Kyoto Travel Diaries: Arriving in Japan’s Cultural Capital

The You Tube videos and Instagram posts show a very specific side of Kyoto. The side with temples and pagodas and bamboo forests and teahouses and geishas. They never show you the busy shopping street which is akin to Birmingham New Street on the Saturday before Christmas. This was NOT a favourable first impression of Kyoto. Yet over the space of three days I warmed to Kyoto. A lot. It may have been all the sake.

Kyoto was the second stop on our long-awaited Japan trip. You can view all the rest of my Japan content here – and there’s a lot to share!

**This blog post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you go on to make a purchase or booking after clicking through one of my external links, then I may make a tiny bit of commission, at no extra cost to you!**

Arrival Day in Kyoto (Day 4 of our Japan trip)

Arrival Day in a Nutshell: Surprising overwhelm. Found peace strolling around the Gion district. Found even more peace in “Beer Man” and “Sake Dungeon”.

We arrive at Kyoto Station just after 3pm. It’s hard to believe we’ve travelled 450km in just over 2 hours, thanks to the shinkansen from Tokyo. We jump on the Karasuma Line for just 2 stops to Shijo station, the closest station to our hotel. It’s a 10 minute walk but as we weave through back streets it seems a lot further. The buildings are lower and power lines connect across the street. There are lots of bicycles. We’re not in Tokyo anymore Toto. It’s also surprisingly warm for mid-November. Probably because we are carrying our entire “Kyoto” wardrobe in two small backpacks and a leopard print tote bag, our suitcases (hopefully) joining us once more in Osaka

Luggage forwarding is commonly used in Japan and it’s an excellent way of being able to move around the country by public transport without lugging suitcases. Because there are A LOT of steps at train and metro stations, and it’s difficult to wrangle luggage on Kyoto’s buses. Luggage forwarding is convenient, cost-effective and reliable – we dropped our cases off at the Yamato kiosk at Kabukichō Tower in Tokyo and our suitcases were waiting for us on check-in day in Osaka.

Where we stayed in Kyoto

I actually changed our Kyoto hotel just a week or so before our trip (thanks to fully cancellable bookings via Booking.com). Our original hotel was located close to Kyoto station; a lot of the city’s top sights are quite far apart so it makes sense to stay close to a transport hub. However, we ended up changing our reservation to Hotel Vista Premio Kyoto Nagomitei in the Nakagyo area (📍Google Location📍). We still had access to the buses, and the underground network on the Karasuma line, but it also meant we were able to walk to and from Nishiki Market, Pontocho Alley and the riverside within 15-20 minutes.

The Hotel Vista Premio Kyoto Nagomitei (what a mouthful, I’ll refer to it as the Vista Premio in future!) is a sleek and modern looking building in a quiet street. The staff greet us warmly, and there’s always someone available at the front desk throughout our stay. Our room is compact – as Japanese rooms tend to be – and was the only one of our three hotels without a USB socket. Typically, we had packed USB leads in our backpacks, but only one USB plug between us. Our handy universal adapter was in our suitcase. In Osaka (or possibly still in Tokyo).

It’s our first room with pyjamas supplied by the hotel, in this case an ankle-length white nightshirt. Mr Fletche looks like a ghostly Wee Willie Winkie when he visits the loo in the middle of the night. No photos available.

First night strolls around Kyoto

We head out to explore what Kyoto has to offer. It feels a little like a maze, with all of the streets looking very similar. I’m starting to miss Shinjuku station: that seems easier to navigate. I’m heading for Nishiki market but we accidentally run parallel to it and emerge onto the main road Shijo-dori. And this is where the overwhelm hits. We’re swept along in a sea of people, there are cars and buses. There’s a H&M, and a Baskin Robbins. A McDonalds. We’ve been walking for 25 minutes and so far I’m enjoying nothing about Kyoto. And then we peel off, onto an avenue with trees lining a small river, and we’re able to stop and take a breath. We need a plan for the rest of the evening.

