A short rural trip from Kyoto

Hi we shall visit Kyoto in mid- Oct. Apart from the other tourist attractions like Bamboo grove, Fushimi Inari, Gion district walk etc. we shall have some free time which we would like to use to visit any nearby village ( and possibly have lunch there) . Should be easy to reach and comeback. Found two names

" Takao " and " Sanzenin". Your thoughts please.Thanks for any suggestion.

PS.. Another small point.. we have booked Gion Gaisa Dist walk in one evening, starting from Gion Omiode museum for about an hour. ( refundable) However, I understand there is a Shimboshi Gaisa district as well and the streets are really nice to walk through. Your thoughts again.

I am not familiar with Takao, Ohara (I.e. Sanzenin) is a great choice. It�fs a nice village in the mountains, reachable by relatively frequent bus, and has that great temple (Sanzenin).
For lunch I went to a pickles factory at the entrance of the village. Best pickles EVER!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/JuDMWAPYUuRWKezTA?g_st=ic
https://www.doishibazuke.co.jp/

http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/2023/01/ny2023-d6-kyoto-ohara.h...

I too recently went to Ohara and to Sanzenin, and it was just lovely. (It also was nowhere near as stifling as central Kyoto.)

I thought the Shiso-Yuzu ice cream was amazing and my daughter keeps teasing me, because I won't stop talking about it.

I think the only negative I would say is the buses back can get a little crowded.

Thanks to both. Probably we would settle for Ohara only. May be we will see one or two temples, enjoy lunch and come back. Our idea is not really to visit another tourist spot, but just a simple rural kind of place where we can stroll a bit, have lunch.leisurely and get back to Kyoto before evening.
Got another option today called " Kibune ' I believe it is popular for trekking to Kurama. Anyone been there? I have already gone through japan-guide. com, just asking for.personal experience if any. Thanks anyway.

Yews, I have been to Kurama and Kibune. If you're not looking for more tourist sights to see I wouldn't do it, the hike is not that long and we did it mostly to see Kurama-dera and Kibune.

Have you thought about the Yamanobe no Michi?
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4189.html

There are temples and shrines, but it is really more just a walk and some the areas are semi rural. We did the start from Sakurai to Omiya (and then my daughter rebelled because it was too hot) and you go past rice fields.

By limited Express train it's about 45-50 minutes from Kyoto to Yamato-Yagi and then another 10 or so minutes to Sakurai. It takes 1.5 hours via non limited express and about 1 hour via limited express and is less than 2100 yen one way.

Do be careful with the JR line between Sakurai and Tenri since I think it is only once an hour. You can get from Tenri to Nara and back to Kyoto.

A JR bus from Kyoto station will take you to the foot of Kozanji in Takao. Walking downstream from this temple will bring you to a group of restaurants and the Saimyoji Temple. A bit further downstream across the river and up a bunch of steps brings you to Jingoji, where you can buy clay disks to sail into the valley.

This is the start of a nice Kyoto hike downstream along the Kiyotaki River to the Katsura River (also called the Oi River & Hozugawa). There's one group of houses about halfway at Sagakiyotakicho along with the Atago Shrine and a short side hike to some waterfalls. There are a couple of restaurants here. There are infrequent buses back to Kyoto from here or at the end of the trail where the bigger river is met. Turning right where the Kiyotaki meets the Katsura River, you can follow the road up the hill and then down to JR Hozukyo Station. If the Sagano RR is running (it has some days off) when you're there you can cross a long bridge to Hozukyo Torokko Station to get the scenic railway back into Kyoto. The hike takes a half a day depending on your stops and pace. I get an obento or onigiri in Kyoto before the bus, and stop along the river for a picnic lunch.

To be more accurate, Ohara is not some outside village, it is still part of Kyoto City. The highlight of the area is really the Sanzenin temple - I've been there a few times, and it is delightful. There is no rail access to Ohara though - you need to take a bus. If you choose to go there, I recommend going in the morning though. One time I went in mid-afternoon and the bus was full of old-timers returning home from the city, and stopping at every single bus stop along the way - making the trip twice as long as it could be.
https://youtu.be/TRZZLrComf8

For another idea, and for something quite different, you could go to Miyama. It is about 30km north of the city though, but you can see a totally different ambiance compared to Kyoto.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3985.html