72 hours in Kyoto

First we had the Tokyo guide, now onto Kyoto’s 72 hour adventures. Here’s what we did (and scroll to the bottom to see out top 10) :

Day 1

The first day started with a visit to Kinkaki Ji, or what is most commonly known as the Golden Pavillion. An absolutely gorgeous structure with some beautiful gardens to boot.

We then followed to Tenryu – Ji temple, where really the most beautiful thing is the gardens and from then, a walk to …

… Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. It is gorgeous, and actually I was expecting ridiculous crowds and for it to be underwhelming but the crowds were not as bad and we got to really enjoy it. Even more than the traditional one, we also went to a Forest a few meters down walking which was even less crowded an we could take great pictures

We then went to Otagi Nenbutsu ji Temple which is very close by. It is potentially a longish walk but we took the car. Our guide did not want to take us because she said it was for tourists and not historic. She was outvoted and I’m glad we did as this was totally beautiful and adorable and a must see

Our lunch was in a place that was 100% soba noodles, as my guide very kindly tried to find noodles that I could eat and these were fully gluten free. It was a tiny home and he made the noodles from scratch in front of us, amazing.

our afternoon was finding the few Cherry Blossoms that had bloomed and that was the Imperial Palace Gardens.

Dinner was at Isshisoden Nakamura. This might be the disappointment of the trip. For a 3 Michelin star it just did not fill my expectations. It is absolutely beautiful and the traditional service and the whole ambiance was spectacular and exactly what we wanted from a traditional Kyo-ryori meal. However the food was just blah. Beautifully presented but nothing that was spectacular and everything quite bland. The last dish, according to one of my travel mates, was like drinking a broth of our saliva.

Day 2

SanjuSangendo Temple – This was my favorite place in all of Kyoto. So gorgeous inside, with 1001 golden statues (1000 standing and 1 giant golden seated statue). No pictures allowed inside, but here’s a picture of the postcard, as well as their website is linked. A must stop in your Kyoto trip

Fushimi Inari Taisha was one that I was scared of the crowds. Clearly a must see but I had also heard nightmare stories about the ammount of people. It was actually not that bad! and a gorgeous walk. Also the further up you go the less people so at least go one more level up than what most people do.

Some traditional Yakitori lunch at Torisei Fushimi ….

… followed by a visit to Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum. Of everything we did on the trip this was the skip for me. there was some cool information that I didn’t know about the sake making process, but its all a video, you do not actually get to see the process and what they have in the museum is blah. The tasting part of the museum seemed very promising ( i love those dispensers) but we did not like a single sake they had. It made me wish I really had won the lottery for what we really wanted to do which is the Suntory Yamazaki distillery.

From then on a walk to Nishiki Market. I wanted to drink all the snoopy coofees!

i just realized the pictures I took did not give justice our next stop, Pontocho. It was so beautiful (those chicken floors so cute) and there are some great bars.

Bar Alchemist was a speakeasy type of bar, Absolutely great entrance, wonderful drink, only issue is that everyone can smoke inside so my very sensitive self could only stay inside for 1 drink

We then ended up in Bar Liquor Museum in Gion. A literal hole in the wall but the bartender/owner could not have been nicer, with all the extra pours and an amazing music collection

Dinner was at Hana Kitcho. This was also in the Kyoto traditional style but definitely much more catered to tourists. And maybe it is because I am a tourist, I liked the food here so much more, and the presentations were absolutely amazing. It was art. (also kudos for giving me a last minute reservation as the one I had for months decided to cancel last minute as they had not seen my gluten intolerance note and did not want to serve me )

Day 3

THe day started at the Kiyomizu Dera Budhist temple. Some absolutely gorgeous view, worth the full on workout trek to get up there (trust me you do not need your cardio that morning)

But the best part for me, even more than the temple was the walk to get there. Sannen Zaka and Ninen Zaka were gorgeous and also had so many cute stores. Some highlight stores that we found where Yamaguchiya for altar needs, The peter Rabbit store and Kungyokudo for incense. We also found the most gorgeous ceramics. The startbucks there has to be one of the most beautiful ones Ive ever seen…

.. which ends at the Philosophers walk, which sadly had no blossom blooming yet, but was still adorable

Also found the most amazing store next to it, called Ginkakudo, that sells purses out of old kimonos! Our lunch was Onigiri in Sannen Zaka , which could potentially be my favorite Japanese dish. So simple but as a rice lover, the simplicity of it is amazing

After lunch we headed to the Silver Pavillion, Ginkaku ji Yasak Shrine, Which big caveat is not Silver. The garden are worth going, even if the structure is nice but underwhelming

we continued on our quest to find any Cherry Blossoms in bloom, this time at Maruyama Park

continuing the walk to Yasaka Shrine and Gion Shirakawa

Dinner was at Sushi Saeki, my favorite meal in Kyoto. Absolutely spectacular sushi, great service and the garden background of the restaurant was lovely

Day 4

Before heading to the train a visit to Nijo Castle. It is worth visiting just for the gorgeous gate, but actually everything inside is amazing. No pictures inside but the recreations of how the castle operated are wonderful.

We did an instagram influenced stop at This is Shizen for their picture famous flower cones. It is definetly prettier than tastier but we tried!

and to finish off the trip, we finally saw some fully bloomed Cherry Blossoms by the river! As you can see from the couples getting married, it was the place to be!

Some general Kyoto notes:

make sure to take a booklet to collect all the stamps in the temples and train stations
In cherry blossom season, ask for the night openings of temples and shrines
Here was my Top 10 of the Kyoto trip: