By Harry Nara · Last updated
Yes, and Kyoto is the most rewarding city in Japan for a first visit, but it is also the one where visitor behaviour has become a live local grievance, and some of the etiquette now carries a fine rather than a frown. Photography is banned on the private alleys of Gion. Beyond that, the practical shift from Tokyo is that Kyoto runs on buses rather than trains, which is slower and more crowded than people expect, and the temples close far earlier in the day than anyone plans for.
Kyoto rewards a slower, more deliberate trip than the one most people plan. The temptation is a list, because the famous sites are famous for good reason, and the result is a week of queueing at the five places everyone photographs while the city that makes Kyoto worth visiting goes unvisited a street away.
It is also a real city of a million and a half people who live here, and the tension between that and the volume of visitors has been sharpening for years. Some of what follows is practical and some of it is about not being part of the problem, which in Kyoto has become the same thing.
How long do you need in Kyoto?
Four days. Kyoto has more that is worth seeing than anywhere else in Japan and the sites close at four or five in the afternoon, which effectively shortens every day you have. Three days works if you accept two or three areas rather than a tour. Two days is what people give it when treating it as a day trip from Osaka, and it is not enough.
Before you go
The subway is two lines and does not reach most of what you came for. The great temple districts in the east and north are served by city buses, which are frequent and comprehensive and also slow, crowded and subject to the traffic. Your IC card from elsewhere in Japan works on them. Plan fewer sites per day than you would in Tokyo, allow real time between them, and consider that a bicycle is a legitimate and popular alternative in a city this flat.
Most close their gates between four and five in the afternoon, with last admission earlier still. A Kyoto day effectively runs from early morning to late afternoon, which is the opposite of a European city break. The compensation is that the first hour after opening at the famous sites is a completely different experience from the same place at noon, and it is the single best piece of scheduling available here.
Photography is prohibited on the private streets of the Gion district, with a fine of ten thousand yen, after years of geiko and maiko being followed, photographed and physically blocked by visitors wanting pictures. Signs went up along the private lanes in 2024 and the restriction is real. The main public streets, including Hanami-koji and Shirakawa-dori, remain open to photography. If you see a maiko walking to an appointment, she is going to work, and the correct behaviour is to let her pass.
A handful of the best experiences in Kyoto are reservation-only and open their windows well in advance, including the Imperial Household Agency sites such as Katsura and Saiho-ji, the moss temple. These are not the sort of thing you can arrange the week before, and they are also the ones you will remember rather than the ones you will photograph.
Once you are there
Fushimi Inari, Kinkaku-ji, Arashiyama’s bamboo grove, Kiyomizu-dera and Gion absorb nearly all the visitors, and each is worth seeing at the right hour. But Kyoto has well over a thousand temples, and the ones two streets from the coach park are frequently empty, older, and more affecting. Build a day with one famous site early and the rest of it unplanned.
The gates continue up the mountain for a walk of two or three hours, and the crowd thins dramatically within about fifteen minutes of climbing. Most visitors photograph the first few hundred metres and turn around. Keep going, ideally at dawn or after dark, when the shrine is open and lit and almost empty.
Shoes off where indicated, no eating while walking through a precinct, quiet voices, and no photography where a sign forbids it, which in practice means most temple interiors. None of this is arcane, and observing it is the difference between being a guest and being the thing residents complain about.
What it costs
Kyoto costs much the same as Tokyo, with the exception of accommodation, which rises sharply and books out early in the two peak windows of cherry blossom and autumn colour. If your dates fall in early April or late November, reserve a room months ahead and expect to pay a premium that does not apply for the rest of the year.
Temple admissions are small individually and add up: several hundred yen each, and a day of four or five temples is a real line in the budget rather than a rounding error. Food, as in the rest of Japan, is excellent at the cheap end, and the basement food halls of the department stores are among the best value eating in the city. Tipping does not exist, and attempting it causes confusion rather than pleasure.
Going with children
Kyoto is harder with children than Tokyo, and it is worth being honest about why: the city’s pleasures are quiet, contemplative and largely about looking at buildings and gardens, which is a difficult sell to a seven year old for four consecutive days. The answer is to mix rather than to persist. The monkey park at Arashiyama, the bamboo grove, the Kyoto Railway Museum, the river at Kamo where families spend whole afternoons, and Fushimi Inari, which children often love because it is a climb through a tunnel of gates rather than a building to be quiet in. Practicalities are easy: Japan is exceptionally safe, baby-changing facilities are standard, and nobody minds children in restaurants. The crowded buses are the genuine difficulty with a pushchair, and a carrier is easier.
