Kyoto for interesting but poor pensioner

I am 75 and my wife 70, so not quite as mobile as previously. But as ex-tour operator we are cash-poor but very interesting people - that's the travel industry for you no money but fascinating people. We are currently living on a budget in South of France, and would like to make our one and only 'bucket-list' trip to Japan but obviously need to keep costs to absolute minimum. Hence why I'm making all arrangements myself for 14 day stay in Kyoto in October 2018 - any suggestions on what to do, where to go, where to stay, where to eat and how to save money would be most appreciated. Arigato

This page is a good place to start https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2028.html

Do you have any particular interests?

Since you plan on staying for two weeks in Kyoto and as hotels there are never cheap, look into staying at an AirBnb or similar and make sure that you're at walking distance of a bus stop or train station.

The tourist sights of Kyoto are well documented, no point in repeating that here, think about including Nara. See if you can synchronise your visit with one of the matsuri in the area.

The area around Kyoto is famous for funazushi, it is an acquired taste and not many people like the smell, but it is the one thing that I would like to recommend as so few tourists try it preferring the normal sushi you can find anywhere. Personally I like it and eat it when I can. :-)

I think your idea to stay 2 weeks in Kyoto is excellent!
Most economic solution is to rent small apartement - AirBnb, or use some companies who deal with such. Make sure there is kitchenette, and rice cooker is for good too (if you like cooking). Anyway you can do breakfast at home and save quite a lot.
I recommend to stay in Gion - there is so many places i walking distance, and lot of busses (day pass is 500Y and no 206 goes between JR station and Gion). It is calm area and without big city rush. Lawsons and 7Elevens are everywhere.
You can do easy daytrips - to Arashiyama, Uji, Katsura, Lake Biwa (we liked Omihachiman). Empereor villas are for free, but need booking with passport.

Thank you all. Girl with pearl - can you tell me more about Emperor villas? Also appreciate any advice on day trip destinations you mentioned thanks

Hi!

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3936.html

Shugakuin Imperial Villa is an example of an "Emperor's Villa" as is Katsura Rikyu. The tours are very good, I preferred Katsura. And while the tours are free, getting to the villas is not. The tours take a limited number of people on-line or you will need to go in person to the Kyoto Imperial Park to pre-register. You can also register for a tour of the Sento Imperial Palace Gardens and the Kyoto Imperial Palace for free. Both of those are in the same park as the agency where you register for the other tours.

I would be careful booking an AirBnB since while it could go off without a hitch many of the AirBnBs in Japan are illegal and there is always talk in Kansai about cracking down on them, just like I've heard that Kansai wants to start cracking down on large bags on local transport/shopping arcades. AirBnB does not give you good support should your host cancel close to your arrival.

I don't mean to be rude, it just seems odd to have wanting to spend 14 days in Kyoto as a bucket list dream and not really knowing what you want to do there and just looking for what are the cheapest activities. I get being on a budget, but even being on a budget usually people have activities or places they specifically want to go outside of the very general Kyoto. :/

Check out Toyoko Inn. https://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng

They are a business hotel and have 4 locations in Kyoto. The Gojo-Karasuma and Shijo-Karasuma hotels are both located on the Karasuma Subway Line. I stay at the Gojo-Karasuma location because it is slightly closer to Kyoto Station, but the Shijo-Karasuma hotel is only 1 subway stop further away and has the benefit of being on Shijo street and on the Hankyu Kyoto Line as well.

They serve a free breakfast every morning, they have laundry facilities, and they offer a membership. The membership is 1500 Yen but it saves you 5% off the price of a stay each night, Monday to Saturday and 20% off on Sundays and holidays. Every night's stay earns you 1 point and you get a free single room stay after earning 10 points. You can apply the free single room stay towards your stay in a double room or twin room, they just charge you the difference in price.

You can read about the membership here: https://www.toyoko-inn.com/club/index.html?lcl_id=en

If you want to stay in a regular hotel, staying outside Kyoto near Osaka, Nara, or Otsu can save you a lot on hotels, and it's only a 20-40 minute commute by train.

