Kyoto was a nice change of pace from Tokyo (check out – 4 days in Tokyo). Kyoto is where Japanese culture really comes to life. If you don’t know this about me yet, I love “old shit”, and Kyoto is filled with Japanese history and tradition. There is so much to do in this little town. I think 3 or 4 days here is the perfect amount.
Day 1 | Gion & Tea Ceremony
Morning: In the morning we had to catch a train from Tokyo to Kyoto. This was the first time that we activated our JRail Pass. You do not have to reserve your train ticket online, you can simply go to the train station and get a reservation there. If you’re nervous about the train being too crowded, then head to the station earlier then your ideal train time to reserve.
Once we got to Kyoto, we took the bus from the train station to our Ryokan, Kinoe Ryokan. Something that I wanted to do while I was in Japan was stay at a Ryokan, which is a traditional Japanese inn that typically features tatami-matted rooms and communal baths. For our Kinoe Ryokan stay, I was able to use our Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card points. Each night cost $230 USD. In total we saved around $543 USD that we could use toward other experiences during our trip.
Afternoon: We had worked up an appetite after our morning travels, and by this point in the trip I was definitely craving some gyoza, my favorite Japanese food! We walked from our Ryokan to Chao Chao Gyoza. They have their signature style of how they cook their gyoza, they sear it so it’s got a nice crisp on the bottom! We spent about $10 USD per person here.
Tip: I recommend their Chao Chao’s Signature Gyoza AND the chocolate gyoza. It looks weird, just trust me.
After lunch we went to Maikoya Tea Ceremony to experience a traditional tea ceremony dressed in a kimono. This experience costs about $50 USD for a 60-90 minute experience. I thought that this was worth it because it allowed us to learn about Japan’s rich tea culture as well as get our photo in a kimono that is basically a necessity when coming to Kyoto. We very much enjoyed our time and the people who worked there were lovely.
Evening: After the tea ceremony we freshened up and walked over to Yasaka Shrine. This shrine is beautiful lit up at night and a nice place to grab some fresh air away from the city streets.
After Yasaka Shrine we went to dinner at one of our most anticipated dinner spots of the trip, Menbakaichidai Fire Ramen. This place is not called fire ramen for its spiciness, no, they literally light your ramen on fire. And it’s so so good. You can taste the smokiness and char it adds to the broth. It adds a layer of depth to their ramen unlike traditional ramen. A bowl of ramen here will run you about $12 USD. It’s a bit out of the way from popular parts of Kyoto, but it’s an easy bus ride and I think very worth it! Nothing is better than dinner and a show.
Other things to do: If we had more time in Kyoto, we would have loved to do a geisha dinner at a place like GION Okuoka. I recommend having a reservation for a geisha dinner.
I also, would have loved to have gone to Kinkakuji Shrine, but it was out of the way and unfortunately did not fit into our itinerary for Kyoto.
Day 2 | Fushimi Inari & Yamazaki
Morning: This morning we woke up as early as we could to catch a train to Fushimi Inari Shrine, the most famed attraction Kyoto is known for. We wanted to get here early to beat the crowds. We arrived around 9:30am, which we thought was quite late, but we made out ok (again we came in Winter, I doubt this would be the same in Spring).
You can easily spend 2-3 hours here hiking the Tori gates. This was my favorite thing in all of Kyoto. It’s such a pretty walk, and you can even summit the mountain for amazing views of Kyoto. Definitely make sure to wear comfortable shoes for hiking.
Tip: Don’t get frustrated if you can’t get your perfect photo op at the beginning of the Tori gates, keep walking! There’s 10,000 of them and the deeper in you go the less people are walking around. Also, don’t forget to turn around to take the photo, it’ll show the Japanese characters on the Tori gates that people tend to miss.
Once we got back down to the main shrine, it was definitely much busier, we were happy we came here as early as we could! We walked around the town for a little bit and stumbled along a cute shop that sold beautiful chopsticks and they engraved them for free! We got a few of these as gifts for friends and family.
Check out more gifts & souvenirs to buy in Japan in my blog post here – 6 Japan Gift & Souvenir Ideas.
Afternoon: For lunch we were in the mood for a hot soup, udon sounded like the perfect idea. We found Kendonya, a small little udon shop in town. We got here around 11:30am and we sat right away. I got the “C Set” (udon + pork cutlet + rice) for about $9 USD. It was a ton of food for a good price. We highly recommend this place, and we came for lunch just in time because when we left, the line to get a seat was down the building.
After lunch, we took the train to Yamazaki for a distillery tour at Suntory Yamazaki Distillery. We fortunately have a friend who works at Beam Suntory who was able to set us up with a guided tour, but even so, this tour was very affordable at around $9 USD. This is an amazing price because after the tour you get to taste some of Suntory’s whiskies that are not for sale.
Tip: If it is available, buy their Yamazaki single malt whisky! It’s super rare and hard to stock across the world. Also, if you are able to transport with it, get a few bottles of their sparkling water. It beats any sparkling mineral water in the States!
Evening: After Yamazaki, we took the train back to Kyoto to grab a walking dinner at Nishiki Food Market. I would not recommend coming here during this time as it was super crowded and since people were starting to close for the day, the selection of foods were dwindling down. I would recommend coming first thing in the morning before the crowds hit. Regardless, we still had some delicious Takoyaki (octopus balls) at Karikari Hakase and some other treats like rice balls. We spent around $10 USD at Nishiki Food Market.
