Do you ever wonder where to go when you visit Kyoto for the first time? In this article, I will explain and describe the top ten tourist destinations most people visit for the first time in Kyoto.
Kyoto is one of the oldest municipalities in Japan and was Japan’s capital city for more than 1,000 years since 794 AD. It is considered as a cultural and historical hearts of Japan. Due to its richness in traditional Japanese culture, each year Kyoto attracts millions of local and international tourists who want to see and experience the traditional temples, shrines, gardens, shops and festivals.
Kyoto has about 1,800 Buddhist temples and 200 Shinto shrines. Some of them are designated as World Heritage Site by UNESCO. They were built in the city and surrounding area over the years. Each building represents the culture of the historical period when it was built. Because Kyoto is escaped from being bombed during the World War II, most of the prewar cultural heritage were mostly preserved.
Below are top 7 Places to visit in Kyoto area:
1. Kiyomizudera Temple
Built over 1,250 years ago, Kiyomizudera temple, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most popular places for tourists to visit and discover in Kyoto. It is situated in Higashiyama district, east of Kyoto. The word Kiyomizudera which literally translates as “Pure Water Temple”, was named for the pure water that flows from Otowa waterfall located not far from the main hall.
The main hall of the temple is very famous of its wooden stage. It has a large veranda that is supported with tall pillars and offer a panoramic view of the surrounding area and the stunning cityscape of Kyoto in the distance. The construction of main hall was all made from wood. The most interesting and amazing things about the main hall is there is no single nail used in the entire structure. They relied on the strength of locking wooden joints. The main hall houses the temple’s primary object of worship. The view of the main hall can be best seen from the wooden stage that is at the opposite of the main hall.
Located at the base of the main hall is Otowa Waterfall. There are three different streams coming from the top. Each water stream has different benefit in it. It was said that drinking it can give you either longevity, happy life or success at school, depends on from which stream you drink. People use the cups attached to long poles to drink the water from it.
Another structure situated closes the entrance of Kiyomizudera temple that catches visitors’ eyes attention is the beautiful vermillion three-storey Koyasu pagoda standing at 31 meters high. It is one of the tallest of pagoda in Japan. This pagoda is so famous because of its magnificence. There is a legend saying that pregnant women who are visiting here will have an easy and safe childbirth.
The Sannenzaka street in front of the temple is very famous for shopping. Its narrow and steep alley is very vibrant with many shops selling souvenirs, handicrafts, postcards, pottery, bags sweets, local snacks, and foods to eat. All of these give you a true sense of Japanese culture. During the warm weather, you can see many tourists wearing kimono walking along Sannenzaka path. They rent kimono from many kimono rental shops along the street. It is the perfect place for you to buy gifts for your family and friends.
To visit Kiyomizudera, you can take a bus from Kyoto station to Gojozaka bus stop and walk for about 15 minutes to reach the complex. The temple opens all year round.
2. Arashiyama and Sagano Area
Arashiyama is a very popular tourist destination in Kyoto. It is just 15 minutes train ride from Kyoto Station. You can use JR Pass if you have one. It is situated in a touristy district in North West of Kyoto and is particularly popular during cherry blossom and fall foliage season. There are small many shops, foods and other attraction in the area. The popular ones are Arashiyama bamboo grove, Tenryuji temple, Togetsukyo Bridge, boat tour at Sagano River and of course sightseeing and shopping along the main street.
From Saga-Arashiyama JR station, you need to walk for about 15 minutes to reach bamboo grove area. This area is one of the most photographed spots in Kyoto. With the towering bamboo shade, walking along the path is like somewhat lost in nature, although minutes away are the bustling area of main street. When there is a light wind, the bamboo tail stalks gently sway back and forth making it a pleasurable experience. In busy seasons, the bamboo grove can be crowded in the path. This thick green bamboo stalks along the path in every direction becomes one of Kyoto’s must-visit spots. You cannot resist to take picture of it. For added different experience, some choose to take rikshaw ride through the forest.
While you are inside the bamboo grove area, you can visit Tenryuji temple from its side gate (the main entrance of this temple is in the main street of Arashiyama area). It is a Zen Buddhist temple founded in 1339 and the largest and impressive temple in Arashiyama. People come here to pay a visit, pray, participate in traditional Buddhist ritual or just be relax. Aside of the temple building, there are large attractive gardens with flowers, pond and walking path. Tenryuji temple is registered as a World Heritage Site.