Going alone
Kyoto is arguably better alone than with company, because the things that make it extraordinary reward unhurried attention and silence. Temples at opening time, a long walk on the Philosopher’s Path, an evening in Pontocho: all of these are improved by not having to coordinate with anyone. Eating alone is completely normal, counter seats at small restaurants are designed for it, and the department store food halls solve any evening where you cannot face a decision. The one thing to know is that Kyoto is quieter at night than Tokyo or Osaka and closes earlier, so a solo evening here is a walk and a meal rather than a night out. Osaka is under thirty minutes away by train if you want the other thing.
Mistakes worth avoiding
It is prohibited and carries a ten thousand yen fine, after sustained harassment of geiko and maiko by visitors. The main public streets are fine; the narrow private lanes are not.
Temples shut between four and five with earlier last admission. The day here starts at dawn and ends in the afternoon, and mornings at the famous sites are worth more than anything else you can schedule.
It is close enough to make this tempting and large enough to make it pointless. A day gets you two sites and a train timetable.
Those five hold nearly all the crowds. There are over a thousand temples here, and the quiet ones a few streets away are often older and better.
The gates climb the mountain for hours and the crowd disappears fifteen minutes up. The famous photograph is taken in the busiest ten percent of it.
It reads as disrespectful in the first case and is now actively discouraged in the second, with signs in Nishiki Market asking people to eat where they buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kyoto worth visiting for a first-time traveller?
Yes, and for many people it is the reason to go to Japan at all. It holds more that is worth seeing than anywhere else in the country. The caveats are practical: it runs on slow, crowded buses rather than a metro, its sites close in the late afternoon, and visitor behaviour has become a genuine local issue to the point where photography on Gion’s private streets now carries a fine.
How many days do you need in Kyoto?
Four. The volume of worthwhile sites is very high and they close between four and five in the afternoon, which shortens every day you have. Three days works if you accept covering two or three districts properly instead of touring the whole city. Two days, the amount usually given when treating Kyoto as a day trip from Osaka, is not enough.
Can you take photos in Gion?
On the main public streets such as Hanami-koji and Shirakawa-dori, yes. On the private alleys of the district, no: photography there is prohibited and carries a fine of ten thousand yen, with multilingual signs installed in 2024. The rule followed years of geiko and maiko being chased and photographed without consent. If you see one in the street she is travelling to work, and the right response is to stand aside.
How do you get around Kyoto?
Mostly by bus. The subway is only two lines and does not serve the eastern and northern temple districts where most visitors spend their time. City buses cover everything and accept the same IC cards used elsewhere in Japan, but they are slow and crowded, so plan fewer stops per day than you would in Tokyo. Kyoto is flat, which makes cycling a genuine alternative rather than a novelty.
What time do Kyoto temples close?
Most close their gates between four and five in the afternoon, with last admission before that. This reshapes the whole trip: a Kyoto day runs early rather than late, and arriving at a famous site at opening time gives you a fundamentally different experience from the same place at noon.
Is Kyoto good for families with young children?
It is harder work than Tokyo, because the appeal is contemplative and gardens and temples are a difficult proposition for several days running. Mix in the Arashiyama monkey park, the bamboo grove, the Kyoto Railway Museum and the Kamo riverbank, and note that children often enjoy Fushimi Inari because it is a climb rather than a building. Japan is very safe and facilities are excellent; crowded buses are the real obstacle with a pushchair.
When should I visit Fushimi Inari?
At dawn or after dark, when the shrine is open, lit and nearly empty. Whenever you go, keep walking: the torii gates continue up the mountain for two to three hours and the crowds thin out about fifteen minutes into the climb, so almost everyone photographs the first stretch and turns back.
Is Kyoto safe and enjoyable to visit alone?
Extremely, and it may be better alone than with company, because the city rewards unhurried attention. Temples at opening, the Philosopher’s Path and an evening walk through Pontocho all improve without coordination. Eating alone is normal and counter seating is built for it. Kyoto is quiet at night and closes early, so a solo evening is a meal and a walk; Osaka is half an hour away if you want more.
Checked against Kyoto City Official Travel Guide, Imperial Household Agency, reservations for Katsura and Sento, Fushimi Inari Taisha, official site.
Keep planning
Best time to visit Kyoto • All Kyoto guides • All destinations