We were still hungry, so we found Matsukiya for an Omi Beef dinner, some of Japan’s best wagyu beef. We got the Yorokobi Omi Beef Steak Japanese style course, which cost about $140 USD, that we split between the two of us. For one person, that would definitely be a splurge, but we knew coming to Japan that we would want to spend good money on wagyu beef so we were ok with spending that. We recommend this place for it’s wagyu beef! It was a unique dining style too, everyone had their own room to eat in so it was very private.
After dinner, we were in the mood for a night cap. We found Nokishita711 gin. This place was really freakin awesome. A little hidden gem in Gion. 100% go! It was less traditional and made us feel like we were in a speakeasy in Brooklyn, but it was just what we wanted for cocktails. Also, there are no prices on the menu, you pay what you think the cocktail deserves. Very avant-garde. We left him $15 USD per drink.
Day 3 | Hagashiyama & Arishyama
Morning: On the third morning we did not have any plans, except to walk around and explore. We ended up in the Hagashiyama District, which was one of my favorite parts of the trip, because as I’ve said before “I love old shit.” It gives you the vibes of what it would be like to live in Japan many many years ago. We got breakfast at a nondescript breakfast spot for about $8 USD. I didn’t catch the name, but it was right next to Hokan-Ji Temple.
Also right near Hokan-Ji Temple, we stumbled upon a pottery place called Zuikou! This. Was. So. Much. Fun. I highly recommend! We did a quick 20 minute session for around $18 USD, then it cost another $20 USD or so to ship back to the States, but I though it was so worth it for the experience. The employees at this shop were great and easy to learn from.
After our quick pottery lesson, we walked around Matsubara-Dori. This street is a good place to get souvenirs if you’re looking to buy your friends and family tea sets, chocolates, matcha treats, and more. Regardless if you are in need of souvenirs or not, still walk down Matsubara-Dori since this street leads you up to Kiyomizu-dera an area with many shrines and beautiful views on Kyoto.
Afternoon: We took the bus from Hagashiyama to spend the afternoon in Arishyama. Kyoto is known for its soft tofu so we spent our lunch time at Tofu Ryori, which has beautiful views of the river. We spent about $14 USD for a 3 or 4 course lunch with their specialty soft cooked tofu.
We walked off lunch at the Arishyama Bamboo Grove, it’s a beautiful bamboo forest that has a nice walking trail. If you find the right trail, you can take the scenic route back into town by walking down the mountain and along the river side. Make sure you have comfortable shoes if you decide to go this route.
Other things to do: If we had more time, we wanted to go to the Iwatayama Monkey Park! It unfortunately started raining and the park closes at 4pm, so make sure to plan your day accordingly.
Evening: After Arashiyama, we trained back to Gion and did another pit stop at, Kennin-Ji Temple. It cost $5 USD for admission into this temple, but I really wanted to go here to see the twin dragon mural on the ceiling inside the temple. It was totally worth it!
On this evening, we packed up our bags and took the JR Rail train to Osaka. Check out 3 days in Osaka, Japan here!
3 Days in Kyoto Itinerary
| Day 1 | Gion & Tea Ceremony | ||
| Morning | ||
| » Take the Shinkansen Train from Tokyo to Kyoto | ||
| » Bus from Kyoto station to Kinoe Ryokan for check in | Saved $543 USD | |
| Afternoon | ||
| » Walk to eat lunch at Chao Chao Gyoza | $10 USD | |
| » Experience a traditional Japanese tea ceremony at Maikoya Tea Ceremony | $50 USD | |
| Evening | ||
| » Take an evening stroll at Yasaka Shrine | ||
| » Watch ramen on fire and eat dinner at Menbakaichidai Fire Ramen | $12 USD |
| Day 2 | Fushimi Inari & Yamazaki | ||
| Morning | ||
| » Train from Gion-Shijo Station to Fushimi-Inari Station | ||
| » Spend 2-3 hours at Fushimi Inari Shrine | ||
| Afternoon | ||
| » Get udon noodes for lunch at Kendonya | $9 USD | |
| » Train from Fushimi-Inari Station to Yamazaki Station | ||
| » Go on a distillery tour at Suntory Yamazaki Distillery | $9 USD | |
| Evening | ||
| » Eat an early dinner snack at Nishiki Food Market | $10 USD | |
| » Eat a 5 course Omi Steak wagyu beef dinner at Matsukiya | $70 USD | |
| » Go for a night cap at Nokishita711 | $15 USD |
| Day 3 | Hagashiyama & Arishiyama | ||
| Morning | ||
| » Walk to Hagashiyama District for breakfast | $8 USD | |
| » Learn how to make a coffee mug at Zuikou pottery | $48 USD | |
| » Walk down Matsubara-Dori to buy souvenirs | ||
| » Take photos and get views of the city at Kiyomizudera | ||
| Afternoon | ||
| » Train from Gion-Shijo Station to Arishyama Station | ||
| » Get Kyoto’s famous tofu at Tofu Ryori | $14 USD | |
| » Walk off lunch and take photos at Arishyama Bamboo Grove | ||
| Evening | ||
| » Train from Arishyama Station to Gion-Shijo Station | ||
| » Check out the twin dragon mural at Kennin-Ji Temple | $5 USD | |
| » Pack your bags and head out out to Osaka! |
All train/bus costs came out to about $20 USD over 3 days
Total Cost for Food, Transport & Experiences (1 person) – $280 USD
