Itinerary for 1 or 1-1/2 days in Kyoto

This may seem a little strange and "loose", but these are notes I have culled from much reading.

I would like to know (and this is a BIG request) from those who have done this and understand within-Kyoto transportation and have a little time, how many of these can I fit into one LONG day in Kyoto, arriving at about 10:30AM and sleeping over, and In What Order??

The next day we're going to Nara and then back to Tokyo. It would be easier for us to just go Nara-Kyoto-Tokyo within getting out of the Kyoto train station, but if any of these sites are just too much for one day in Kyoto, maybe we could fit them into Kyoto on the next afternoon and make a 7 o' clock or so train back to Tokyo.

So: here is my "info" and what my ideal would be is to find out e.g. "Start at THIS one. Then take THIS bus or train at THIS corner. Get off HERE. See THIS one. Then Bus number ??? to THIS NEXT one. In other words, an itinerary!!! If this is incredibly presumptuous, I'm sorry! I just figured no harm in asking.

So:

Our hotel is: VIA INN KYOTO SHIJOMUROMACHI,
http://kyoto.viainn.com/english/index.html#A

We would like to cover the following, IF POSSIBLE:

Philosopher�fs Walk (probably)
Nijo Castle (is this "necessary" or "not that great"?)
Sanjusajendo (I MUST see this!)
Heian Jingu [probably optional??]
Kinkakuji - golden pavilion (YES)
Ryoanji - probably, or another ZEN-type garden
Ginkakuki(?) – silver pavilion

Yasaka shrine to Maruyama Park [optional? part of seeing Gion?] -
Kodaiji
Now the strange parts of my notes: is Yasaka Jinja to Kiyomizu through the ancient Higashiyama (neighborhood) -- Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka are streets??
Nanzenji, and Chion-in (The Last Samurai) (in Higashiyama)
Ponto-cho corridor, cut across the Kamo River to Gion, north and south of
Shijo, at twilight and wander for a few hours??? [is this good? We are interested in some temples and in ***wandering old streets in Gion, seeing craft shops, seeing the geisha area, not in anything industrial]
[Eat dinner in GION (yes???)and back to hotel]

Sorry this is semi-coherent. It's cut and pasted from a number of websites, people's observations, etc.

I appreciate ALL the help, seriously!

Most of the sites are in Higashiyama, and I'll try to list them according to proximity to one another and the easiest way to see them:

Gion and Pontocho are very close, so see them in the evening together. They are also close to Maruyama Park. Yasaka Shrine (jinja) is at the entrance of Maruyama Park. Chion-in Temple borders Maruyama Park on the west side. Kodaiji Temple is within easy walking distance to the west of Maruyama Park.

Yes, ninnenzaka and sannenzaka are just streets with preserved traditional buildings and shops that are popular among visitors. From Kodaiji, you can walk to Kiyomizu Temple.

The Okazaki area (northern Higashiyama):
The Philosopher's Path runs from Ginkakuji Temple down near Nanzenji, so if you walk the path, you can visit them, along with other temples along the path.
Also, if you use the Keihan Railway, you can stop at Heian Shrine on your way to Nanzenji Temple. It is between the station and Nanzenji, so it's worth stopping.

Sanjuusangendo is not particularly close to the others, but all of the sites in Higashiyama are easily accessible via Keihan Railway. Sanjuusangendo is near Shichijo Station.

Kinkakuji Temple and Ryoanji Temple are a 15 minute walk away from each other however, they are on opposite side of the city as Higashiyama.

Nijo Castle is in central Kyoto.

Looking at all these places, it's not possible to arrive at 10:30 AM and see them all.

I would have suggested taking a bus to Kinkakuji and Ryoanji and then going to Kiyomizu Temple then to Kodaiji and then Maruyama Park/Chion-in, but...

Your number one must-see is Sanjuusangendo, right? I'd suggest going there first and then deciding where to go from there.

Probably it would be best to combine it with either northern Higashiyama/Okazaki (Philosopher's path and such) or the area around Maruyama Park.

No matter where you go, you can still end your day in Gion, pontocho, and Maruyama Park (including Yasaka Shrine). The only reason why I can't fully suggest leaving this area until evening is that you will miss Kodaiji, Chion-in, and Kiyomizu Temple that way. If those are not so important, then you could go to one of the other areas and end your day there.

Also, I wouldn't recommend trying to see sites in Kyoto on your day in Nara. Nara has enough sites to see that it is worth spending the day there. If all of these sites are really important for you to visit, then cutting Nara would be better than trying to see them in the same day as Nara...

