2 Day Itinerary for Kyoto Japan: All the Must-Visit Spots
Day 1 in Kyoto: Travel from Tokyo to Kyoto
After a few days in Tokyo we headed to Kyoto! I heard great things about this city, so I was really excited to check it out. We stayed at The Hyatt Regency Kyoto and booked with Chase points if you have a Chase card. I loved this hotel, but it felt very American based on the other people staying there. They even offered a more American breakfast spread in the mornings at their restaurant.
We took an early train from Tokyo and dropped our stuff at the hotel before hitting the streets. I outlined everything you need to know about the bullet train in another blog post.
Pro Tip: From Tokyo to Kyoto sit on the right side of the train for views of Mt. Fuji! It was too overcast on our way there to see it, but we got lucky with a clear day on the way back to Tokyo a few days later.
Our first stop of the day was the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Unfortunately, it was raining this day, so getting up to the monument with the crowds of umbrellas was a nightmare. If it’s raining when you visit I’d suggest going earlier in the day or later closer to sunset to avoid peak hours and tours. I felt like we didn’t get to enjoy this one. I was told to try an onigiri maki here, but didn’t get the chance.
Close by you’ll find Higashiyama, the area containing Kyoto’s best-known shrines and temples. Again, because of the weather we skipped this one and opted for an early lunch. If you’re in the area, walk down Sannenzaka and Nineizaka and try a sakura cream puff. Luckily, I got a glimpse of the five story pagoda, Hokanji Temple later in the day at happy hour.
After fighting for our lives against a heard of school children with umbrellas, we walked to Nishiki Market for lunch. I love walking through these markets and trying a bunch of things. We found a seat at a sushi restaurant and ordered sushi and fried fish, before hitting a dessert stand and coffee shop for coffee and cookies. My dad also found a sake tasting store that he said was also worth the stop.
We shopped around in Nishiki Market for a bit, before walking over to Glanta for custom rings. The line can get long here, and the wait can be over an hour for your ring, but it was worth it for the cute souvenir. My mom and I got matching rings, but decided not to engrave them to avoid the additional wait time.
If engraving is your thing I heard the Chopstick Store let’s you engrave any of their chopsticks. We didn’t make it here, but looks cool if you have extra time.
Address: 63-4 Fukakusa Inari Nakanocho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto 612-0807 Japan
We took a little lounge break after shopping to settle into our new hotel then headed to K36 Bar & Rooftop for drinks before dinner. This was my favorite drink spot on the whole trip. Like I mentioned early, we did get to see the Hokanji Temple because this restaurant offers incredible views of this pagoda and the city. I wish we had stayed for dinner, but we didn’t have a reservation, so we had to give up our table before sunset.
For dinner we headed to the Pontocho Alley tucked behind the river. This little alley can be hard to find, but offers tons of restaurants, many of which are hot pot style. We struggled to find a restaurant here that looked up our alley, no pun intended, but landed on Katsuno. While the food was decent, we agreed this was our least favorite meal of the trip. The server sorta forgot about us and it took awhile to get our food.
After another long day, we headed back to the hotel in preparation for an early day trip to Hiroshima the next day.
Click here to watch my Day 1 in Kyoto Vlog.
Day 2: Full Day in Kyoto
We wanted to get going early this morning to avoid crowds, but started walking to a coffee shop before we realized cafes in Japan don’t open until at least 8 am. As I mentioned our hotel offers a somewhat American breakfast buffet, so we hit that before heading out the door.
Our first stop was a long drive out to Arashiyama Bamboo Grove Forest. One blog I read said to skip this, but this was one of my favorite sites! We walked through the forest up to the Okochisanso Garden and it was one of the most beautiful sites. The garden at the top was worth the small entrance fee.
The Arayamashi Monkey Park, that followed it was not so great. Take the back way down from the bamboo forest and walk by the river. I heard it’s especially stunning during the fall because of all the colorful fall foliage. Once you cross the bridge, it’s a 20 minute uphill walk to the park. You’ll see the entrance near an orange shrine gate at the south side of the Togetsu-kyo Bridge. Look for the cartoon picture of monkey above. If you asked my brother, he’d probably say this was one of his top sites, but the monkeys lowkey scared me, so I kept my distance.
We skipped these next two, but I had them on my list if you have the time or desire:
Arashiyama Station Kimono Street
Kinkakukji--Golden Pavilion
For lunch we made our way to Wajoryomen Sugari, a highly recommended ramen spot. It opens at 11:30 am and is said to have a long wait, but around 12:15, we got in line, ordered and were sat with food within twenty minutes. I think we got lucky!
There was a Pokemon Center within walking distance, so if there’s a Pokemon lover in your group definitely check it out. After a lot of walking we headed back to the hotel to regroup.
The Fushimi Inari was high on my list to visit and I heard it gets really busy making it hard to take photos. We went around 5:3o pm and were able to get these without a huge line of people behind us.
Pro Tip: The higher you climb, the less people will be around. We didn’t climb very high to get these!
For dinner we headed towards the Kamo River with Tai Sushi in mind, but it was reservation only. This whole area was really cute and had a handful of restaurants with lines out the door. We ended up at Sugitama Kyoto Kawaramachi Store which was really good and sat us right away.
Click here to watch my Day 2 in Kyoto Vlog.
Day 3: Travel back to Tokyo
Before heading back to Tokyo for our last day in Japan, we took advantage of a slow morning with no sites to check off. We tried out MurMur Coffee for cheese toast and coffees before venturing to the train station. I love a cafe, so this was a lovely experience. We got a nice morning walk in before breakfast, then made our way to the train station to take the bullet train back to Tokyo.
Click here for my travel day from Kyoto to Tokyo Vlog.