Kyoto

Japan·Asia

Currency

JPY

Language

Japanese

Timezone

Tokyo

Continent

Asia

Our guide

Discover Kyoto

Kyoto was Japan's capital for over a thousand years and was never bombed, which is why the temples here are counted in hundreds. Kiyomizu-dera reaches out on a wooden terrace built without a nail, Kinkaku-ji sets its gold pavilion on a pond, Ryōan-ji reduces its garden to fifteen stones on raked gravel. Nijō Castle, the shoguns' residence, keeps floors designed to sing underfoot and betray intruders. To the south, Fushimi Inari-taisha runs thousands of vermilion gates up a hillside. To the west, the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove closes over the sky.

When to go

Late March to early April for the cherries, mid-November to early December for the maples: the two peaks of beauty and the two peaks of crowding, with rooms booked months ahead. May, early June and late September give nearly as much without the crush. Summer is hot and very humid — Kyoto sits in a basin and the air does not move. Winter is cold, dry and remarkably quiet; snow on a temple roof justifies the trip by itself.

Getting around

The subway has only two lines: buses carry the city, and they fill up. A rechargeable IC card saves hunting for coins at every boarding. Cycling is excellent — Kyoto is flat, laid out on a grid since the 8th century, and reads like a map. Trains run west to Arashiyama and south to Fushimi; each of those is a half-day.

Where to eat

Kyoto's cooking is vegetable before it is maritime: shōjin ryōri from the Buddhist temples, yudofu — poached tofu served scalding — and obanzai, small dishes of seasonal vegetables. Nishiki Market lines up counters for several hundred metres and is best crossed slowly. The matcha comes from Uji next door and is drunk here more than anywhere. No halal address is listed in our data: that is a real constraint, worth planning for before arrival.

Good to know

Cash is still needed in small establishments and at many temple gates. Shoes come off at the entrance to wooden buildings — footwear that slips off easily changes the day. In Gion, some lanes are private and photography is banned there under threat of a fine: the rule exists because geiko work in them and were being chased down the street. Temple days also end well before the city's does: mornings are when they are seen, and the only time the busiest ones are quiet.

Smart Planning