Welcome to the 2nd installment of the 3-part blog series about our Japan trip last October 2015. After spending 5 days in Tokyo, Majo, Junelle & I decided to go down to Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital via night bus.
Kyoto is known for its breathtaking landscapes, beautiful heritage-listed temples & rich history. Most people go to Kyoto only for a day trip from either Tokyo or Osaka but we opted to stay for 1 night to cover as much as we can.
Japan ’15 crew @ Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
I will keep this blog informal & perhaps discuss it part by part – from where we stayed, how we went around Kyoto, what we did & where we went.
Where We Stayed
We’ve read reviews of the best places to stay in Kyoto; we found Backpacker’s K House Kyoto as one of the most affordable & well-recommended accommodation near JK Kyoto Station. It is about 10 minutes walk from the main station.
Since we were a group of 3 with big bags, we decided to get a triple private room with shared bathroom for around ¥3,200 each (¥9,600 per night). The room consisted of a bunk bed & a single bed. If you are travelling by yourself & you want to meet other people, the hostel also offers bunk beds for a more affordable rate.
The hostel has a spacious reception area. It also features a 2nd floor large common area. It has couches, computers, outdoor terrace, common dining & kitchen area. It also has a common traditional Japanese bathroom & toilet. There is also a bar & restaurant, called Zen Cafe, at the ground floor beside reception.
The hostel allows both incoming & outgoing guests to use the facilities in the common area while waiting for their room access (which starts at 3:00 in the afternoon) or their night buses or flights. Given we arrived in the morning, they allowed us to use the bathroom & toilet in the common area to freshen up & then had our bags stored in the luggage room.
Spacious hostel lounge area
I recommend staying in Backpacker’s K House when in Kyoto. The hostel is centrally-located & offers great amenities plus really nice & helpful staff. Make sure to book your rooms / beds early because they are usually fully booked.
How we went (or to go) around Kyoto
Apart from having a JR Pass, there are other ways of going around Kyoto. As mentioned in my Tokyo blog, we each got an IC card which is valid in almost all train lines all over Japan. We opted to use our IC cards for that day. We took the JR train to Arashiyama, boarded the local tram & city buses to the different temples & went to Gion & Inari via local subway all using the IC card.
A cheaper alternative is to get the 1-day Kyoto bus pass for ¥500 or the 1-day Kyoto Tourist pass for around ¥1,000+. The bus pass gives you unlimited access to all city bus routes for a day. This option is cheap but one thing you need to know is that lines can really be long in different bus stops (especially the buses leaving from Kyoto Station). The tourist pass gives you unlimited access both to the city buses & local subway lines.
Each bus ride / subway ride costs around ¥200 yen to ¥240 yen, except the JR line to Arashiyama which costs around ¥400+. Come think of it, the 1-day bus pass is really a good deal. It will save you some cash but just make sure you are not in a hurry. Both passes are available at the Kyoto Bus Information Center in front of JR Kyoto Station.
View of Kyoto Tower outside JR Kyoto Station
What We Did & Where We Went
Given we had limited time in Kyoto, we carefully planned our itinerary for our stay. Too bad we were not able to cover everything but we managed to visit as much temples & places as we can.
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove – This place is famous for the famous scenic bamboo forest. It is a short passageway full of bamboos on both sides. Make sure to go up to the end to take pictures with lesser people in the background. It would also be better to go there around 8 in the morning to avoid the crowd. (No entrance fee)
Taken towards the end of the Bamboo Forest where there were less people
Tenryū-ji – This is Arashiyama’s most famous & most important temple. This white zen temple is also listed as a world heritage site. It features a landscaped garden with central pond surrounded by rocks & trees. (Entrance fee: ¥500 per person – for more information about the temple, click here)
Right outside the main temple building
Ryōan-ji – This is a temple famous for its rock garden. Viewed from the Hojo Building (former head priest’s residence), the garden consists of pebbles & rocks laid out in portions of moss. People are advised to keep quiet while inside the building. The temple grounds also feature a park & a pond; one of Kyoto’s most beautiful spots during spring & autumn. (Entrance fee: ¥500 per person – for more information about the temple, click here)
View from the Hojo Building
Ninna-ji – This is another world heritage-listed zen temple famous for its temple buildings & beautiful gardens. It also features a five storey pagoda, which you can immediately see upon entering the temple grounds. Just like Ryōan-ji, this is another famous spot for cherry blossoms every spring. (Entrance fee: ¥500 per person – for more information about the temple, click here)
Ninna-ji’s 5-storey pagoda
Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Pavilion) – This is the most famous temple in Kyoto; I reckon also the most beautiful I’ve seen that day. The golden temple features a pond in front & a garden at the back. Seeing its reflection in the water on a sunny / clear day makes it even more beautiful. Make sure to also go early to get decent photos & also to avoid the crowd. (Entrance fee: ¥400 per person)
Stunning view of the Golden Pavilion
Gion – This is the Kyoto’s famous geisha district. It is full of traditional Japanese restaurants & tea houses, modern cafes & shops. Make sure to head over to Hanami-Koji Street & it’s alleys to try your luck with spotting geishas. My friends & I gave it a try & we saw around 10 of them (real ones). We even identified one of the many geisha houses in the area.
We weren’t able to see all temples & shrines on the same day so we moved the visit to Fushimi Inari Taisha the next morning. The temple is in the foot of Mount Inari & is famous for the big & small torii gates. These torii gates lead you up to the forests of mountain as well as to the peak. We had limited time here so we did not bother going up that far from the main grounds.
Just like any other famous place in Kyoto, I recommend that you go here before 8:00 in the morning to enjoy the place by yourselves. As far as I can remember, the place is open for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so you can go there as early as you can. (No entrance fee)
Inside the row of torii gates
We’ve been to a lot in our 1.5-day stay in Kyoto but I reckon we haven’t covered most of it – only some of the major ones. If ever you are to visit Kyoto soon, make sure to stay here for a few days (not just the usual 1 day tour) to see more of what this beautiful city has to offer. Kyoto is one of my favorites in Japan; I will definitely visit this place again soon.
Just in case you missed it, click here to read about our first 5 days in Tokyo. I also blogged how I spent less than ₱40,000 for this Japan trip. You want to know how? Check this out! I will talk about our last stop, Osaka, in the final installment of this 3-part Japan Series in the coming weeks. Thank you for reading! 😊
PS. Thanks again to Junelle for allowing me to use some of her photos.
