r/KyotoTravel

Konnichiwa, I just arrived back in Kyoto and I will be here until Wednesday. This is my second trip to Japan, having first been here in 2024. Now when I was first in Kyoto, I went to metal/rock (my favourite genres) bars and I remember them opening until the early hours of the morning, but then again I think I was here on a Friday and Saturday during that time.

So can any of you recommend anywhere that will be open past midnight during my stay? I'm not a fan of nightclubs, I'm a bar/pub kinda guy. Arigato!

Hello,

My partner and I have three full days to visit Kyoto (plus a fourth for Nara) in September. What do you think of my itinerary for the temples and monuments, please? I’ve picked out many places with lovely green moss and beautiful natural surroundings. Are there any that overlap and we can skip, or others that are absolute must-sees (I haven’t included the crowded and isolated Kinkaku-ji, which doesn’t really appeal to me)? I’ve put the ones I’m less interested in, or for which I don’t think we’ll have time, in brackets.

We’re keen walkers and we love art (meaning we don’t get bored as quickly as the average person). And we’ll be able to afford taxis between sites that are further apart.

Thank you very much!

Day 1

(Tenryu-ji)

Ōkōchi Sansō

Giō-ji

Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple

Otagi Nenbutsuji

Daikaku-ji

taxi

(Tōfuku-ji)

Fushimi Inari-taisha in the end of the afternoon

Day 2

Nijō-jō

taxi

Kurama-dera / Kifune

(Rurikōin Temple / Renge-ji Temple)

(Yasaka-jinja 24/24)

Day 3

Kiyomizu-dera (and before it's open we'll visit the northern streets)

Kōdai-ji (it opens only at 9, do you know what we could do meanwhile?)

Chionin Temple

Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji

Hōnenin Temple

Ginkaku-ji

My fiancée and I are trying to figure out what time to go to Fushimi Inari for a nighttime visit. We explicitly want to do nighttime because I think the gates lit up are beautiful and eerie, I like the idea of less crowds, and I'm kind of into the slightly scary aspect of this.

My open question is around what time the crowds actually thin out. We're going in early October, so sunset should be around 5:30 p.m., and I'm not sure if we could show up shortly after that or if we need to wait much until like 7pm. I imagine that the crowds thin shortly after sunset? I can’t find any reliable information on this though.

Thanks!!

Maybe it wasn’t on your original itinerary, someone recommended it at the last minute, or you just happened to stop by. Sometimes the places we expect the least from become the highlights of the trip. I’d love to hear those unexpected favorites.

Hello!

I'm a Japanese manga artist. I'm looking for people who have visited Kyoto because I'd love to hear about your experiences for research for a manga I'm creating.

If you have a few minutes, I'd really appreciate it if you could answer these questions:

What was the most memorable part of your trip to Kyoto?

Did you stay at a guesthouse in Kyoto? If so, what was it like?

What image or impression do you have of Japanese ghosts (yūrei)?

Kyoto is often considered a place where gods and spirits are close to everyday life. Did you ever experience anything mysterious or feel like you saw a ghost while you were in Kyoto?

If a ghost wanted to be your friend, what do you think you would do?

Thank you very much for your time!

Hi can you suggest some good restaurant and tap room with craft beer? I'll be near gojo for 2 months. Japanese is OK. Tha k you!

A question for those who's been to Kyoto recently or lives in Kyoto. How crowded are places like Gion, Fushimi Inari, and Kinkakuji lately specifically on Wednesdays? I know weekends are always crazy and during peak travel seasons. I plan on going there this Wednesday but I dont want to go there if its super crowded even on a Wednesday.

Planning a first kansai trip for mid october, with kyoto getting 3 nights sandwiched between tokyo and osaka. What I can't sort out is how to actually split the days between the east side and arashiyama without one of the two feeling rushed.

Looking at a map it seems easy enough, but reading through old threads here the general take is that doing higashiyama and arashiyama on the same day burns most of your energy on the bus and JR transfers. People keep saying you end up arriving at the second zone tired and not really taking it in.

The options I've been weighing are basically these. A full east day (kiyomizu, ninenzaka, kodaiji, yasaka, maybe down to gion in the evening) plus a full west day in arashiyama (bamboo grove, tenryu-ji, monkey park if energy permits, then ryoanji and kinkaku-ji on the way back). The third day for fushimi inari in the morning and a flex afternoon for nishiki or somewhere I missed.

The zigzag version is east in the morning and arashiyama in the afternoon two days in a row, which looks like the obvious move on a map but most people who tried it say you eat close to an hour each direction in transit and arrive at the second stop overheated and out of patience.

The other thing tangentially related is where to base. Kawaramachi seems to win on access to most east-side stuff but is further from arashiyama. Kyoto station is fastest for arashiyama via the JR san-in line but the dinner scene there is a wasteland. A few of the operators I checked when researching the kansai stretch put you in totally different parts of the city for the same trip, each with their own logic for it.

Oku japan put us near karasuma oike to keep things central, selective asia recommended a higher-end machiya in the higashiyama foothills, and asia odyssey travel had us near kawaramachi instead because they said arashiyama is easier as a day commitment than as a base. Their pick looked a bit dated in the photos though, clean but very business-hotel.

Mostly trying to hear from people who actually did 3 days with both zones in the mix, especially whether the base mattered as much as people say.