We're now going to take the train to Kyoto the night before that first day, arriving at around 7PM. We can check into our hotel and eat dinner. the hotel is near the train station. Is there anything we can do that evening that would help us see things, or are all things listed (except streets) closed at night? At least, for example, should we take a bus or train to the Gion area to eat, and is it lit up enough to enjoy walking around at night?

I'm understanding now that I have WAY too many things on my list.

Instead we're going to take the Johnnie Hillwalker tour at 10:15 that next morning. We will end up at Kiyomizu at 3PM and can see it then in detail.

The next (second) morning I think we'll see the Golden Pavilion and (I don't have the name handy right now but it's the Zen temple I think that's a 5- minute bus ride away from the Golden Pavilion) and then we'll head out to Nara and spend the day there. If there's "extra" time after seeing the shrine and the deer around the park, then on our way back to Kyoto we can maybe stop at Inari Shrine, and then train back to Tokyo. That's probably still a lot, but we have short attention spans (!)

Does any of this sound reasonable. At first we were going to take the train from Tokyo to Kyoto on that first morning, arriving just in time for the Kyoto walk (10AM) but it seems a little less rushed to get to Kyoto in the evening, since we didn't have any great ideas about what to do in Tokyo after dinner anyway, and we'll have two evenings there after Kyoto to do the touristy things (top of that tower to see the city, etc.).

thank you - please let me know what you think about my latest "plan" and what we might be able to do in Kyoto after dinner that evening, and even if there's something interesting to do that morning 8AM to 10AM before our walking tour starts? Much appreciated!

... not to do anything in Kyoto when you want to see Nara the same day... let alone something like Ryoanji and the Golden Pavillion, which are on the North-Western end of town and it requires some time to get there and back!!! (Also I wonder if Ryoanji and Golden Pavillion are included in the tour you mentioned???) + going to Nara + stopping at Inari + heading back to Tokyo... Funny, I also completely underestimated how big Kyoto is... Your schedule is close to impossible if you ask me, if you want to spend more time than you need for taking a picture!!! If you skip Ryoanji and Golden Pavillion that day it would make so much more sense... imo... (and I consider myself also having a short attention span...).
But enjoy anyway
Gaby

Your is not a long day. You miss half of the morning and will have only about six hours for luggage organization, orientation, lunch and sightseeing before most of the temples close.

I recommend to see Sanjusangendo, Kiyomizudera and the Higashiyama district. And if there is time left, see Kinkakuji, which is located on the opposite side on the town.

Then, have dinner in Pontocho which is within walking distance of your hotel.

Here is this (unconventional) tour we want to take:

http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/h-s-love/

From JR Kyoto station at 10:15AM:

The tour visits:
Higashi-Honganji, the biggest Buddhist temple, not a tourist spot, but a place of worship. We have to take off our shoes to go inside.
3 Shinto shrines, Ayako Tenman-gu ,Ichihime shrine and Toyokuni shrine.
A former geisha area, Gojo rakuen.
A graveyard in Chokodo Temple, or Renkoji Temple.
4 workshops in private homes along back alleys where such things as Buddhist prayer beads, paper fans, tofu, paper lanterns, rope decorations, green tea containers, Japanese pastries and pottery are made.

No lunch stop. The tour provides each of you one small piece of vegetarian sushi, and a rest in an old pastry shop, Kanshundo-Higashimise, around 2:00, where you are served a small piece of Japanese pastry with a cup of green tea. phone 075-561-1318.

The tour finishes around 3:00 near Kiyomizu temple, the No. 1 tourist spot in Kyoto, half way up the eastside hill, with wonderful views and many shops, and restaurants along old Kyoto-style lanes, the best part of Kyoto to spend the remaining of the day yourself.

----

So you see it doesn't go to ANY of the usual tourist places. But I think my husband, my teenaged son, and I would be better off after two days walking around Tokyo by ourselves to have this kind of more intimate, social experience, with some humor and anecdotes and other English speakers than to go from shrine to shrine.

Anyway, as you can see, we will be let go at around 3PM at Kiyomizu, and can go in there, and then I guess it'll be around 4PM and all the other temples will be closed, so we can walk around that neighborhood (Sanjusangendo and the Higashiyama district?? probably Sanjusangendo will be closed after 5PM, though). Anyplace we should wander around there, other than go to dinner?

