A Strategy for Tackling the Sights of Kyoto

Much time was spent making lists of the sights in Kyoto for my upcoming visit. I put them in columns, giving them ranks, trying to flush out what I wanted to see in the mere three days I had there. Open any guidebook on Kyoto and the list of attractions is dizzying, thousands (really) of shrines and temples plus the old castle and palace and forests. It took me forever, and I don’t want you to suffer the same fate. You need a strategy for tackling Kyoto’s sights, and I’m the person to give it to you.

Before this visit, I had only been to Tokyo, daunting enough, but after the trip I realized why people rank Kyoto higher. I would certainly say if you’re only going to visit one place in Japan, make it Kyoto. Screw Tokyo. Make it an absolute minimum of three days, and a week is better. A few months would be grand as well. You won’t run out of things to see. Even just hitting the highlights is hard because there are a dozen highlights.

 

If you haven’t seen Kyoto, you may scoff, as I foolishly once did, at the notion of thousands of sights there, but afterwards you’ll become a true believer, yes you will.

I sat at home before the trip with two guidebooks, Lonely Planet and Frommer’s, aghast at their approach to Kyoto. Here’s where I think guidebooks usually fail deeply, when they simply list sight after sight for a city, grouping them perhaps by region but not ranking them, not suggesting strategies. Not telling you how to get there, or moving between sights. Not having good maps that break it down. Guidebooks should help you, not just provide info. Sometime you need not a guidebook but a guide, someone leading you by the nose.

 

Let me propose a strategy based on the top sights, one that can be flexible so you then add or subtract things as you wish. The way to tackle Kyoto is divide it into zones.

• A central zone with separate northern and southern parts.
• A northern zone with clustered sights.
• An eastern zone with separate northern and southern parts, each with clustered sights.
• Farther-flung attractions in random directions, each one a separate trip.

 

 

Map of Kyoto showing the zones

 

You’ll probably stay in central Kyoto and this is good. You can end up there each evening, where there’s food and shopping and fun places to walk and hang, and sights as well. Central Kyoto, the north part, is centered on the palace and the market. The south-central zone is around the train station.

Then use your days in Kyoto to travel between the zones. It might work like this:

Day 1 – get up and travel to the northern zone, see the sights there, and return to the central zone.

Day 2 – travel to the eastern-south zone, see some sights there, returning to central.

Day 3 – Eastern-north zone morning. Return to the central zone and see sights there in the afternoon.

Day 4 – Day-trip to a different, specific sight for a half-day and spend the afternoon seeing more things in the central zone.

More days means more sights of course. Less days means cutting out a zone or two.

 

Transportation from central to anywhere often revolves around Kyoto train station, which is trains of course but also the major city bus terminal. Most of your days will involve first getting yourself to the train station, and from there moving on. Thus, your first planning for Kyoto is choosing a place to stay that has access to the train station, preferably by the subway.

I stay in the central-north zone, mostly because I want to end up there at the end of the day. That’s the shop/restaurant/entertainment area, and it’s only two or three subway stops from the train station.

 

How to take a train in Kyoto: Train travel involves first the particular line you want (they have names) and then the destination. For instance, to go to Arashiyama, you need the Sagano line. Get thyself to Kyoto station and look for signs for the Sagano line. Once there, use the Sagano ticket machines and punch in the destination. Pay, collect your ticket, and you’re off.

How to take a bus in Kyoto: Buses go by numbered routes. Get thyself to Kyoto station again, go to the north entrance and go outside to the main bus terminal. There, a large sign will have almost every sight listed and tell you what number bus you need, and at what number bay to catch it. (Such as the 103 line at bay 5.)

Buses take exact change, but also come equipped with change machines. Most buses have two video screens, one in front, one about two-thirds back. Position yourself so you can see them. They’ll be playing loads of information about their route, and will most likely tell you when to get off for certain sights. Enter through the back door, exit through the front, and pay upon exiting.

 

The Zones

Central zone – South (Shimogyo-ku) – Besides the train station, Kyoto Tower is here along with two large temples. The train station is a sight in itself, huge, modern, and stylish, with lots of food and shopping. Go up to the 11th floor glass terrace and then the open-air 15th floor terrace for some great views.

