Kyoto in a Day?

In My Humble Opinion
1

The wife is presenting a paper to a conference in Kyoto, Japan in late November. She’ll be there for a few days but will have only one day free to look around, maybe even half a day, the day she arrives. (She flies out of Bangkok at night to Osaka, then train to Kyoto, check into the hotel around noon, or maybe mid-morning if they’ll let her, and then head out into the city.)

She’ll be with a colleague. Neither one has ever been to Kyoto, and it’s been 13 years since I was there. If she has only one day free, what should she see?

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What is she interested in? Temples? Mountains? Shopping? Sight-seeing? Do you know what hotel she’ll be staying in? I lived in Kyoto for about a year a while ago, near the imperial palace. There’s so much to do, can’t imagine cramming everything in just a day, but perhaps if you can narrow down some specific things she’d like to see or do that could help a bit.

3

She has not heard which hotel she’ll be staying in yet. All she’s been told so far is the travel agency the conference is using will contact her soon about the air ticket. Didn’t even mention the hotel yet.

The wife thinks she should be able to take in some window shopping at night during the conference, so she does not want to waste her free day with that. And it’s not a shopping trip anyway. She doubts she’d have time for a mountain. General sight-seeing should just about cover it. Somewhere between a half-day and a full day. What should she try to squeeze in in that limited amount of time?

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For such a short amount of time, for sight-seeing I would recommend visiting Gosho, the imperial palace in Kyoto. It’s especially beautiful during the fall and people often do momiji around the palace, which is where they just go around and admire the fall foliage. I got some really nice pictures hereand here. There are lovely mountains in the distance and it’s right across the street from my old college. Anyway, if you call enough in advance you can also get a tour inside of the palace. It’s definitely something to look into.

The college is located on the corner of Imadegawa street and Marutamachi. The subway stops off at a station that gets out at Marutamachi street, if I recall correctly it’s just three stops from the Kyoto central station (Kyoto eki-> shijo -> sanjo -> marutamachi, about a fifteen minute ride.) Coming out of the station Gosho will be obvious. If you decide to follow Imadegawa to the left you’ll eventually hit Kamogawa, which is a really beautiful river that’s worth just taking a stroll along. It’s about a ten, fifteen minute walk from the station.

Before hitting Kamogawa, Imadegawa intersects a street named Teramachidori. Literally meaning “Temple town street”, it is loaded with lots of beautiful temples and you can walk into many of them. My old apartment is on that street so I know it well. The temples are old and very lovely, if your wife is into checking those out.

Those are the three places, literally right next to each other, that I’d recommend. There are dozens of little shops and restaurants peppered throughout the area, too. Any part of Kyoto is great for sight seeing really but those couple of places would really cram in some quality time for a half day. Hope that helps ya a bit!

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Thanks! That helps a lot. I’m sure she would be interested in the Imperial Palace. I know I’ve seen it, but the memory is hazy. Will have to dig out my old photos from Kyoto, which are stored away. Pre-digital days.

Just a day sucks, I know, but that’s all she’ll have. I suggested she stay a couple days afterward, but she needs to get back.

Thankas again!

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Now the wife is asking about good places to stroll after 6pm. She figures they’re not going to keep them in until midnight. So if she does do some shopping, it would be at that time. She’s looking at four nights total in Kyoto, including the free day.

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Ah, and one other thing. I just learned the conference is being sponsored by Kyoto University and will be held there, so I imagine she’ll be staying close by.

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Okay sweet, Kyoto University runs along Imadegawa street, on the side side of the Kamogawa River opposite of Doshisha University. I know there’s another subway line closer to Kyoto University but I’m not sure which one that is, never took it before.

If she does take the Kyoto eki-> Shijo -> Sanjo-> Marutamachi route for some sight-seeing, Shijo is another good stop. Shijo stops at the opposite end of Teramachidori Street and ends with the Teramachi arcade, which is loaded with tons of shops and stores. I think that most of them close around 8 or 9-ish but there are restaurants, bars, and karaoke places that stay open if you’re wife is interested in that. The great thing about that area is that people are out and about until the wee hours of the morning and it’s extremely well lit so it feels very safe, never felt scared walking there (or biking home drunk :D) late at night.
Kyoto eki itself is very large and if you exit the station and go up/outside, across the street is a huge mall that’s fun for shopping. At the very top of the mall after a bit of stairs and escalators, you can see a great view of the Kyoto skyline. There’s also a Kyoto tower but this the mall view is cheaper (free!) and easier to get to.

