Sanjusangendo is worth it. Central, not busy, doesn’t take long to visit, and is stunning and atmospheric. No photos permitted, so it doesn’t show up on Instagram or RU-vid very often
Hi Amy , us again....think I've watched this vid 5 times now....love it. Off there in 6 weeks, the quiet areas you mentioned and in other clips... Ive just made a note of feel more us......My wife (who is Thai) says no matter when u visit Kyoto it's always, busy......so 3 days will do it for us then we are heading to Hiroshima and Lake Biwa.....Omihachiman, which looks so ancient and peaceful . I'll let u know. Stu & Tan
Yes, the famous places will definitely be crowded so just be ready for that! Many people recommend getting up extremely early, but towards the end of the day places are less crowded too. In particular, Yasaka Shrine is lovely in the evening - the lanterns are lit up so it's beautiful, and hardly anyone there. Earlier this year I also took a trip to Uji which was calmer than central Kyoto, and the same goes for Kurama and Kibune, if you get sick of the crowds.
As you said, you can enjoy beautiful buildings and gardens when you visit temples in Kyoto. I think there’s one more thing that you could pay attention to but tourists from foreign countries would rarely come for. That’s Buddhist statues. When I visited Koryuji temple in Uzumasa, Kyoto, I couldn’t leave the famous ’Miroku Bosatsu’ for a while, who has been smiling for over thousand years. I visited there a few times to meet the statue since then. There’re a lot of statues to meet in Kyoto.
I went to the bamboo forest in Arashiyama at like 04:30 in the morning and I was still not alone. Yes, sharing the space with 4-5 other people is still better than with a 100 other people, but the place IS really popular. Nevertheless, totally worth it. Even saw some of the local boys from the private property in the forest - shaved head, dressed in traditional clothing, sweeping the pathways early in the morning.
You probably wouldn't have that experience & seen them sweeping if you'd gone later! I've never managed to get up that early! 😝 But if you have jetlag, make the most of it!!
We only spent 2 days in Kyoto, which was not enough. Kinkakuji is my favourite place in Japan… so beautiful, like what I imagine heaven to be. But extremely crowded. We loved just walking around Kyoto Railway Station as there is so much to see and do and eat there. Also, across the road there is great souvenier shopping at Kyoto Tower. And we really loved the Kyoto Railway Museum…lots to see and learn there and not crowded, and signs in English at the museum! When I went to Japan in the 90s I also enjoyed going to Kyoto Handicraft Centre and Toei Kyoto Studio Park.
You're right, there's so much to do there! Kyoto Station's really cool - I stayed close to it and the architecture's stunning. There's a floor of ramen shops, and a light up display on the stairs - really cool!
We did only one of those things in Kyoto: Nishiki Market! Also went to Gion which was mentioned. Part of the Kyoto leg of the trip was a day trip to Nara, but while in Kyoto we stayed in Pontocho and did stuff around there including the Teramachi-dori shopping arcade, Kyoto Handicraft Center, restaurants and shrines/temples (we saw the Heian Shrine, Kennin-ji temple and Yasaka Shrine). I loved Nishiki Market, definitely worth a visit!
I've done all those, and they are all great. The Philosophers' Path at cherry blossom time was really busy but well worth doing. As well as temples, there are places to eat and little shops. I'd add a couple. The Heian Shrine, while not outstanding in itself, has a very nice garden wrapped around it, Sanjusangendo temple has an amazing array of 1001 human-sized statues of Kanon and other statues of Gods arrayed on a terrace inside the longest wooden building in Japan. For something different there's the Toei Kyoto Studio Park with open air sets of old Japan, restaurants, anime and other exhibits and, of course, lots of souvenir shops.
I love Kyoto! Fushimi Inari was very good! I agree, you can definitely get templed out though! On our trip we also enjoyed taking part in a tea ceremony and we were lucky to see the Miyako Odori performance, which was amazing! x
It takes about 2-3 hours to go all the way to the top. It was more challenging than I expected (but I was expecting easy!) - but only because there are steps and slopes to go up. You're going up a very small mountain - although it's all paved pathway. There are lots of places to take breaks, and you can turn back at any point you want to. Although I'd definitely recommend going up past the first few sections, because most people turn back after that. You don't have to go far and it's much less crowded.
Planning my itinerary for Kyoto during the first week of April and I've all these spots listed! I do wonder if I'll be able to visit the Kyoto Imperial Palace area and Shugakuin Imperial Villa without a tour group since I'm going solo. Thanks for the video!
I've just got back from Kyoto! You can now visit the Imperial Palace without a tour group. I walked through the grounds when it was getting dark and only saw the outside walls! You'll be able to visit the villa too, although you'll need to book onto one of their tours to go in: www.japan-guide.com/e/e3936.html
If it's still around when I finally get to go to Japan, I would love to visit Nyan Nyan Ji in Kyoto. Would be interesting to see how it compares to Gotokuji Temple in Tokyo.
Gion district for the sakura trees, Fushimi Inari walk climb (the first 2 sections arent eough...). i plan to walk the whole Fushimi Inari shrine next time. Kiyomizydera was nice, good place to wander and admire the sakuras. Maruyama park is on my list also to visit. didnt have time to go there. silver temple is on the list also. im planning to spend 3-4 days in kyoto so this helps to plan stuff.
I think that Nijo castle is nice as long as you have the right expectation. Quite often what people want to see is the castle keep. However, the building where the lord lived and received guess was not the keep, but the palace. If you want to see both a keep and palace, then you have Kumamoto castle and Nagoya castle. Both are beautifully done re-construction. In Kumamoto the palace is still close as the castle was damaged by an earthquake and in Nagoya, the keep is close and under renovation. As for Nijo castle, it have quite some historic significance as it is where the las shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, returned the authority of the shogun to the emperor.
