakura blossoms falling like snow! 

6yo took this picture. She said she loved the two colors of sakura.

After we got our zen on at the rock garden, we took the train to Tenryuji temple and my husband and girls split off from myself and our friends. He was going to take the girls to get some lunch while we had an authentic, vegetarian, Buddhist meal INSIDE the temple! Tenryuji temple is the first among Kyoto's five great Zen temples, and is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple was built in 1339.

You can call the temple and make reservations (which we did), but I also saw plenty of people just walking in for lunch. It was 3,000 yen ($30) for the set, but you could also buy nicer sets, as well as add on beer, wine, or sake.

The entrance to the temple restaurant. 

I have no idea what most of this was, but it was delicious!

One of the highlights of their trip.

The garden behind the main hall at Tenryuji.

The famous bamboo grove... although, I like our local bamboo temple, Hokokuji, better.

Traditional meets modern.

You've probably noticed that we've tried to include a visit to a "fun" place for the kids the last few days. We've had them trekking all over Kyoto, visiting lots of temples, and eating lots of Japanese food (not their favorite). The least we could do was to reward them with something at the end of our long days. Today, that reward was the monkey park in Arashiyama. This was another place that they had previously seen on The Little Travelers: Japan, so they were very excited about following in the Little Travelers' footsteps. And they were really excited about seeing the monkeys.

I knew the park was up in the mountains, but I didn't know that the park is literally on the top of the mountain. The climb up to the monkeys is NOT stroller friendly... heck, it wasn't friendly in general.

We had to cross the river to get to the park.

I think I burned about 70,000 calories on the way up. It just kept going!

Just before you'll get to the top, you'll start to see monkeys swinging through the trees. These are Japanese Macaque's, a native species to Japan. On top of the mountain are amazing views of the city, and then there's also a cage. The cage isn't for the monkeys... it's for the humans. You go into the cage, buy a bag of peanuts or fruit (the fruit is more expensive), and feed the monkeys through the cage wire. If you have kids, they'll love it. There is also a small playground on the way down.

This was the best view in all of Kyoto.

I adore this picture.

Pure joy.

The monkey park was a great end to our day. I wish we had been able to spend more time in Arashiyama - there were some great shopping streets and restaurants - but it was freezing and windy when we got to the monkey park. The girls wanted to play so badly that they toughed it out as long as they could. However, we were too cold to walk back to the train, so we just decided to grab a taxi back to the machiya. The taxi ride turned out to be one of the perks of my trip - I was able to carry on a conversation in Japanese with my taxi driver. Even though it might have been full of the same types of sentences, it was more than just one or two sentences in length and our taxi driver seemed to enjoy talking with me! Finally, those Japanese lessons are paying off. 

Kyoto: Day 4 (the "Philosopher's Path")

On our fourth day in Kyoto, we took a cab from Kyoto station to Sanjusangendo, the "Hall of 1,000 Buddhas." I had heard lots of good reviews about this temple, and my best friend told me that it felt like one of the most spiritual places she'd ever been. Needless to say, I was really looking forward to it. 

Sanjusangendo was founded in 1164 and is filled with 1,000 Kannon, the goddess of mercy. The hall itself is Japan's longest wooden structure. In the middle of all the smaller Kannon, stands a giant 1000-armed Kannon. Pictures are not allowed inside - there were signs saying, "If we see you taking pictures, your camera will be confiscated." So, while I was not able to take pictures, I did find one online to give you an idea of what you'll see inside. This temple was one of my favorite places in Kyoto. The ambiance inside was so serene, and yes, spiritual. The room was dimly lit with filtered light from windows and the glow of candles. There was incense burning throughout. And everyone walked slowly along the wall, admiring the mesmerizing amount of statues. 

The temple hall. The part jutting out on the left is just the middle. Yes, it's LONG. 

More school kids taking pictures.

Purifying herself. (Or, just playing in the water.)

Inside the hall.

Outside the hall were some covered walkways and small gardens.

Back to the fountain for a second round.

4yo tried taking a picture of us. Not too bad!

Daddy and daughter. 

6yo also wanted to try her hand at the camera. It turned out well!

After leaving Sanjusangendo, we headed to the famed "Philosopher's Path" - a scenic walk along a canal at the bottom of the hills of Higashiyama with many temples along the way. During cherry blossom season, this path is lined with gorgeous sakura blossoms.

One of the temples we stopped to visit was Honen-in, which I had read was a hidden gem. It was full of moss-covered rocks, and was simply beautiful nestled among the trees and hills.

The final stop at the of end of the Philosopher's Path was Ginkakuji, the "Silver Pavillion." The street walking up to Ginkakuji was lined with shops and restaurants, so we found a little hole-in-the-wall place for lunch. I got some Japanese comfort food - katsudon - which is a pork cutlet, mixed with gooey egg, on top of rice. Mmmmm!

Ginkakuji was the retirement villa of a shogun (samurai warlord) and was converted into a Zen temple after his death in 1490. The unique dry sand garden is definitely an interesting site, and the grounds are fantastic. The only problem is the huge amount of visitors, which detracts just a bit from its beauty.

The "silver pavilion" is the 2-story structure just to the right of the sand mound. Don't you love the sand designs?

The view from the hill at the back of the grounds. Beautiful! 

Love this forest. 

Simply beautiful.

4yo requested this picture at the ice-cream shop just outside the temple. So kawaii!

After leaving Ginkakuji, we split up from our friends and took a taxi back to the machiya with the girls. At this point in our trip, they were started to get a little templed-out (and let's be honest, so was my husband). We knew they needed a bit of a break, so we took them home for a little R&R while our friends headed out for more sightseeing.