The visit to Arashiyama is not complete if you don’t go and see the famous Togetsukyo Bridge. It is so well known and become the landmark of Arashiyama. The bridge spans across Katsura River. With a 155-metre length, the bridge offers a splendid view across the river and looks attractive due to the combination of the forested mountain in the background and water on the river. It is often used as a setting for television shows and commercials and is hugely popular photography spot throughout seasons. There are a number of souvenir & snack shops and restaurants at the foot of the bridge. During busy season, you can see rickshaws carrying visitors shuttling back and forth, creating an atmosphere of ancient Japan.
If you have an extra half day at Arashiyama and would like to experience and enjoy the beauty of Arashiyama’s rural area, you can spend the extra time by taking either the Sagano Scenic Railway train or Hozugawa River Boat Tour.
Also known as Sagano Tarokko (Sagano Romantic Train), Sagano Scenic Railways runs along Hozugawa River between JR Sagano-Arashiyama station and Tarokko Kameoka Station in about 25 minutes one-way ride. The train takes guests to travel leisurely in its cars and feel the refreshing breeze while enjoying the magnificent scenery nature, either cherry blossom in the Spring, green lush in Summer or Fall foliage in Autumn. This old-fashioned train runs its way through the mountainous area in slow pace and pass through the forested ravine and tunnels. Each train has four enclosed cars and one open car. If you start your journey from JR Sagano-Arashiyama station, you have several options after you reach the Tarokko Kameoka station. You can take the same sightseeing train back to Arashiyama, take a JR train to Arashiyama or Kyoto from a nearly Umahori station or take a Hozugawa River Boat back to Arashiyama.
The popular Hozugawa River Boat travels 16 kilometers between Arashiyama and Kameoka for about two hours. It offers the riders an entertaining sightseeing boat ride along the river in leisurely and relaxing way while enjoying the natural beauty of the scenery landscape and ravine. The boat is piloted by boatmen in traditional way with paddles and bamboo poles. Depending on the parts of the river, the current are calm in certain area, but rough like rafting in other area. The tours are offered almost year-round but occasionally cancelled due to bad weather (heavy rain) or not accommodating river condition such as large decrease in water level. The boarding place in Arashiyama is not too far from Togetsukyo Bridge.
3. Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion)
Ginkakuji is a Zen temple in the hill of Higashiyama District at Northeast of Kyoto. This temple is modelled after Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion). Both Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji were places of rest and retirement villa of famous shoguns that were converted into temples. Although it is known as Silver Pavilion, there is no part of Ginkakuji temple made from silver or silver foil. It was said that during moon light, the roof of the temple reflects a silvery color.
In addition to the most famous Ginkakuji temple, there are six other buildings that are used for abbot’s chamber and drawing room. Right after entering the complex, Silver Pavilion can be easily spotted from its distinctive architecture with two stories construction. In front of the pavilion, you can see a beautiful moss garden with ponds, islands and bridges in between. Not far from the moss garden, you can find and view the unique dry sand cone.
You can walk and climb the hill around buildings complex along the path in a circular route. At the top of the hill, you can enjoy the nice view of the entire buildings, gardens and Kyoto city from afar.
4. Exploring Kyoto Station
You may think why a train station can be a tourist attraction. Well, most train stations are all the same with ticket booths, waiting area and platform for trains. Kyoto station is much more than that. Other than being a station with modern futuristic-looking architecture, it also offers shopping and dining experiences and a lot of areas for you to explore.
There are two main entrances to Kyoto station. The South side of the station is called Hachijo side because it faces onto Hachijo street. The North side of the station is called Karasuma side. Again, because it is adjacent to Karasuma street and Kyoto’s Karasuma subway line.
When you enter Kyoto station from Hachijo side at street level, you will find a shopping mall parallel to the south side of Kyoto station all the way from south east (close to McDonald) to south west (7-Eleven) stretches for about 400 meters. The east part of the shopping mall is called Asty Road. Although it is called “road”, it is pedestrian only road because it is located inside Kyoto station building. Asty Road connects with Miyako Michi arcade on the west side of the building.