So then the next day is Nara day. Others have said Nara = half a day and we should be "finished" by 1PM and can go back to Kyoto and see at least the Golden Pavilion before heading back to Tokyo! what if we just saw the shrines etc. around Nara Park and then headed back to Kyoto after lunch? We could certainly take a train from Kyoto to Tokyo leaving at around 7PM.

All suggestions welcome and so appreciated!! you are all giving me a more realistic view of what I'm getting into!

thanks

Don't you love when that happens?

I realized that we could arrive in Tokyo Sunday March 28th (early evening check into hotel, a little dinner, bed)

Monday: spend entire day in Tokyo
Tuesday morning: train to Kyoto, spend day in Kyoto, ***I made a reservation for Tuesday night at same hotel in Kyoto that we have Wed. night reservation for! (they did NOT have Thursday night available, which was what threw me)
Wednesday: 5-hour "Johnnie Hillwalker" walking tour as outlined above
Thursday: spend day seeing things in Kyoto, evening train back to Toyko
Friday: entire day in Tokyo
Saturday: entire day in Tokyo
Sunday: fly home to New York City exhausted but happy!!

so there it is

I guess you can't delete posts on this forum.

I meant: Tuesday, spend day in Kyoto
Wednesday, spend day in Kyoto
Thursday, spend day in NARA, evening, back to Tokyo

thank you if you've read all this obsessional posting. I appreciate the "ears" and input.

Not to rain on your parade but the non-touristy temples you mention ARE well known to Japanese tourists and even Western ones like me.. Think about the number of tourists this tour guide has likely taken..

There are 2 Honganji temples (Nishi and Higashi ) located not far from one another and both are visible from the top of the JR Kyoto station..
in addition Higashi Honganji is on a major street, so yes they are popular tourists spots. Each one is not just one building but several so it takes time to visit each temple precinct. . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HigashiHonngajiAerial150.jpg

While the workshops may be interesting, you are expected to buy stuff..You don't have to but will be wasting time while others dilly dally to buy stuff that isn't always the best of the best...Buyer beware...
This is unfortunately a problem with too many guided tours in many countries. The tour guides get a "gift" from the places visited.

You obviously don't have a map of Kyoto. You should be able to order one from a reputable travel store in your home town or country or print maps of the different areas of Kyoto from the internet. Then you can have a better idea on how to plan your itinerary.
a very basic small map:
http://kyoto.asanoxn.com/info/kyotomap.htm

Are you familiar with Google Earth? you can download it to your desk top. Google Kyoto, click on file /street views then move the little guy around to see photos of an area.

It is much better to take the time to see a few places well than rush around too quickly. Just because a guidebook call a site a MUST see doesn't make it so... if you don't have time! there are thousands of must see in Kyoto..even locals have never seen all of them..

Thank you so much. I'm sure you're right, I was being too literal about the "non-touristy" aspects. It still does seem as if we'll get some overview of the culture with this tour, and the tour is only about 20 US dollars a person, which seems very reasonable. I'm looking for something for the three of us to do that doesn't just involve us going here and there alone, trying to find places, but a little more social with others. This seemed like a good compromise, as opposed to more expensive bus tours that aren't our style.

I totally "get" now that there are a zillion sites and we should pick a few and see them in detail.

Thanks for the tips about maps.

Well then, if you have 2 days in Kyoto, you will be able to visit more of the places you want to see!

If your tour ends at Kiyomizu-dera, then you'll obviously want to go there then. It takes about an hour to fully explore and appreciate the temple, but maybe less, depending on your pace.

You may have time to visit Kodaiji Temple after that, but it closes at 5, I think (most temples do). Then go to Maruyama Park with Yasaka Shrine, which are lit up in the evenings. From there, you can head down to Gion and Pontocho. In my opinion, Pontocho is ONLY worth visiting if you do it in the evenings. The atmosphere is just not there in the daytime (just my opinion).

There is shopping all along the streets here, so you can look around, eat, etc. until you go back to your hotel. The only thing you will miss here is Chion-in Temple and possibly Kodaiji Temple. I don't think the grounds of Chion-in Temple actually close, so you could probably go there while you are in Maruyama Park, but there is one part where you pay to enter, so that would likely be closed.

But this leaves you with another day to see sites! On your open day, you'll want to visit sanjuusangendo. After that, you could easily head up to the Okazaki area OR take a bus to Kinkakuji Temple. From there, you can walk 15 minutes to Ryoanji Temple (the famous zen temple). From Ryoanji, you can walk another 15 minutes to Ninnaji Temple.

