Kyoto, Japan

1,600 temples, geisha lanes, and two perfect windows: sakura in early April and maple leaves in late November.

culturetemplescherry-blossomautumn-leavesfood

Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	8°	0°	63 mm
Feb	9°	1°	72 mm
Mar	13°	4°	122 mm	prime
Apr	18°	9°	140 mm	prime
May	23°	14°	167 mm	prime
Jun	26°	18°	212 mm
Jul	30°	22°	239 mm
Aug	31°	23°	156 mm
Sep	27°	20°	185 mm
Oct	21°	13°	161 mm	prime
Nov	16°	8°	86 mm	prime
Dec	10°	2°	63 mm

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Backpacker→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $170 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

Cards are widely accepted; cash still runs small restaurants, shrines and markets. Tipping is not done and can cause confusion.
money · editorial
Temple gates shut well before dinner, so the sightseeing day is shorter than it looks. Tattoos still bar entry at some public baths.
know before · editorial
Cherry blossom and autumn leaf weeks fill every room in the city and turn Fushimi Inari into a queue. Midsummer is humid and heavy.
when not to go · editorial
Downtown around Kawaramachi and Gion puts dinner within walking distance. The Kyoto Station area is dull but connected. Arashiyama and the northern hills are quiet and a long ride back after dark.
where to stay · editorial
Buses, two subway lines and a lot of walking. A car is a liability: the temple districts have nowhere to put one.
getting around · editorial
Kansai International is the airport, with a direct express train into Kyoto in about ninety minutes. From Tokyo the bullet train beats flying door to door.
getting there · editorial

Fushimi Inari
Thousands of red torii climbing the mountain. The lower ones have a queue; the upper ones do not.
Kinkaku-ji
Two storeys covered in gold leaf, reflected in the pond. Rebuilt in 1955.
The Arashiyama bamboo grove
Go at seven. By nine it is single file.
Kiyomizu-dera
A wooden stage over the hillside, put together without a single nail.
Hanamikoji, Gion
Two-storey wooden houses. Photographing people in the side streets is forbidden.
Nishiki Market
Four hundred metres of covered stalls, "the kitchen of Kyoto" for four centuries.
Philosopher's Path
Two kilometres of canal with cherry trees on both banks.

Eat kaiseki at lunch, when it costs a third of dinner
Matcha whisked to order
Bitter, thick, with something sweet beforehand to balance it.
Yudofu
Tofu poached in kelp broth. Temple food, and almost nothing else.
Tsukemono bought at the market
Pickled radish, cucumber and plum. Every neighbourhood has its own version.

Be in Arashiyama at 7am
Momiji in November
The maples turn red for two weeks and the whole city goes out to look.
A small temple with nobody inside
There are more than sixteen hundred of them. Pick one with no famous name.

Fushimi Inari to the summit
233 metres, four kilometres of torii, two hours. Almost everyone gives up halfway.