Things to do in Kyoto

Landmark · South-east, on the Keihan and JR lines

Thousands of vermilion torii gates climbing a wooded mountain behind the shrine, open around the clock and free.

Local tip: The crowds thin dramatically after the Yotsutsuji junction about halfway up, and almost nobody completes the full mountain loop. Go at six in the morning or after nine at night — it is lit, it is open, and you will have the upper mountain to yourself.

Nature · Eastern hills

A canal-side walk under cherry trees linking Ginkaku-ji to Nanzen-ji, with temples and small shrines strung along the hillside above.

Local tip: The path itself is famous and busy. The temples immediately uphill from it — Honen-in, Anraku-ji — are minutes away, charge little or nothing, and are usually almost empty.

Food · Central, north of Shijo

A narrow covered market street that has supplied Kyoto's kitchens for centuries, running into the covered shopping arcades.

Local tip: Nishiki's western end still serves restaurants and households; the eastern end is now largely street food for visitors. The proper Kyoto grocery shopping happens at Nishiki's west end and in the depachika food halls under the department stores at Shijo-Karasuma.

Nature · Western edge of the city

A riverside district beneath wooded hills, with the bamboo grove, the Togetsukyo bridge and a chain of temples.

Local tip: The bamboo grove is genuinely impassable by mid-morning. Arrive before seven or skip it entirely and walk north to Gio-ji and Adashino Nenbutsu-ji instead — moss gardens and stone Buddhas at the quiet end of the same valley.

Nature · Running north–south through the city

Grassed embankments along the river that function as the city's living room — running, picnics, students, musicians and evening drinking.

Local tip: The stretch between Sanjo and Shijo is where everyone gathers, and the couples famously space themselves at even intervals along the bank. North of Demachiyanagi, where the two rivers meet at a delta with stepping stones, is where families go and where you should.

Nature · Northern mountains, an hour by bus or train

Two mountain villages in the hills north of the city, with terraced temples, a river gorge and a hot spring at the end of a walking trail.

Local tip: The walk from Kurama over the mountain to Kibune takes about ninety minutes through cedar forest, and there is an onsen at the Kurama end. Almost no visitors go this far north, and in autumn it is better than anything in the city centre.