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Our Journey to Kyoto (and a little time in Tokyo and Seoul)

Writer's picture: tgandco2tgandco2
Dec 21, 202017 min read

This is my last post (finally!) on our trip to Japan. This final leg of our journey included a week in Kyoto, a night in Tokyo and a couple of days in Seoul, South Korea.


If you remember my original post, Our Journey to Japan, Kyoto was the first place I booked as part of our month-long trip. The plan was to stay in Kyoto from February 16 to 23 so that Teresa could attend an Ikebana course from February 17 to 20 and leave some time to tour the city. On our first trip to Japan, Teresa also attended an Ikebana course but had only one day left to explore. We wanted to ensure she had lots of time on this trip. As it turned out, the course was cancelled and we ended up with a full week to enjoy Kyoto.


Kyoto is considered by many as the most beautiful city in Japan (some would say one of the most beautiful cities in the world). It is a trendy, expensive, modern place yet has beauty and history mixed in. Kyoto was once the capital of Japan. Wherever the Emperor of Japan lives is considered the capital of Japan. When he moved to Tokyo (named Edo at the time), Tokyo became the capital city. Some people in Kyoto (jokingly?) say that Kyoto is still the capital of Japan and once the Emperor moves back it will be official.

Kyoto is famous for numerous Buddhist temples, beautiful gardens, the Imperial Palace, Shinto shrines, and traditional wooden houses. During our first trip here, I was amazed to see Japanese business people rushing to work along the sidewalks of Kyoto, coffee in hand. They would detour down a side street to a small shrine, bow, light incense and pray, and then continue on their way to the office. You never have to worry about a shortage of temples or shrines to visit in Kyoto.


We chose our Airbnb so that Teresa would be able to walk to her Ikebana course. Fortunately for us, the Ikebana world headquarters is in a beautiful area of Kyoto. We ended up with a great apartment in a trendy, upscale area of the city. Befitting Kyoto, it was the most expensive Airbnb we rented.

As in previous posts, I will list all the information that I used to plan the trip and some of our favourite places. However, if you are looking for a website to start planning a trip to Kyoto, I recommend Inside Kyoto - https://www.insidekyoto.com/. It is an amazing website with so much information that you could likely plan your whole visit from this one site.


Sunday, February 16, 2020 - Travel day Osaka to Kyoto


  • Arriving in Kyoto from Osaka on the bullet train, we took the subway to our Airbnb stop. After a short walk and a little help from a very friendly restaurant owner/worker, we found our apartment. Next up, getting supplies at a local (very upscale) grocery store and then we were ready for dinner. It was Teresa's birthday and I had originally planned to have Kaiseki as a special dinner. As it turned out, the place I had chosen was closed on Sundays so we went later in the week (more on this later). Given we were not having Japanese haute cuisine, we decided to try an Izakaya restaurant near our Airbnb. The unique thing about this place was that it was a standing-only restaurant. People crowded into the room and stood at a ledge around the perimeter or at high tables where the food and drinks were served. We had an amazing selection of dishes - octopus with wasabi, mackerel, chicken (twice), tofu with miso, crab tempura, gyoza, and rice to finish. And of course beer! One of the fun things about the restaurant was that the menu was written on all of the walls. Unfortunately, it was all in Japanese. The English menu they gave us, while helpful, was clearly not as detailed as the wall. Having said that, the food was delicious and the atmosphere was fun. Sadly, the name of the restaurant was also in Japanese so I can't list it here.

Photos - Our Airbnb in Kyoto -





Monday, February 17, 2020 - exploring Kyoto


  • After breakfast, we started out to meet up with our walking tour. Given the success we had in London and Osaka we again went with Free Walking Tours - https://kyotofreewalkingtour.com/. We were not disappointed. Our guide was an Australian who had lived in Kyoto for over 5 years, spoke Japanese, was a pastry chef, and knew Kyoto very well. He took us on a great tour of the Gion district where we saw traditional wooden houses, tea houses (one of which cost USD 8,000 to rent!). We were even lucky enough to see geishas walking through the streets.

  • There were beautiful gardens, temples and shrines as we wandered along the narrow streets. We got great photos of the pagoda.

  • We were also treated to many beautiful plum blossoms which as I have mentioned earlier was one of the great surprises of our trip.