Along Asty Road, you can find selection of stores where you can shop, buy souvenirs, dine at restaurant or as simple as just buy snacks and fast food. If you are fans of Japanese fashion trend, there is Uniqlo fashion store for you to explore. If you are hungry, there are multiple eateries for you to choose. When you want to eat sushi and experience it in a Japanese way, Sushi no Musashi on Asty Road is very popular among international visitors in Kyoto. All sushi here are hand-made and the prices are relatively cheap. Taste and quality of sushi are good. With more than 50 different kinds of sushi moving on conveyor belt in front of you, it makes your eating experience hard to forget. Of course, there are many fast foods there if you don’t have much time to eat, such as McDonald, Starbucks, and many small shops selling sweets, snacks and drinks.
Miyako Michi is a little bit different from Asty Road. Although there are some souvenir, retail and grocery stores here, most of the shops at Miyako Michi are either restaurants, izakaya (Japanese pub) or cafes. In here you can find plenty of eating and dining opportunities. You can find multiple restaurants selling Japanese famous foods, such as ramen, sushi, sashimi, tempura, yakitori and many more here. Not only Japanese foods, you can also find Western, Chinese and Italian foods at Miyako Michi. Most of restaurants are casual so that you can enjoy your meals in between your shopping and experiencing time at Kyoto station.
The north side and south side of the station is connected through pedestrian walkway on the second floor to the west of main gate and an underground passage on the east side of station from Asty Road (from the south) to Kyoto Subway station and Porta shopping mall at the north side of the building. Although not as much as Asty Road and Miyako Michi, the pedestrian walkway at second floor offers multiple selections of stores selling souvenirs, convenience goods, bento box, drinks, snacks mostly for tourists, visitors and travellers to buy before they board their Shinkansen, subways or buses.
If you like shopping, there is Isetan department store occupying thirteen floors at north west side of Kyoto station close to the entrance. Isetan sells branded goods, clothing, jewelry, sportwear, souvenirs and a big food hall at its basement level. Other than Asty Road and Miyako Michi, there is another shopping mall to note at Kyoto station, its is called Porta. Porta is an underground shopping mall that occupies the space beneath Kyoto bus station right in front of north side of Kyoto station building and connects to Kyoto Subway station. Similar to Isetan where they sell fashions, accessories, souvenirs and others, However, at Porta you can find more selection of foods, bakeries, eating and dining choices.
When you are and visiting Kyoto station, it will be a mistake if you miss to go to Kyoto station’s iconic spot called “Daikandan”. The “Daikandan” or Grand Stairway as is called is a grand stairway runs from the fourth floor of the west wing (near north entrance) all the way up to the 15th floor. Every day at dusk until midnight, the stairways are illuminated with multiple colors, background with background music. People who are at the base of the stair can view the lighting that brings out the beauty of the staircase with detail highlights. Depends on the season, the color, showcase and illuminations changes to adapt with the changing situation. There is a stage on the fourth floor at the base of the stair where concerts, shows, dances are occasionally performed.
In addition to above, Kyoto station offers more areas for you to explore. On the north east side of the building, there is public space called East Square where musical events are occasionally performed here. There is a pedestrian Skyway tunnel from East Square all the way to the restaurant area on the 11th floor of the west wing building. At evening, this tunnel is illuminated with multiple and changing colors. The views along the tunnel are spectacular.
If you are fans of ramen, there is Ramen Street (Kyoto Ramen Koji) located at the 10th floor of the station near the Grand Stairway. There you can find eight shops selling ramens with different taste and variety from different regions of Japan. This ramen street is very popular and convenience since you can order ramens that are tasty, quick and cheap in one place.
You can spend hours and days browsing and exploring Kyoto station. That’s why, Kyoto station is considered one of the tourist destinations in Kyoto.
5. Visiting Fushimi Inari Shrines
Aside for so many Buddhist temples in Kyoto, one of Sinto shrines you may need to visit when you are in Kyoto is Fushimi Inari, located not too far from Kyoto station. It takes only six minutes and just two stops if you take Nara Line train from Kyoto station. There is no fee to enter the site and it opens 24 hour a day.
Fushimi Inari is famous due to thousands of torii gates painted in bright red color set up in a row from the back of main building along walking trails all the way to top of the hill. Walking past through torii gates give an impression like entering a tunnel. All torii gates at Fushimi Inari are donated by individuals or companies. The bigger the gates are the bigger the donation. You can see the name and date of donation inscribed on the torii gates.