Kyoto Tower is just to the north, 131 meters tall. I rarely go to the top of anything just for the view when it costs money, and Kyoto Tower costs ¥770. Your call, buddy.

Just to the north of that are the Hoganji temples, Higashi Honganji and Nishi Honganji (east and west), separated by a few blocks, each one large and worth seeing, but they are not top sights, and as such, I didn’t manage to see them. They absolutely seem worthy though. Get used to seeing –ji at the end of words and know that it means “temple”.  This zone is largely skippable, except you really need that train station.

 

Central zone – North (Nakagyo-ku) – When people say “Central Kyoto” or downtown, they usually mean this area. Here, start with Nishiki Market, an absolute must, must, must-see. A working market that’s also highly geared towards having snacks. Stop for some grilled, raw, fried seafood at dozens of places. A stand-up sushi bar is located on the north side somewhere in the middle. The market is one block north of the east~west Shijo-dori. Get used to seeing –dori and know that it means “street”

Also visit the narrow north~south alleyway Pontocho in the evening, for one of the most atmospheric walks you’ll do in Kyoto.

Two other sites are the castle Nijojo (-jo means castle, so technically it’s Nijo Castle), and the former Imperial Palace. Nijo is the better visit, and much easier, the former home of the Tokugawa shoguns. You can wander freely. The Imperial Palace, where the royal family lived from 1331 until 1868, needs a guided tour and doesn’t allow any photos, huh.

Almost all of these sights, along with others in the area such as the railway museum (south) and the manga museum (north) are all just off the north~south main street Karasuma, along which a subway line runs, also named Karasuma, making access easy. The stops you need are:

Imperial Palace: Marutamachi or Imadegawa
Manga Museum: Karasuma-Oike
Nijo Castle: Karasuma-Oike, or (better) transfer to the east~west Tozai subway line and get off at Nijo-jo-mae.
Nishiki Market: Karasuma (name of the stop and the line)

Many other smaller sites are clustered around the north end of this zone.

 

The Bamboo at Arashiyama

 

Northern zone – three main sites: the Arashiyama bamboo grove area, the Golden Pavilion, and the Ryoanji Zen rock garden. All three are must-sees for Kyoto, verily, so do this.

Here’s where you’re somewhat day-tripping and clustering your sights. The northern zone will take most of a day to see, depending on how long you stay in Arashiyama. The other two sights are much quicker.

Start your day in Arashiyama and see how long you stay interested. Leave a few hours for the other two sights, or you might get through Arashiyama quickly and have time to get back to the central-north zone for some other activities in the afternoon.

 

Get thyself to the train station and find signs to the Sagano line. Buy a ticket to the Saga-Arashiyama station (don’t forget the “Saga-” part, or you won’t find the station), which was ¥240 in 2018. Buy a one-way ticket; you’re coming back a different route. It’s a short ride.

From the station, grab a free map then exit the left side, walk to the alley, and turn right, which will eventually take you to the main street. You’re heading to the bamboo forest, the main attraction, which is amazing.

Other attractions here are the gardens at Okochi Sanso, the better gardens at Saihoji, and the Iwatayama park where monkeys hang out, among several dozen other shrines and temples, many right next to each other. I went to the small Gioji temple known for its moss gardens, neat enough.

 

Grab some lunch (Saga tofu restaurant on the main drag is excellent) and then walk north up the main drag, away from the bridge end, and flag a taxi. You’re going to your next attraction, Ryoanji. This is the only time I’ll suggest taking a taxi, as public transport between northern zone sights is not perfect. The taxi ride cost about ¥2000. Show the driver the written word Ryoanji, or 龍安寺, to avoid any mistakes.

Ryoanji contains the Zen rock garden against which all others are compared. It’s the exemplar, the gold standard. It’s large but crowded. Sit in a few spots along the viewing platform to get different perspectives, and keep in mind that the unknown designer offered no explanations for it.

