Kyoto - half day ideas rainy weather

hi,
So this is currently my second Kyoto visit (did all the major sights and Nara)- and I do have the JR Kansai Hokuriku Area Pass

Any ideas what to do on a Sunday with a rain forecast?

I�em already heading to Hikone & Ōmihachiman & Uji. Not interested in Osaka and will do Okayama and co as a separate stay

Issue is I need to be back at Kyoto station at 2.30 pm

Any ideas? I don�ft have my hiking shoes with me or I would have looked into doing the Kuramadera to Kifune shrine walk

Thanks!

I highly recommend the Miho Museum. It's not a very good use of your rail pass, but it's totally rainproof. If you time your transit carefully, you can have two or even three hours there and still get back to Kyoto Station by 2:15. Access information is on the museum's web site. (Tip: Get to Ishiyama Station early enough to buy a museum+shuttle bus ticket and get in line at the shuttle bus stop so you can be sure to get a seat.) They have a fantastic antiquities collection, amazing architecture, a current exhibition that looks very interesting, and a spectacular natural setting that is beautiful on a rainy day.

I really like the greenhouse at the Kyoto Botanical Gardens. Entry to the gardens is close to the Kitayama subway station. You'd need an umbrella to get to the greenhouse, which is sort of in the middle of the grounds (so a couple of minutes to the entry and then maybe five minutes to get to the greenhouse), but after that it's rainproof.

If you haven't explored the upper levels of Kyoto Station, that could be good for maybe an hour. Between the greenhouse, the station, and lunch somewhere that would fill up most of your time.

There are a number of covered shopping streets (shotengai), and those might be good for a stroll, but my favorite place to buy things in Kyoto is actually the Katsuragawa Mall, which is five minutes from Kyoto Station on JR. It's not for everyone, but there are some very good stores there, and also some good restaurants. Completely rainproof. On a Sunday it might be crowded, but not with foreign tourists.

Maybe soak at a sento. I'm not familiar with the ones in Kyoto but you can find a number of them using a web search. For example, here's one listing:
https://www.japan-experience.com/all-about-japan/kyoto/attractions-and...
I have sort of had my eye on the following one, which isn't on the above list for some reason:
https://heianyu.com/

If it were me I might take a train ride somewhere that makes good use of the rail pass, but offhand I don't have any particular suggestions. Possibly a loop around Biwako? I often take day trips where the train ride is the main event, and I don't try to pack in much sightseeing. Sometimes I don't do any formal sightseeing. Just watching the scenery go by and having coffee and pastries or a bento can be very enjoyable.

That's all I can think of offhand, but there are lots of other possibilities. (Kyoto is SO much more than "all the major sites.") I recommend going to the Kansai Tourist Information Center in the Kyoto Tower Building and asking for suggestions.

Yep, forecast on Sunday Nov. 9 is rain. Sorry about that, indoor tourist activity will not be limited to museums. Even if Sanjyu- Sangendo may be first tier attraction, if you miss it, you will see thousand statues in the long main hall of a Buddhist temple. 

Speaking of museums, we have a couple of nice sized museums; one is located in front of Sanjyu- Sangendo, National currently exhibit:
https://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/exhibitions/
Another one is art at Kyocera museum.
https://kyotocity-kyocera.museum/en/
If you like more art; MOMAK in front of Kyocera museum.
https://www.momak.go.jp/English/
What if you are interested in crafts, the next door of MOMAK, Miyako Messe basement has a good free showcase by KMTC.
https://kmtc.jp/en/
More art? Don't forget TeamLab Kyoto.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3952.html
Train, old toy and game machine,
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3972.html
https://en.japantravel.com/kyoto/tin-toy-and-doll-museum/1544
https://museum.nintendo.com/en/index.html

How about theater performance? Some tourists like Gear non-verbal performance.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g298564-d2616330-Reviews...
If you like to get out from Kyoto, have you been to Himeji Castle? How about Hikone castle? You will be relax at Tenshu tower just like samurai lord.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7001.html

I would rather like drinking earlier at noon time. Currently Standup Izakaya in Nishiki is very popular.

Thanks to you both for the ideas

My post wasn�ft as complaining- more the happy with the sunny days I was lucky enough to have and close to a handful of tourists today in north Kyoto ;)

I have teamlabs down for tomorrow evening - and the Naked Nijo event on Sunday (even in the rain) and Hikone planned for tomorrow.

Will decided tomorrow what I�em up doing and will have another look at my old Kyoto walking tours from 2010 - that had some great walks last time in and I don�ft mind the rain �c

Hi,

When I had a rainy day in Kyoto in May, I went to the Kyoto Railway museum which was very good ( liked the diorama show). It has a rooftop terrace from where you can see local trains and shinkansens passing by ( though it is outdoors so you might get wet). There is also a roundhouse outside with a lot of steam locomotives. I also went to the Museum of Kyoto ( close to the Kyoto city hall subway stop). It is close to a covered shopping arcade. The annex building is an old banking hall and when I was there there had a special exhibition on Washoku and there was a large satellite map of kyoto on the floor ( you can take your shoes off to walk on the map)
The Kyoto station area ( with a skybridge) is interesting also

If you don�ft mind rain, then the possibilities are really endless, and rain will keep people away from a lot of places (nothing will keep people away from the ultra-magnet sites, but so be it�c). A lot of Japanese gardens are exquisite when wet, and many of them can be viewed from under the cover of a roof, so you can linger and take in the essence, maybe while having some matcha and a sweet, or a bowl of hot soba. If you ask me, this is the way to experience Kyoto, and not rushing around trying to get to half a dozen hideously overcrowded top-ten spots in a single day.

FWIW, many hotels have loaner umbrellas that might be better than a travel umbrella you might have brought, or a cheap one picked up at a combini. But if it is raining even a little, you are going to want to have an umbrella. It�fs fairly gauche to let yourself get wet, like people (including myself) do where I live.

I forgot about teamLab, which has just opened in Kyoto. I�fm excited about the prospect of going there myself on some trip in the future. It is really conveniently located.