3 Days in Kyoto Itinerary: Guide for First-Timers
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
The small, historically-dense and culturally-rich city of Kyoto will give you a taste of all the icons you may associate with Japanese culture. Think vibrant Shinto shrines, peaceful Buddhist temples, monasteries and lush gardens. There’s plenty to see and do so the choice to spend a day or a month is yours entirely. In my view though, if the rest of your itinerary boasts of temples and gardens, it’s best to spend three to four days here so the novelty of the sights isn’t lost.
We set aside three days for Kyoto – and while it allowed us to cover all the sights we wanted, it would have been nice to take things at a more leisurely pace. I say this if you too wind up with the logistical difficulties we faced, namely the fact that we couldn’t drop our luggage off at the hotel. Instead, they wanted us to drop off the luggage at their office in Kyoto central. Sounds easy enough but when a hotel has multiple branches in close proximity of one another, without any clearly distinguished names, it’s easy to end up like us: at the wrong branch, finally getting inside the room to find it was occupied. All of this drama kind of tired us out and we wished we had one more day in Kyoto to take everything at a slower pace. In saying that though, if you have limited time in Japan then 3 days is just fine to get the majority covered in Kyoto.
Day 1 - Higashiyama and Downtown Kyoto
Consider the Higashiyama area to be the hub of Japanese temples, shrines, museums and gardens. Here are some of the highlights:
1. Kiyomizu-dera Temple: My favourite temple in the Higashiyama district, it’s set on a hill and offers spectacular views of the city beneath. Situated on large grounds, it’s the perfect spot to snap up a picture, especially during the cherry blossom season. If you are going to check out one temple in Higashiyama, make it this one.
2. Yasaka Pagoda: Another popular temple to visit if you’re in the area is the Yasaka Pagoda. The streets between this site and the Kiyomizudera temple are Ninen-zaka street and Sannen-zaka street, some of the best but also the most crowded.
3. Ninen-zaka street and Sannen-zaka street: As I mentioned above, these are some of the most crowded streets in the city but rightly so. Situated on an incline and lined with beautiful traditional wooden houses, this is perfect spot to sit down at one of the many tea-houses and cafes and grab a bite to eat or visit the abundant shops to purchase a snack. I got myself a cheesy croquette that seemed vegetarian but I don’t know if it had dashi or not.
4. Cherry blossom ice cream: Since we were in Japan during cherry blossom season, there was cherry blossom flavoured food everywhere. In Kyoto we sampled a sakura ice cream, which was the perfect way to wind down from the heat.
5. Ishibei-koji street: A narrow passage lined with preserved traditional buildings, this is one of the most atmospheric walkways in Kyoto. Stepping here feels like stepping back in time to when the Samurais and Geishas dominated the streets of the city.
6. Gion and Shimbashi Street: Dubbed Kyoto’s Geisha district, Gion is home to plenty of entertainment -- from restaurants, to shops, to traditional teahouses. Despite all the commercial hubbub, it still preserves a sense of an era gone by thanks to the Geisha spottings, although there’s a chance it might just be a tourist dressed up as one. We were lucky enough to see a real geisha for a split second and they really do have a different aura.
7. Eat Kyoto style curry udon - Mimikou in Gion is a famous restaurant popular for it’s curry udon noodles that started way back in 1969 as a humble stall. They use a typical Kyoto-taste broth and offer a separate vegetarian menu in English. I got their vegetarian kitsune udon which had deep-fried tofu topped on noodles in a curry soup. This was without a doubt one of my most memorable meals as a vegetarian in Kyoto on my Japan trip.
8. Ponto Cho: A narrow alleyway packed with restaurants on both sides, this is the perfect spot to get both traditional Japanese food as well as more modern fusion cuisine. With old wooden buildings lit up by Japanese lanterns in the evening, it’s the ideal place for an evening walk and dinner or drinks. We had dinner at a modern Japanese restaurant which had some western dishes too such as the bruschetta for entrée followed by a vegetarian yakisoba for mains.
9. Nishiki market: Although there is lot of meat and seafood, vegetarians will still find a few snacks to eat at Nishiki market so I say it’s worth a visit if only to stare at all the unique ways Japanese prepare their food. I saw stalls of big pickled gourds, all sorts of dried fruits, skewers of strange fish and suffice to say it was nothing like I had seen before. Vegetarians can try soymilk donuts which were delicious, edamame croquettes, grilled mochi which are chewy and soft with a nice toasted flavour and a variety of rice crackers.
10. Teahouses and tea ceremony: This is a must do activity in Kyoto. Now be aware that there are cheaper or free tea ceremonies that are conducted in temples as well and while they are a nice way to enjoy a cup of matcha usually surrounded by beautiful gardens, I would highly recommended shelling out money to see the full-fledged 45 minute long tea ceremony conducted in tea-houses. It’s an amazing experience and we even got to make our own cup of matcha. We went to a tea-house called En, a quaint and casual place run by a young lady who provided an in-depth explanation and put us all at ease instantly. It was mesmerising to watch her conduct the ceremony and strange to witness her switch from a graceful, elegant and precise persona during the tea ceremony to the normal every day girl like us post the ceremony. I cannot recommend this experience highly enough.
11. Pablo bakery – For all the cheesecake lovers, this is a must try bakery in Japan. With branches all over japan, we ended up trying them in Kyoto. Rich, creamy, fluffy and not too sweet, they were perfect.
Day 2 - Fushimi Inari Shrine and Nara
This day was alotted for a day trip outside Kyoto to Nara and combined with Fushimi Inari Shrine in the morning. Although the day started early, it was much more relaxed as we focussed on roaming the grounds in Nara and playing with the deer instead of trying to see every single temple. You can read all about the day trip in our previous post here and here.
Day 3 - Arashiyama
This is another district where a lot of Kyoto's popular temples are located. Unlike Higashiyama, the temples are a lot more spread apart and have a countryside vibe making them perfect for cycling. Its the perfect way to give your tired feet a break from walking on day 1. To read more in detail, check out our previous post here.
Kyoto was everything you see in historical Asian dramas and it is sure to charm you. It was unlike any other city I'd visited before and our 3 days flew by quickly. Although this list covers the iconic sights, do make sure to get lost in the streets as well and just savour in the surroundings.
More Japan posts to come soon!
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