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Kyoto, Japan

Asia · Culture

Kyoto, Japan

A thousand temples, and the trick is choosing four.

4.9(143 reviews)8 daysMarch to May, October to NovemberFrom $3,150 per person
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01Overview

A thousand temples, and the trick is choosing four.

We plan Kyoto backwards: early mornings and late evenings in the places everyone visits, and the middle of the day in the workshops, gardens and neighbourhoods that almost nobody does.

CultureFoodSlow travel

Key information

Best time
Late March, or all of November
Trip length
6 to 10 days
Group size
Up to 6 travellers
Getting around
Trains, buses and a lot of walking
Language
Japanese, English in the city
Currency
Japanese yen

02Things to experience

What a week in Kyoto actually looks like

  • Six in the morning at Fushimi Inari

    The gates, the hillside and the fog, an hour before the first tour bus. This is the whole reason we start early.

  • An afternoon with an indigo dyer

    Fourth-generation workshop, vats that have been alive for decades, and you go home with something you made badly and love.

  • Nishiki market, properly

    Two hours with a chef who shops here, tasting the things you would never have pointed at.

  • Tea in a six-seat room

    A full tea preparation with an instructor who will explain why the bowl is turned, and why it matters.

A scene from Kyoto
Kyoto detail 1
Kyoto detail 2

03The route

A suggested itinerary

This is the shape most people travel. Every part of it can be lengthened, swapped or dropped, and private departures run on any date you like.

Adjust this route
  1. Day 1

    Arrive in Kyoto

    The train in from Kansai, an evening walk through Gion, and dinner at a counter with eight seats.

  2. Day 2 to 3

    East and south

    Early Fushimi Inari, the Higashiyama temples, and an afternoon in the craft workshops.

  3. Day 4

    Arashiyama and the west

    Bamboo before seven, then the moss gardens and a riverside lunch.

  4. Day 5 to 6

    Nara and the hills

    A day trip to the old capital, then a night in a ryokan north of the city with an outdoor bath.

  5. Day 7 to 8

    Markets and home

    Nishiki, one last garden, and a slow final morning before the train back.

04Where you stay

Three places we book here

Family guesthouses, refuges and restored houses. We have slept in every one of them, and the prices below are what you would pay direct.

Machiya KuromonRestored townhouse

Machiya Kuromon

A two-hundred-year-old wooden machiya on a lane in Nakagyo. Tatami, a courtyard garden, and a bath you will not want to leave.

from $215 per night

Ryokan HoshiTraditional inn

Ryokan Hoshi

Eight rooms in the hills north of the city. Kaiseki dinner, outdoor onsen, and absolute quiet after nine.

from $390 per night

Kamo Riverside RoomsSmall hotel

Kamo Riverside Rooms

Twelve rooms facing the river in Pontocho. Central, calm, and a five-minute walk from everywhere you want to eat.

from $170 per night

An editorial photograph from Kyoto

05From the field

“The famous places are famous for a reason. Go at six, not at eleven.”

Kyoto is not a difficult city to visit badly. Arrive at eleven, join the queue, photograph the same corner as four hundred other people, leave disappointed. The city is at its best between six and eight in the morning, when the gravel gardens have just been raked and the light comes in sideways, and again after seven in the evening when the lanterns go on in Gion and the day visitors have gone back to Osaka. In between, we take you to the people who make things: an indigo dyer in Fushimi, a knife sharpener whose family has worked the same corner since 1861, a tea house that seats six.

Written by the Wayfare planner who runs this route.

Plan your trip

Let us build your Kyoto trip around you

Send us your dates and the kind of days you want. We will come back with a route, a realistic price and an honest view on whether the timing works.

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