Yes I think you're right, it's all about your expectations! I'm glad that Kumamoto castle's re-opening more of the rebuilt areas now and continuing its recovery.
I’ve enjoyed your videos. which transportation card should I get if we are only visiting Kyoto? Would it work to get to Kansai airport? Would Welcome Suica work? Thanks!
The local version of Suica in that region is called Icoca. It's basically exactly the same, it just has a different name. I believe that Welcome Suica is only on sale in JR East regions - but if they happen to have it, that'll work too! So just get whichever one's available. :-) There's a discount ticket available for trains to the airport that you can buy as a package together with the Icoca, which will save you a bit of money! You can buy it from the airport: (and there's an Icoca card with Hello Kitty on it!) www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/icoca-haruka/ Hope that helps!
We went to the train museum at Kyoto which was brilliant, although at the restaurant, I ordered the children’s meal by mistake!! People kept looking at me funny and on the way I looked at the menu and realised!!!
What does the inside of a pagoda look like Can u do a video on places that are wheelchair accessible, or fun things to do in Japan if your in a wheelchair? Plz
Mostly you can't go inside a pagoda - not sure if that's true for all of them but I haven't seen any that you can go inside. At temples and shrines, you often walk around the grounds and gardens rather than going in the buildings. I think they sometimes have sacred statues/artefacts inside. Wheelchair accessibility isn't my specialist area (although if you have any questions I'll always do my best to help out if I can). A really useful website is Accessible Japan - it tells you how accessible places are: www.accessible-japan.com/ They also have a blog with ideas for things to do, trip reports, etc: www.accessible-japan.com/blog/
That's a great idea for a walking route! I LOVE K-On, it's my fav anime! So cute 💕 I've been past the Three Kings pub many times - it's close to Olympia where I used to have a stall at Hyper Japan! Love how scenes from anime are often so close to real life.
Kyoto is cool, but you really get "Temple-Burn-Out" there :D Next time I wanna see Fushimi-Inari all way to the top, haven't been all the way up so far. The only problem about Kyoto is that it's almost always super crowded. There are other cities, which are a lot less visited and which are kind of similar to Kyoto (you'll find those if you look up "Little Kyoto").
Absolutely agree - you can have a much better experience in a less crowded, less well-known place! (That's why I like the bamboo garden in Kamakura so much!).
I think the problem with Kyoto is that tourists aren't distributing themselves much at all, causing certain spots to get super crowded. If you step away from those places, you will find that the majority of Kyoto is actually pretty quiet. It's understandable if people want to visit Fushimi Inari Taisha or Kiyomizu-dera, however there's so much to do and to see. You will have an unforgettable experience wherever you go. There are 2000+ temples and shrines in Kyoto, yet hundreds of tourists squeeze themselves together to look across a pond while snapping pictures of a temple you can't even go inside of. There are four geisha districts in Kyoto, yet most people drown in the crowds of Gion or cram into Pontocho Alley while Kamishichiken (Kyoto's oldest geisha district) and Miyagawa-cho see considerably less visitors. I visited Takao valley just outside the city with a friend and we had nearly the entire complex of Jingo-ji temple to ourselves. It was an incredibly stunning and very memorable experience. We even met an elderly man working at a smaller temple nearby who was super kind & showed us around the place, answering all of our questions. Sometimes all it takes is a short bus or train ride or even just a couple steps from the "main attractions" into the backstreets and neighbourhoods to find a hidden gem, which Kyoto has a lot to offer.
@@josephinee.7008 True! We wandered around a bit and found ourselfs at "Jōjakkō-ji Temple" a bit north of the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest - I think we saw at most 5 other people there, wonderful temple with a great view and just as nice as a lot of the others, more visited ones.
@@Astran0th Totally agree, Jōjakkō-ji temple is gorgeous. As mentioned in Amy's video if you walk or ride a bicycle further up north away from the busy shopping areas near Togetsukyo bridge, it's super quiet and atmospheric. There are lots of beautiful temples, such as Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple which has a small bamboo grove as well. My favorite was the small Gio-ji moss temple. There were also a lot of shops selling pottery at pretty affordable prices as well as small restaurants and cafes. So much to do & see in Arashiyama.
@@josephinee.7008 Absolutely, 100%! Most people stick to top 10s like this so everyone goes to the same places. I think that's the problem for the whole of Japan - as foreigners we mostly only hear about the same places on the Golden Route so people don't realise there are so many other amazing areas to visit. That sounds like a fantastic experience at Takao valley; thanks for sharing! :-)
It's free to get in! But I'm always surprised how cheap temples and shrines are when there is an entrance fee. Everywhere in Kyoto's crowded, because that's where everyone goes when they go to Japan. I think if foreign tourists knew about all the other amazing places in Japan, they'd go to a wider variety of places rather than the few we always hear about.
Do you ever get any general negative responses from locals, I keep seeing allot of “Japanese hates tourists” videos in my recommended feed? I mean I get it but I also never click em because I hate negative clickbait videos.
I've never experienced anything like that. I've heard people refer to me as "gaijin" (foreigner) a few times but it's not necessarily a hostile term. I think people are too polite to openly show any ill feeling if there is any. (And I think the videos are definitely clickbait!!)
We went to 8 cities in Japan and everyone we came across was polite, generous, helpful and friendly. However in Kyoto we did come across just the slightest amount of hostility, though Japanese people are rarely openly hostile. Probably it was because they are sick and tired of their city being taken over by tourists. Generally it was just the teenagers with this attitude though. ☺️
@@ninalindner529 It's understandable I guess!! At least there's a break from tourists now - although I suspect it's not that welcome for the majority of businesses that rely on tourism.
