History, Museums & Sightseeing in Kyoto

Good to Know

• Many of the most rewarding experiences — walking temple districts at dawn, the Philosopher's Path, market browsing — cost little or nothing.
• The Kyoto City Bus & Subway 1-Day Pass pays for itself after 5 bus rides. Within roughly 10 kilometers of Kyoto Station you can visit 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites.
• At Fushimi Inari, the lower trails near the main shrine are heavily trafficked from mid-morning to late afternoon. The upper mountain becomes progressively quieter and more atmospheric. This is one of the few major attractions in Japan worth visiting both early morning and at night — the gates glow under lantern light after dark and the crowds almost entirely disappear.
• Cycling is arguably the best way to explore central Kyoto. The city is largely flat in its core and distances between major sites are manageable. Many cyclists use the quiet backstreets between temples, discovering small shrines and gardens that tour buses never reach.
• Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka streets leading up to Kiyomizu-dera are lined with traditional sweet shops and souvenir stores and are quintessential Kyoto, but busy. There are many smaller shrines and paths that most tourists skip over.
• Early morning (7-8 AM) or evening visits significantly reduce crowds at major temples like Fushimi Inari and Kinkaku-ji.
• There are hundreds of lesser-known temples in the city that few tourists ever visit. Even in busy seasons you might be the only person there. Good choices include the subtemples of Daitoku-ji, Myoshin-ji and the temples in far northern Higashiyama, like Enko-ji.