Japan - my itinerary in Kyoto

Kyoto was simple amazing. I loved every moment of it. Apart from when I twisted my ankle. That really ruined my plans. I had trouble walking around so could see only half as much as I wanted.

I activated my 7 day JR Pass from Tokyo and reserved the seats from Tokyo to Kyoto and vice versa. This is free of charge and if you travel with specially a big luggage you can request special seats where there is space to store your luggage. 

I stayed at Piece hostel Kyoto. It's just behind Kyoto station (east exit). A very friendly environment and the staff were so helpful and the place was very clean. They provide breakfast with bread, cakes, jam, rice, pickle and miso soup. There is a kitchen with a stove, microwave and fridge. So you can even cook if you want to. Definitely will stay there again. Excellent location for travelling around Kyoto too.

Nov 01 - Day 12 - Kyoto: center

I reached Kyoto in the afternoon. Walked by the Kyoto Tower and then directly to Higashi Honganji Temple. Some parts of the temple were under construction. Then walked towards Nishi Honganji Temple that had a wonderful gate which is a world heritage.

 

 

Nov 02 - Day 13 - Kyoto:

Got a city bus pass for 500 yen which was quite good value for the money. The city buses goes to almost all the main sights in Kyoto. It was rainy morning. Started out at Nijo castle only from the outside since it was raining and some construction work was going on.

Then took the bus to Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine. Lovely shrine to spend some time. Walk in the gardens and rub the bull statues head for good luck ^^

Ryoanji Temple - 500 yen entrance fee isn't really worth it. The garden is nice but there is only one Zen stone garden to see.

Ninnaji Temple - If you want to see only the garden you don't need an entrance ticket. Really loved the garden, there's a Pagoda and several temples in the garden.

 

Kinkakuji Temple (the Golden pavilion) - 300 yen entrance ticket for this temple was very worth it. The temple it self is amazing and the garden offers lovely photos. 

Nov 03 - Day 14 - Kyoto:

I got another city day bus pass. The imperial palace was opened to the public due to a cultural event which was great. It was really crowded but the most interesting part is that they opened most areas of the palace that are normally closed to the public and I was lucky as I happened to be there and to add it up, it was also free! The palace gardens were delightful too. I really loved it, and would love to see the palace in sprint time.

Kiyomizu-dera Temple - a walk up hill through so many shops brings you to the temple. This is a very good place to get souvenirs for a good price. There are also shops that let you taste Japanese sweets made with soya beans and sweet potatoes (try them they are oishiii ^_^)
With a 300 yen ticket you can walk in to the temple and go through the wooden floors.

Walk through the Sannen-zaka and Ninen-zaka path as you can see more wonderful shops and many of them dedicated to car lovers! meow ^^ Also watch out for the girls in their kimono costumes as they visit the temples and shrines!

Yasaka Shrine - as most of the shrines in Kyoto and Japan this was very beautiful. The night lights gives it a special touch. 

Kodaji Temple - a combination ticket of 900 yen for Kodaji and Kenninji night view. The ticket also includes a visit to the museum which is just one small room. There was a wonderful light show in the zen garden and the temple and garden was illuminated.

Kenninji Temple - it was very small temple compared to what I expected but it was nice. But if you just want to do one temple in the night Kodaji is much better. Normally the autumn illumination period starts from mid November but these 2 temples anticipated the opening.

Nov 05 - Day 16 - Kyoto: Arashiyama area

From Kyoto reached JR Arashiyama station using the JR pass. Soon as you exit the station there is a small but a very helpful tourist information center. You can get a map from there but you could just follow all the people which would be the same :D

Togetsukyo Bridge - one of Arashiyama's main landmarks. Interesting view of the mountains

Monkey Park - the name says it all ^^ A park for Monkeys. The monkeys walk around freely in the garden so you should try to behave and not to do anything that will upset them or make them angry. Guest can also feed monkeys from a special feeding room. The park itself requires a 20 minute walk up hill. UP hill! You get to see a nice view once you on top.

Tenryuji temple & Garden - I'm not sure what to say apart from the fact that it was amazing. The garden was lit with its autumn colours. Walk around the garden and head towards the bamboo grove.

Bamboo Groves - it is nice, but not as much as I thought it would be.

Sagano scenic train ride - I'm not sure if I should recommend it or not. At first you need to book a seat in advance else if you do it on the spot, you need to be lucky to find a seat and second hope that it would have a nice view. The train goes pretty fast so it is difficult to take photographs and the ride didn't even last 15 minutes.

Nov 07 - Day 18 - Kyoto

Arrived to Fushiminari shrine on the JR Nara line. It's just 2 stops away ans the shrine is just across the station. After visiting the shrine grounds I decided to follow the route to Mt. Inari. My ankle wasn't healed but it was my last day so I HAD to do it. It's about 1 hour to go up but I took a bit more, you get to walk through the big Tori gates inside the forest. It gives you a really nice feeling.

 

 

This was my last day in Kyoto, was really very sad to leave to Tokyo coz there was so much more to see in Kyoto. I really want to go there again, maybe in spring ^_^