Gion by night, from chaos to calm

We return to the main road, which is somewhat calmer now, and cross the Kamogawa River via the Shijō Bridge into Gion, Kyoto’s “entertainment” district. There’s still a little more of Shijo-dori to go, but we can begin to see softly lit lanterns ahead of us. This is Yasaka-jinja, a 7th century Shinto shrine that lies in front of Kyoto’s oldest park, Maruyama-kōen.

As we pass through the entrance to the shrine, we – somewhat surprisingly – seem to be entering some kind of street food market. As tempting as the smells may be, we continue past to the central shrine, drawn to hundreds of illuminated paper lanterns above a dancing stage. Although I’m sure the shrine is beautiful by day, seeing it all lit up at night was something special. Yasaka-jinja is free to enter, and the grounds are open 24 hours a day.

From Yasaka Jinja we continue our stroll around the historic Gion district. This is where wealthy patrons were once entertained by Japan’s geisha. Although their numbers have dwindled, geisha do still live and work in Japan, and Kyoto in particular, where they are known as geiko or maiko (geiko in training). They are highly-skilled entertainers and excellent company. Sadly, we don’t come across any genuine geisha.

Don’t be fooled by the women wandering around the streets in kimonos; most will be tourists experiencing a “maiko makeover” for the day. There are plenty of places around Kyoto offering kimono rental and traditional hair and make-up, or even a photoshoot.

Towering above the streets is the five-storey Yasaka Pagoda (Hōkan-ji Temple) – the oldest pagoda in Kyoto. I’ve seen pictures of crowded streets with EVERYONE trying to capture the scene; visiting after dark is definitely a good idea. Of course, visiting Gion at this time does mean that most of the shops, cafes and teahouses are closed, but we’re here to – finally – soak up the traditional atmosphere so we’re not too bothered. Gas lamps illuminate the streets, bathing them in soft light.

We continue our stroll upwards via Sannenzaka. And I mean upwards. It’s quite the climb leading up to Kiyomizu-dera temple. The temple is due to open for it’s Evening Autumn Light Trail. Except we’re a week too early. So we retrace our path down the hill, this time heading down Ninenzaka. This pretty street is a nod to Kyoto’s past, with beautifully preserved buildings, and all hints of modern life carefully concealed from sight. Look carefully and you’ll even find a Starbucks masquerading as a traditional tea-house.

Warming to Kyoto, one sake at a time

We’re more than ready now for a drink and some food. Our train ekiben is a distant memory. We cross back over the Kamogawa River; Shijo-dori is thankfully much quieter now. A quick Google and we head to an izakaya called “Beer Man” which is on the route back to our hotel. It’s a small room and all tables are taken but we’re happy to be seated at the bar. There are Belgian and UK beers available but we both select a Japanese beer and a couple of small plates from the menu. We can watch the owner/chef prepare our grub from our perch. Beer Man turns out to be an excellent choice. We finish off our night with a sake at the ominously named Sake Dungeon. We have quite the taste for sake now. So much so that we decide to book ourselves on a sake tasting on Monday.

If you need mobile data on the go – and believe me, you WILL need it in Japan with all the Google Maps/Translate usage – you can purchase an e-sim through Airalo. If you’d like to use my referral code EMMALE5544 you’ll get £2.50 off your first purchase!

As we haven’t taken the breakfast option at our hotel we pop to 7eleven to stock up on pastries and canned coffee. Walking back to our hotel, we know we’re warming to Kyoto. But that could just be the sake talking. We look forward to waking up refreshed tomorrow, ready to explore Arashiyama.

Looking forward to our first full day in Kyoto? You can read more HERE about avoiding the crowds in Arashiyama

I try my hardest to keep the information in this travel guide up to date; however if you notice anything has changed please let me know! Happy travels, Emmalene