  • We had dinner at Kikkoya - http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/kikkoya/kikkoya/index.html. Kikkoya is an obanzai restaurant. To be certified as obanzai, the restaurant has to use seasonal ingredients from Kyoto equal to 60% of the meal preparation. The food was amazing - avocado with wasabi mayonnaise, shrimp, pork with ginger, karaage namabu, fried lily bulb and beer. mmmm!

Photos - Our walking tour through the Gion district -










Tuesday, February 18, 2020 - Hiking Fushimi Inari


  • On Tuesday we decided to visit Fushimi Inari, a spectacular site. Established in 711 AD the Inari shrines are the most familiar in Japan. There are thirty thousand of these shrines throughout the country. Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine which all others are affiliated with. - http://inari.jp/en/

  • I had visited this place on our first trip to Japan with Glen, the husband of Teresa's cousin Phyllis who was also attending the Ikebana course. I certainly had fond memories of the amazing shrines and the site, but had a limited understanding of the history and background. On this visit, we decided to join a tour. Generally, Teresa and I are happy to wander around, explore and learn on our own. But with a site this big, 870,000 square meters (over 200 acres), we thought it best to see it with an expert. We found an amazing, 4.5 hour guided hike on Airbnb - https://www.airbnb.ca/experiences/269136. Our guide, Lee, is writing a book on Fushimi Inari. To say he was an expert is an understatement. With our small group of four he made the experience interesting, with a great sense of adventure and humour. There is absolutely no doubt that we got much more out of our visit with this tour.

  • Five hours later we walked through the last of the 10,000 gates, visited a beautiful and quiet temple and strolled through the surrounding neighbourhood back to our starting point. We had lunch at an amazing ramen place our guide recommended.

  • Fushimi Inari is a must-see on your list of things to do in Kyoto and I would highly recommend Lee's tour.


Photos - Our hike in Fushimi Inari -








  • We spent the afternoon at Arashiyama Bamboo Grove - https://www.insidekyoto.com/arashiyama-bamboo-grove (I should mention that we used public transit to visit all the places in Kyoto - subways, trains and buses). The bamboo grove is a famous and busy tourist site. Lots of people taking selfies in front of the towering bamboo trees. It is easy enough to do on your own (no tour required) but don't miss it. It is wonderous and beautiful.

Photos - Walking through the Bamboo Grove -







Wednesday, February 19, 2020 - Golden Pavillon, Silver Temple, exploring and finding some unexpected amazing spots


  • Today we headed out for what was to be a full and exciting day. After taking the subway and the bus we arrived at Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavillon - https://www.shokoku-ji.jp/kinkakuji/. Although the Great Wall of China is the most spectacular site I have ever visited, Kinkaku-ji is second on my list. It is magnificent. Once through the gates of the site, you walk along a pathway through trees and shrubs. As you round the corner and the temple comes into sight, it's beauty is overwhelming. On my first visit (again with Glen) it was packed. People were six deep waiting to get to the guardrail to take photos. Although I did get some beautiful shots, they were photo-bombed by people I didn't know. This was one of the advantages of travelling just before the COVID-19 shutdown. There were few tourists and we have stunning pictures of Teresa and me in front of the temple. The site itself is relatively small and doesn't take much time to walk around to see everything (even if you are taking photo after photo as I was). It was hard to leave as I wanted to go back to see the temple just one more time. You absolutely cannot miss visiting Kinkaku-ji while in Kyoto. I will never tire of its incredible beauty and look forward to my next visit.

Photos - The Golden Pavillon - breathtaking!





  • As a complete bonus, we realized that Kitano Tenmangu Shrine - https://kitanotenmangu.or.jp/top_en.php was a 15-minute walk from the Golden Pavillon. It is the number one spot in Kyoto to see plum blossoms. As I mentioned in previous posts, these flowers were an unexpected but beautiful delight on our trip. I hope to see the cherry blossoms in Japan one day, but it is hard to imagine they will be any more dazzling than the plum blossoms we saw. In fact, there are many articles you can Google that say plum blossoms are considered just as beautiful as cherry blossoms by Japanese residents. After wandering around Kitano Tenmangu and taking 30+ photos it was time for lunch.

Photos - Plum blossoms -




  • We found a terrific noodle place for lunch where we sat at the counter. The noodles were specially made at the restaurant and they explained how to add the broth and vegetables together. Delicious!