The trails span four kilometers long. Depend on your walking speed, it can take up between 2 to 3 hours waking time to reach the top of the hill. During the busy time like Summer or Holiday, you can see a lot of people visiting and walking along the path and take pictures with the background of torii gates. Once you walk for one kilometer, you can see less people since most people do not bother to reach the top due to tiredness. However, people who reach the top (or at least half way to the top) has a chance to see the spectacular view of the city from afar.
Aside from the main temple where many visitors pay their respect by making small offering, along the way to the top you can find many spots of small structures where people use them for private worship. Surprisingly, you may see many statues of fox at Fushimi Inari complex. This is because foxes are thought to be Inari (Shinto god of rice)’s messengers.
Due to its popularity among local people and tourists, Fushimi Inari shrine attracts over two million visitors and worshipper in a typical Japanese New Year holiday that spans over 3 days.
6. Gion
Gion is a district in Higashiyama area of Kyoto. It is well-known as entertainment district, centre of traditional arts and is the biggest and famous geisha district in Japan. Most of the houses in this area were made from wood and retain its traditional Japanese style merchant houses. Due to its popularity, this area is often crowded with tourists especially during Gion Matsuri, the festival that takes place in the month of July and is considered as the most famous festival in Japan.
In Gion, you can find numerous traditional teahouses, restaurants, bars, pachinko and craft stores along the narrow cobblestone alley. In some teahouse, you can enjoy your meal while being entertained by geisha playing music, performing traditional dance, having light conversation or leading drinking games. Although you have pay extra for this additional service, you can experience something different of traditional Japanese way of dining.
One of the famous streets in Gion is Hanamikoji, literally means “flower viewing street” because you can view cherry blossom blooming in many parts of this street. This street is one of the best-preserved historic streets in Kyoto. In this area, you can find a big red color teahouse called Ichiriki Chaya. It has been around for 300 years and is one of the most high-end teahouses in Gion which offer geisha entertainment to high profile business and political figures.
Another area worth to explore in Gion is Shirakawa. This area runs along Shirakawa canal and is lined with willow trees, high-end restaurants and tea houses. Some of them have views overlooking to the canal. Similar to Hanamikoji, you can spot of either geisha or maiko (geisha apprentice) walking in this area in their kimono on the way to their entertainment establishment. Please note to treat the geisha respectfully. Don’t try to ask them to take picture with you. This kind of action is considered rude.
If you would like to step back in time to watch Japanese traditional entertainment, the is a place in Gion called Minamiza Kabuki Theatre where you can experience the classical drama famous with comprehensive makeup of its performers. This theatre has been there for hundred of years.
7. Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion)
Kinkakuji, also known as Golden Pavilion, is a Zen Buddhist temple located in northwest of Kyoto. It was shogun Yoshimitsu’s retirement villa which was converted to a temple upon his death in 1408. Kinkakuji’s current structure was rebuilt in 1955 after it was burned down in 1950. The pavilion has three stories with 12.5 meters height. The exterior of the top two floors is covered by thin gold leaf. The name of Kinkakuji comes from the pavilion that is covered by gold leaf. They used gold to symbolize and represent the spiritual purity and purify any negative thoughts and feelings.
Each floor of the pavilion has different style of architecture and meaning. The first floor was made from natural unpainted wood in an open concept with white plaster wall. The walls are made from shutters that can be opened and closed to control the light inside the pavilion. This floor is used to house the relics of Buddha and the statue of Yoshimitsu. The second floor houses the statue of goddess of mercy, Kannon. Finally, the uppermost floor was built in traditional Chinese style of hall, thanks to the close relationship of Japan with China’s Ming Dynasty during that period. The top of the pavilion is capped with golden Phoenix statue. Visitors are not allowed to enter the pavilion. However, the statues inside Kinkakuji often can be viewed from across the pond through the shutters that are left open.
Across the pavilion, you can find a beautiful garden with ponds. During the bright sunlight and moonlight, the reflection of the pavilion can be impressively seen from the pond, making it a good spot for taking pictures. The pond contains 10 small islands that represent the map of Japan. The beauty of the garden with pine trees, rock composition, plants and bridges invite people to walk and explore the paths and enjoy the serenity of the artistic landscape.
Kinkakuji is one of the most popular destinations and iconic sights in Japan. It was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994 due to its historic structure, magical beauty and spectacular architecture combining the culture, tradition, and design.