People who say Nara is a half-day trip are probably only interested in Todaiji Temple, Nara Park, and maybe one or two other places. Kasuga Shrine is a great shrine in Nara that I would recommend. Many people also go to Horyuji Temple (the oldest wooden structure in the world).

If you really only want to see Todaiji Temple and Nara Park, then you COULD visit Fushimi Inari on the way there or back. That would be up to you, but Nara is also a former capital, so it has great historical sites just like Kyoto. Some people like Nara better, because it is not as urban as Kyoto.

Rabbityama, thanks. You write:

''But this leaves you with another day to see sites! On your open day, you'll want to visit sanjuusangendo. After that, you could easily head up to the Okazaki area OR take a bus to Kinkakuji Temple. From there, you can walk 15 minutes to Ryoanji Temple (the famous zen temple). From Ryoanji, you can walk another 15 minutes to Ninnaji Temple.''

What I'd like to do is see Sanjuusangendo, Kinkakuji Temple, and Nijo Castle as definites on our ''extra'' (first) day, which really will begin at about 11AM because we will be taking maybe an 8AM train from tokyo to kyoto that day. Maybe that's ''all'' we can do that day. Also I hate to say this - it seems like sacrilege - but some people e.g. on Trip Advisor are saying that Kinkakuji might not be the place to go with limited time? would Ginkakuji be preferable?

Gold or Silver, that is the Question.

But really I think my son would love to go to the castle. (on ''review sites'' it seems that people really love to go inside the building where the floors make noise)

I prefer the "silver" pavillion (beware it is plain wood, no silver..) especially the view of it from the hillside above it... Nijo castle is definitely "The" place for your son..

So on that day, you want to see Sanjuusangendo, Nijo Castle, and Kinkakuji Temple? Arriving at 11:00 AM you COULD do it. You may be a bit rushed, but its not impossible.

Go to Sanjuusangendo. From there, you can go to the Keihan Railway station to Sanjo Station. From there you can transfer to the subway Sanjo Keihan-Mae Station. That will take you to Nijojo-mae Station, in front of Nijo Castle.

When you leave Nijo Castle, you'll want to go to the Bus Stop Nijojo-Mae and take the 12 or 101 bus north to Kinkakuji-mae, in front of Kinkakuji Temple.

It's kind of a tic-tac-toe trip from southeastern Kyoto to central Kyoto and then to Northwestern Kyoto. lol. I really don't think you will save much time going to Ginkakuji, so you might as well try to visit the site you want to visit most.

When you arrive at Kyoto Station, you should go to the bus center and purchase the 500 yen day pass. You will take a bus to Sanjuusangendo, one to Kinkakuji, and then one to get back to your hotel area, so the pass will save you money. Also, when you get the pass, they will give you a very convenient map with all of the buses and bus stops listed, the most popular Kyoto sites, and all of the train stations. This should be very useful for you.

Those directions are wonderful. Thank you.
thanks to everyone.

Just in case, I'm wondering if I could get directions from Nijo Castle to Ginkakuji?
I have a feeling that that's what we'll be doing after all. And then can walk along the Philosopher's Path until nightfall.

(plan after that is to walk around Pontouchou and then to Karasuma for dinner - sound do-able?)

thanks

Walk to Marutamachi Street at the intersection of Nanajo Horikawa, the bus stop called "Horikawa Marutamachi" and take the 204 bus to Ginkakuji-Michi.

I don't know if anyone has provided this to you yet, this is the website for Kyoto City transport which includes a PDF map of the entire bus system

http://www.city.kyoto.jp/koho/eng/access/transport.html

Thank you. There are no trains? (I think that would be faster?)

From Nijo Castle to Ginkakuji the bus is the way to go. The trains that run in Kyoto serve limited areas: Hankyu through the center of the city away from the Gion district, JR along the southern end, Keihan along the western end, Keifuku Railway in the Arashiyama area, and of course the two Kyoto subway lines that operate like the shape of a cross.

One of those subway lines runs from Nijo Castle - Nijojo-mae on the Tozai Line - but you will still have to transfer to a bus anyway to finish your journey to Ginkakuji (the 5, 100 or 203 bus from Higashiyama station)

You could take the Tozai Subway Line and Keihan Railway via Sanjo Station to Demachi-Yanagi Station and board a bus from there. Depending on the timing of the transfers, it could be faster.