Kyoto

Kyoto, Japan's former imperial capital, is the place for temples, gardens and the tea ceremony: about 130 minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen (bullet train) and 80 minutes from Kansai Airport. Four to five nights allow time for the main sites on all four sides of the city, a garden visit booked in advance and an evening in Gion, the geiko district. Several places must be booked weeks or months ahead, so that is the first thing to settle.

What to book in advance

• Katsura Imperial Villa can only be visited on a guided tour, by reservation. Online applications open at 5 am on the 1st of the month, three months before the month of the visit, and close at 11.59 pm three days before; a few places are also given out on the day, subject to availability. English tours start at 9.20 am, 11.20 am, 1.20 pm, 3.20 pm and 4.20 pm. The villa is closed on Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a public holiday) and from 28 December to 4 January.
• Saiho-ji, the Moss Temple, has admitted visitors by reservation only since 1977, at least one day ahead, in small groups.
• A private tea ceremony, a kaiseki table (seasonal Japanese cuisine in several courses) and the hotel itself during cherry blossom and maple seasons.

For a visit to Katsura in April, the application is therefore made on 1 January.

Getting to Kyoto

From Tokyo, the Nozomi on the Tokaido Shinkansen reaches Kyoto Station in about 130 minutes; the Hikari takes about 170 minutes. From Kansai Airport, the JR (Japan Railways) Haruka limited express runs direct to Kyoto in about 80 minutes; from Itami Airport, the limousine bus reaches Kyoto Station in 50 to 55 minutes.

Osaka is about 30 minutes away by JR Special Rapid, station to station; the Keihan line links Yodoyabashi in Osaka with Gion-Shijo in about 48 minutes. Nara makes a day trip from Kyoto.

The east: Higashiyama and Gion

Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple whose history goes back more than 1,250 years. Its wooden main hall was rebuilt in 1633. The temple opens at 6 am; closing time varies with the season, and night openings take place on dates set each year.

North of Higashiyama, Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion, is the villa that shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa began in 1482. Its private chapel, the Togu-do, was completed in 1486 and the Kannon Hall begun in 1489; they are the only two buildings that survived the fire of 1550. It opens from 8.30 am to 5 pm from 1 March to 30 November, and from 9 am to 4.30 pm from 1 December to the end of February.

Between the two, Gion is the tea-house district where geiko (the Kyoto name for geisha) and maiko, their apprentices, live and work. In the evening, Gion Corner stages a 50-minute show of traditional arts: Kyoto dance, tea ceremony, ikebana (flower arranging), koto (Japanese zither) and kyogen (comic theatre), every evening at 6 pm and 7 pm.

The south: Fushimi Inari Taisha

Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of the roughly 30,000 Inari shrines in Japan. It was founded in 711 on Mount Inari; about 10,000 torii, the vermilion gateways of Shinto shrines, line the mountain paths across grounds of about 87 ha. Inari Station is 5 minutes from Kyoto Station on the JR Nara Line. The shrine prohibits drones, eating while walking and photo stops that block the narrow paths.

The north-west: the Golden Pavilion

Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, was the relic hall of the Kitayama palace, which shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu began building in 1397. The estate was spared by the Onin War in the 15th century. It opens from 9 am to 5 pm. Aman Kyoto is close by.

The west: Arashiyama, Katsura and the Moss Temple

In western Kyoto, Arashiyama has its bamboo path, near Tenryu-ji temple. Carving words or symbols into the bamboo is criminal damage, punishable by a fine of up to 300,000 ¥ (about 1,692 €); the rule also applies to the bamboo at Fushimi Inari.

Further south, still in the west of the city, Katsura Imperial Villa and Saiho-ji both require a reservation. The Saiho-ji garden was laid out in the 14th century by the Zen monk Muso Kokushi; moss spread over it after wars and disasters. The visit lasts about an hour: you first copy a sutra (a Buddhist text) in the main hall, then walk freely through the garden.

Visiting rules in the old districts

In January 2024, the residents, tea houses, geiko and Kennin-ji temple of southern Gion published a message to visitors:

• do not stop, touch, follow, photograph or film a geiko or maiko without her consent;
• do not enter temples, shrines or private property without permission, meaning anywhere other than shops and streets; photography is prohibited there;
• residents may call the police, and trespassing is punishable by law with a fine of up to 100,000 ¥ (about 564 €).

The Kyoto City Tourism Association carries this message and also publishes guidelines for the whole city, including the one on bamboo. The lanes of Gion are a residential neighbourhood.

The tea ceremony

Camellia hosts private ceremonies in two tea houses:

• Camellia Garden, in the west near Ryoan-ji temple: 50 minutes, from 15,000 ¥ (about 85 €) per person;
• Camellia Flower, in Higashiyama: 45 minutes, from 8,000 ¥ (about 46 €) per person.

The first pairs with the Golden Pavilion on the same day; the second with Kiyomizu-dera and Gion.

When to visit Kyoto

Average highs recorded by the JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) range from 9 °C in January to 34 °C in August, 2 °C above Tokyo in summer.

• Cherry blossom. The first flowers open on average on 26 March and full bloom arrives around 4 April (the agency's 1991-2020 averages). Highs are 14 °C in March and 20 °C in April.
• May. 25 °C highs, with the gardens in full leaf.
• Rainy season. On average from 6 June to 19 July in the Kansai region.
• Summer. 32 °C in July and 34 °C in August: sightseeing early in the morning, gardens at opening time.
• Maples. The leaves turn in late November and early December; highs are 23 °C in October and 17 °C in November.
• Winter. 9 to 12 °C from December to February.

Our guide to seasons and cherry blossom gives the dates for other cities.

Where to stay in Kyoto

The four hotels in Umika's selection cover three districts.

• Imperial Hotel Kyoto opened on 5 March 2026 in the heart of Gion, in the Yasaka Kaikan, a 1936 building registered as a cultural property, on the grounds of the Gion Kobu Kaburenjo theatre, where geiko dance the Miyako Odori in spring. Its 55 rooms and suites measure 50 to 128 m². Gion-Shijo Station is an 8-minute walk.
• Capella Kyoto opened on 22 March 2026 in Miyagawa-cho, one of the city's five geiko districts, near Kennin-ji. The hotel by architect Kengo Kuma has 89 rooms and suites of more than 50 m², including six suites with a hot-spring bath. Gion-Shijo Station is a 4-minute walk.
• Aman Kyoto occupies a forest garden in Takagamine, in the north-west, near Kinkaku-ji, 30 minutes by car from the station. Its 26 rooms, suites and pavilions, from 60 to 241 m², each have a hinoki (Japanese cypress) bath; the spa has onsen (hot-spring) baths.
• Hoshinoya Kyoto is a ryokan (Japanese inn) of 25 pavilions on the Oi River in Arashiyama, reached in 15 minutes by the inn's own boat, travelling upstream from the Togetsukyo bridge. Boats run between 2.30 pm and 5.45 pm. The ryokan accepts guests aged 12 and over.

Gion suits travellers who want to do everything on foot in the evening; Arashiyama and Takagamine, both quiet, suit a restful stay or a honeymoon. Since 1 March 2026, Kyoto has charged an accommodation tax based on the price per person per night: it is 4,000 ¥ (about 23 €) per person per night from 50,000 ¥ (about 282 €), and 10,000 ¥ (about 57 €) from 100,000 ¥ (about 564 €). Our guide to money and taxes gives the full scale. Kyoto features in Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto and Osaka in 12 days and in the 11-day honeymoon itinerary.