Temples, geisha and red maples. Here is when to go, what a day costs on site and what to see, then Okela composes your itinerary hour by hour.

Compose my trip to KyotoSee Kyoto in Okela

When to visit Kyoto

Best months: March, April, May, October and November.

What to see in Kyoto

1. Fushimi Inari-taisha
   The head shrine of the Inari kami lines a path up the forested slope of Mount Inari with thousands of vermilion torii gates.
2. Kinkaku-ji
   The gold-leaf pavilion mirrored in its pond is one of the most recognisable sights in Kyoto.
3. Bambouseraie d'Arashiyama
   The path runs between tall bamboo stalks that turn the light a soft, filtered green.
4. Kiyomizu-dera
   The temple clings to the Higashiyama hillside, and its great wooden terrace looks out over the city through the trees.
5. Gion
   Gion is where Kyoto most visibly keeps its older face: wooden townhouses, tea houses and lanterns along narrow lanes.
6. Marché Nishiki
   This narrow covered lane of stalls is the pantry of Kyoto cooking, where the city's cooks have long come to stock up.
7. Chemin de la Philosophie
   This path follows a canal lined with cherry trees between two great temple districts, and it asks you to walk slowly, just as the philosopher Kitarō Nishida did on his daily meditative strolls.
8. Nijo-jo
   Nijo Castle was built as the Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa shoguns, set in the heart of the old imperial city, and it shows how military power sat beside the court.

A sample itinerary for Kyoto, three days

Composed by Okela from the places in its database, with times. Yours takes your dates, pace and group into account.

Budget

Expect about €153 per person per day on site (accommodation, meals, transport and visits), depending on the comfort you choose. Okela shows the price of every step of your itinerary.

My Kyoto itinerary, hour by hour

Road trips through Kyoto

More destinations: Japan

Photo: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.