  • After lunch, we made our way to Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Temple. As I said, the Golden Pavillon is my favourite place in Japan and we naturally think of silver as less than gold but Ginkaku-ji is not to be missed. It is a totally different experience than the Golden Pavillion. The temple itself is beautiful but it is the surrounding gardens and views that really make this a special place. - https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3907.html

Photos - The Silver Temple -






  • We wandered around outside, got matcha/vanilla swirl ice cream in a cream puff cone, mmmm, and found some interesting souvenirs to take home.

  • We then strolled along the Philosopher's Path - https://www.insidekyoto.com/walking-the-path-of-philosophy. This will not be on many top ten sights to see in Kyoto. However, it was peaceful and relaxing. With the extra time we had in Kyoto, it was a great way to spend the afternoon. The path meanders along a canal, lined with trees as well as some spectacular plum blossoms (the bonus, that just kept giving). We found some unique shops, browsed around and bought a few things. We stopped in at the Mouse Temple (not a big tourist spot) and chatted with a man making beautiful floating flowers.

Photos - The Philosopher's walk may not be a big tourist attraction but it is scenic and tranquil if you have time.





  • Walking back to our Airbnb we had one of our most funny experiences. A group of four young women dressed in kimonos asked us for directions which of course we were not able to help with. It turns out we were, however, going the same way and ended up following them to some abandoned railway tracks. There we saw primarily young women dressed in kimonos (including the 4 who had passed us) posing for photos/selfies along the tracks. They stood in groups, balanced on the rails, in all kinds of different poses. It all seemed kind of strange, although dressing up and posing for photos is apparently big in Japan. Our walking tour guide had told us that people even create fake weddings so they can have a party, get dressed up and take photos. This is one of the great reasons Teresa and I love walking around the city we are visiting. You never know what you are going to see.

Photos - We didn't quite understand the posing on the railway tracks



  • After an incredibly full and action-packed day, we had dinner at Biotei - https://www.insidekyoto.com/biotei a small, primarily vegetarian/vegan restaurant near our apartment. You climb up a very narrow metal spiral staircase into a small cramped restaurant. The food was delicious. I would definitely put it on your list when visiting Kyoto.

Thursday, February 20, 2020 - Kyoto Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle


  • Today was our day to stay a little closer to home and visit the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and Nijo Castle.

  • We headed out early to the Imperial Palace - https://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/index.html. Teresa and I had visited the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on our first trip to Japan. That excursion involved our first ride on a Japanese subway, during rush hour, which is a whole story unto itself. We walked to the Imperial Palace and were fortunate enough to meet up with one of the free tours that take place on the grounds. This was a great way to see the Palace and learn about the history, the buildings and the gardens. While certainly not mandatory, I think it made the visit much more enjoyable. This place is a "must-see" while in Kyoto.

Photos - The Imperial Palace in Kyoto. Also, recommend seeing the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.




  • We left the Imperial Palace to walk to Nijo Castle. It is listed as one of the top places to see plum blossoms in the city. As I mentioned previously, there is no shortage of temples and shrines in Kyoto (you may even get tired of looking into them) so we were able to stop at a couple on the way to the castle.

  • We had lunch at the Morpho Cafe - a great vegetarian/vegan spot. Quirky and kind of Japanese hippie, if that is a thing. Unfortunately, when Googling the website, it showed that the restaurant is permanently closed. Bummer. Hopefully, it will come back in time for our next visit.

  • We spent the afternoon at Nijo Castle - https://nijo-jocastle.city.kyoto.lg.jp/?lang=en. I would suggest when in Kyoto you carefully pick out the places you want to visit, otherwise, you may end up feeling like all you are seeing is old castles, temples and shrines. I highly recommend putting Nijo Castle on your list (although clearly after the Golden Pavillon, Silver Temple, Bamboo Grove and Imperial Palace). If you are staying near the city centre, it is an easy walk to the castle.

Photos - Nijo Castle, another great place to see plum blossoms -




  • We had a beautiful walk along the canal in Kyoto, passing street musicians on our way to dinner at Renkonya - https://www.insidekyoto.com/renkon-ya. The restaurant is very small and run by a mother and daughter. Primarily vegetarian/vegan, the food was delicious. One of the great things about eating in Japan is that many of the dishes are small. With two people, you can try a variety of foods and not get (too) full.


Friday, February 21, 2020 - Kurama-Kibune trail


  • Friday turned out to be an amazing day. Because of the unexpected extra days from the cancelled Ikebana course, we decided to hike the Kurama-Kibune trail. It is on the outskirts of Kyoto - https://www.insidekyoto.com/kurama-to-kibune-hike. We took the subway and bus - by now we were pros at public transit (smile) - to the starting point.