If she’s feeling particularly ambitious, she can follow Imadegawa street, going in the opposite direction of Kamogawa River/ Doshisha University/ Marutamachi Station and go uphill to get to where the street ends at the base of Daimonji mountain. There are dozens of giftshopsthere and in general it’s the embodiment of the rainbows and unicorn giggles that are the cutenessof Japan.

Hope that helps a bit more. Sorry I can’t be more specific with directions, I could draw up a little map if I’ve confused you with the street names and stations. I thought I’d stick in a few more pictures to give you an idea of the area, too.

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The Imperial Palace is nice, but I wouldn’t really consider it necessary for one day in Kyoto. I believe you have to make a reservation, too. More traditionally, I would suggest:

Nijo Palace (gorgeous paintings, an excellent audio tour, and genuine “nightingale floors”

Kinkakuji (golden temple, very impressive looking but not much historical merit)

Ginkakuji (silver temple, gorgeous wood buildings not actually silver, but beautiful moss
garden, although crowds can ruin it a bit)

Kiyomizudera (THE temple in Kyoto, the one everyone knows, absolutely gorgeous especially if you visit at sunset, on a hill up a cool little kitschy tourist street, beautiful views across Kyoto and big enough grounds that you can find a little bit of peace)

Fushimi Inari temple (the one you see in, I think, Memoirs of a Geisha–hundreds upon hundreds of bright orange tori gates snaking up a mountain, the only Shinto shrine among the Buddhist ones I’ve listed so far)

Byodo-in (actually a short train trip out of Kyoto–about 1/2 hour, one of the most beautiful and famous temples in Japan, on the back of the 10 yen coin–one of the few remaining buildings from the Heian period)

Obviously there are a lot of temples here. I would recommend sticking to only a few from the above choices.

For example, you could go to Byodo-in in the morning, come back to Kyoto for lunch and try out the Philosopher’s Walk–you can see Ginkakuji and if you wander, you can discover a few neat little temples along the way–look out for a Shinto shrine with adorable statues of animals)

At night, I would advise going to Gion, if only for the atmosphere. You can walk beside the river, down the small street with extremely expensive restaurants and bars, and even check out the Gion Shrine (if you still have energy), which is quite beautiful at night. The road which runs to Gion Shrine has a lot of shopping, too.

You can also go to Fushimi Inari on the way back from Byodo-in, if you are really crazy for shrines…

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Yes, a reservation is needed but his wife still may be able to get it. They give priority to foreigners visiting Gosho to tour inside the imperial palace.

As Tanaqui mentioned there are dozens of temples in Kyoto. It just depends on if you’re wife is into checking out the various temples and if so, how many. Both Ginkakuji and Philosopher’s Path are found at the end of the Imadegawa street that runs along Kyoto University. Philosopher’s Path starts at the intersection of Shirokawa Street and Imadegawa Street. It’s a path with a little river, you can ocassionally see large carp and it’s quite nice to take a stroll along. If you continue upward along Imadegawa fyou will hit dozens of tourist shops selling trinkets, souvenir stalls, and a few places selling yatsuhashi dango, a local specialty that comes in a wide variety of flavors (and they offer free samples!) It’s a about a 20-30 minute walk from the university and worth checking out.

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Many of the major shrines and temples have already been mentioned, but I enjoyed visiting the garden at the Heian Shrine in Kyoto. (This is the same place Scarlett Johansson goes during her visit to Kyoto in Lost in Translation.) A very nice temple that people often miss is Sanjusangendo. It’s home to 1,001 statues of Kannon plus a number of other Japanese gods.

Since your wife isn’t an American from the South I don’t know if she’d be as impressed by this as I was, but there’s a Cafe du Monde in the station at Kyoto. It’s actually a franchise in Japan. I hadn’t had beignets in years, and was astonished to learn that I could get them at a number of locations throughout Japan!

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Thanks, all. This is very helpful, and the wife really appreciates the information. A big thanks from her. When I learn which hotel she’ll be staying in, I’ll mention that.

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The wife just learned she’ll be staying in the Via Inn in Kyoto. There’s a map at the bottom of the page in the link. She’ll be there from November 19-24, five nights.

We’re heading upcountry first thing in the morning for the holiday weekend in Thailand. May not log in again for a couple of days, so thanks in advance for any further comments and advice.