When I asked about airbnb, etc, I was warned that they are not legal in Japan (especially Kyoto) and you have little recourse if things go wrong. So for a once in a lifetime trip, it may not be worth the risk.

Thanks to everybody for their helpful replies - keep them coming they are very helpful and greatly appreciated.
To rkold I have several things I want to do and planned, but am very interested and receptive to other peoples kind ideas.

The rules around AirBnB have been relaxed, but many are still illegal from a different standpoint: the host is quite often illegally subletting.

AirBnBs may not be the ideal situation for travel, as they have quite a lot of differences from hotels that make them less convenient: more strict check-in and check-out times, often can't leave luggage before or after check-in/out, no reception desk to contact for help/recommendations, host may not speak English well, etc.

Have you looked into Youth Hostel? I stayed in one in Kyoto like 20 yrs ago, maybe they still exist. I guess you need to become a member in your home country for getting a discount.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Hi Merlin75,

It might be easier for people here to recommend more if we knew what your top priorities are. Being budgetary and interesting just isn't enough because many of us have some sort of budget and we all define different things as interesting. This is not meant to be offensive, but for more specific help, it really behooves you to share a little more with us. For example, are you sure you need 14 days? Perhaps it might make sense to do a slightly shorter trip and have more money for sightseeing. Are you just doing Kyoto and then going back to your home country or traveling elsewhere in Japan/Asia? Do you need to spend all 14 days in Kyoto, or might it help and save you some money to spend some time elsewhere in the Kansai region.

So for example you could get a Kansai ThruPass and spend 2 nights in Koya-san..

In general, Kyoto is super popular so for budget accommodations it tends to cost more than elsewhere in the area and budget accommodations will sell out faster. Kyoto is larger than people suspect and depending on what you want to do there, certain locations might make more sense to stay in.

Other cheap chains for hotels outside of Toyoko are the APAs, Sunroute, MyStays, and Super. In general, in business hotels, a double is just a single with a larger bed, the room is about the same size. They can be quite small. You can also do a google search for budget Kyoto accommodations and then ask here about specific places.

If you're not picky about food, there are lots and lots of options. Areas near super touristy sights will be more expensive, areas near students will have more budgetary options.

There are lots of passes of lots of varieties for the Kansai region and even further afield. But whether one is a good deal or not depends on what you want to do. There are Kyoto Bus passes, Keihan Passes, Kansai Thru Passes, Kansai One Pass, JR Kansai Area, JR Kansai Wide Passes, and various other JR West Passes. They can all save you money depending on what you are planning to do with said pass but will just cost you money if they don't help you get where you want to go.

Good luck!

I just discovered, that it is possible to stay in Kyoto next October for 2 weeks for less then 500 euros - according booking, amazing... Why I have done my hotel-hunting just 3-6 months before trip?
My parents are same age, and they prefere to have one base place, easily accessible (so can go home and relax in middle of day), transport nearby. Business chain hotels are fine (my favourite is Dormy Inn), but some have really tiny rooms and 120 cm double bed (Ace Inn). They don't have kitchenette of course.

Daytrips from Kyoto - we picked most ideas from this site, and this forum. Last time visited Omihachiman near lake Biwa - we took bikes from station, but also local bus is available. Mountain, boat trip, extremely tasty small fishes - nice day.
https://www.ana-cooljapan.com/destinations/shiga/omihachiman

Kyoto Station has large Tourist Info, lot of booklets for outside Kyoto places too. As big onsen-friend I think you should visit Kinosaki as it looks lovely (as onsen towns usually do).

Starting from March 2018, there will be price changes to popular transportation passes.

The one-day bus pass will be 600 yen (from current 500 yen). Kyoto city bus is sometimes slow, but an economical mode of transportation within the city. 600 yen is cheaper than 3 individual fares, so it is still a good option if you ride buses most of a day.

But the combination subway+bus passes will be discounted to 900 yen (1 day, from 1200 yen) and 1700 yen (2 day, from 2000 yen). Depending on where you go and how fast you want to get there, this combination pass looks attractive.