 

The Golden Pavilion

Ryoanji is more than the rocks; it’s a small complex with a nice lake, gardens, and a tea room. From there, walk to the road and look for a bus stop. You’re heading to your left along the road. You could walk to the next sight, the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji), but it’s about 20-30 minutes, while a bus is cheap. Board the bus and ask “Kinkaku-ji?” with a dumb look on your face. The driver will nod, and you’ll know you’re right.

Kinkaku-ji is a golden (really, covered in gold) structure originally built in 1397 as a retirement house for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. It burned (arson!) in 1950 but was rebuilt. You can’t go in, but the sight of it fronting a pond, framed by mountains, is totally worth it. This also means it’s a quick sight to visit.

Getting home: go back to the main road and catch bus 205 to Kitaogi bus terminal, which has a subway station, which will get you home.

 

Eastern zone – North – The east side of Kyoto is called Higashiyama. You could do all of it in one day, if you pick and choose, or divide it into north and south.

People go to the north mainly for the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji), another Shogun retirement home, built by the grandson of the Golden Pavilion guy. It was planned to be covered in silver, but that never happened, so now it’s just a nice structure in a nice garden. Again, you can’t go in it, so it’s a quick sight, but the road leading to it is full of shops and snacks, like sweets, mochi, cream puffs, skewers of crab, oden-like cakes on a stick. Fun.

Getting there: take bus 5, 17, or 100 from the train station, to the Ginkakuji-michi stop.

 

From the pavilion, a famous footpath called the Philosopher’s Path runs south. The philosopher Nishida Kitaro was said to have walked this often, surely pondering deep thoughts, giving it its name. It’s a splendid walk along a small canal, with flowers and forests and eh, some small roads along the way.

After 30 minutes, the path suddenly ends. You’ll be near Eikan-do, a large temple complex. Go south just a bit more and you’re near Nazenji, another temple complex. Head west and there are more temples, but I think that for the east-north zone, this is enough, and it won’t even take you half a day. If you’re skipping any zone besides central-south, skip this one.

To get home from Eikan-do or Nazenji, head west, to their main entrances, and look for a sign that will lead you out and to a subway stop Keage on the Tozai line. Bus #5 stops near here as well.

 

The Silver Pavilion

 

Eastern zone – South – Two main attractions here, the Kiyomizu temple and Sanjusangendo Hall, and my gods a whole bunch of smaller sights, dozens of them, including the Kyoto National Museum (art). You could spend several days here. This area will be crowded.

Start with Sanjusangendo Hall, as you can take the subway there. Go to the Shichijo stop on the Keihan subway line. The attraction here is the statues of the Buddhist goddess of mercy, Kannon, all 1,001 of them, lined up like an army. The wooden hall is 120 meters long, to accommodate all of them. The effect is stunning.

Next sights: Kiyomizu-dera is known as the “pure water temple”, and its setting over a waterfall is lovely. Photos of it never do justice, because you need the entire setting to appreciate it. The steep street leading up to it is lined with craft shops, eateries, and souvenirs, but not the tacky kind. Many visitors dress in colorful kimonos, making your own photos better. Try to ignore that so many of them are speaking Chinese.

After the temple, go a short way down the street and turn right, following signs to Ninen-zaka and Sannen-zaka, a lovely restored neighborhood with more shops, restaurants, and such.

To get to Kiyomizu, either from Sanjusangendo Hall or from the train station, use bus 206. Get off at either Kiyōmizu-michi or Gojō-zaka. There is a Kiyomizu stop on that same Keihan subway line, but it’s a looong walk to the temple from the subway.

 

Outside Kiyomizu temple

 

Everything else – Some other sights, like the must-see Fushimi-Inari shrine, 10,000 vermillion torii gates lined up over a small mountain, are destinations themselves, not located in the zones above. That takes half a day.

 

Most of Kyoto’s sights are temples and shrines, so plan to mix them up with other things. Save time for the central-north zone, especially the market and the atmospheric Pontocho. Transportation sounds complicated, but I found it shockingly easy. Kyoto gets loads of tourists and the city makes it easy for them.

I’ve listed only top sights here, but most people probably won’t even have time for all those. I didn’t. Visiting Kyoto means picking and choosing; you can’t do it all. It’s more touristy that I would have guessed, but I’ll be back. With a new strategy.