  • This is a 2 -3 hour hike that goes up 80 floors (as measured by my Garmin watch) that passes beautiful shrines and incredible scenery. I am really glad we did this. Again, not likely on any top 10 list, but it was a sunny day, the hike was great exercise and gave us a different kind of activity.

  • Afterwards, we headed back into Kyoto to visit the Ikenobo Ikebana Headquarters and wandered around where Teresa's class would have taken place. Even if you do not study Ikebana it is a pleasurable place to visit, right in the heart of the city. It has a gift shop, a beautiful garden and a temple. All good.

Photos - hiking the Kurama-Kibune trail







  • Tonight was to be our most special dinner of the trip at Guilo Guilo - https://www.insidekyoto.com/guilo-guilo-hitoshina. Kaiseki or kaiseki-ryōri is a multi-course dining experience. The term describes both the dining experience and the skills required to execute the meal. The courses are chosen by the chef(s) and normally have primarily fresh local ingredients. Kaiseki can be very fancy, formal and expensive. Meals can cost over 10,000 yen ($125 CDN) per person not including drinks. I had searched around extensively for the right Kaiseki restaurant as my original plan was that we would go for Teresa's birthday. I found this restaurant on the Inside Kyoto website. It was small with two floors (ask to sit at the counter on the first floor), overlooked the canal and was modern versus formal. Many of the patrons were clearly regulars who knew the chefs and other customers. You will not get in without a reservation so make sure to plan ahead. I am glad we picked this place for dinner. The food was unbelievable. Sitting at the counter we watched the chefs prepare all the dishes, which was a show on its own. The atmosphere was funky and fun. Teresa and I enjoyed that much more than something overly formal and stuffy. It was definitely our most special dinner in Japan. I would recommend it for your list of places to eat.

Photos - Some of the dishes at Guilo Guilo -













Saturday, February 22, 2021 - our last full day in Kyoto


  • This was our final day in Kyoto and we decided to go out for a last look at the city. Wandering back to the Gion district, we did some souvenir shopping and soaked in the beauty that is Kyoto (although it was raining, it was still beautiful).

  • We had a tasty lunch at Veg Out - vegan cafe - https://tamisa-yoga.com/cafe/ overlooking the canal. Dinner was at Katsukura - https://www.katsukura.jp/en/. This restaurant was larger and had more of a chain feel than most places we tried (I don't think it actually was a chain). Having said that, the food was delicious. We enjoyed tonkatsu (breaded pork), ground our own sesame seeds for the delicious sauces, pickles, vegetables and oysters ... mmmm

Sunday, February 23, 2021 - Wednesday, February 26 - travel day Kyoto to Tokyo, Seoul and home


  • Our flight to Seoul, South Korea was Monday morning. Rather than navigate the bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo that day and to ensure we made our flight, we decided to stay overnight on Sunday at the Tokyo airport Hilton hotel (I had hotel points that paid for our stay!). The hotel was certainly nothing special but it definitely made our transit easier.

  • We took the shuttle to the airport, had breakfast, did more souvenir shopping, checked our luggage and flew to South Korea.

  • As I mentioned in my first post, Teresa and I have an automatic alarm that seems to go off somewhere around one month of travel. We totally enjoyed our trip to Japan but as we arrived at Tokyo airport we were ready to go home - except we weren't going home. We were off to Seoul, where we were met by rain and a serious COVID-19 situation. On our second day in Seoul, the country had more COVID cases than China. As we walked into our hotel they took our temperature. This happened every time we entered. Although we did our best to get out and see the city and enjoy our brief stay, this is the one aspect of our trip I would plan differently. In retrospect, we should have stopped in Seoul first. That way we would have done the short part of our itinerary first had our month-long tour of Japan and then headed home. Live and learn. I will know for planning our next trip.

As I have said, Japan is my favourite country that I have travelled to. This visit just reinforced that impression. It was an awesome trip. Although challenging at times, it was great to make it around the country on our own, primarily on public transit. The variety of the trip, from Hokkaido, Sapporo, Otaru in the north, to Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima and then Kyoto was fantastic.


I should also add that we were very lucky with the timing of our trip. At the time we left for Japan, COVID-19 was just starting in China. The Canadian government had no travel advisories for Japan and our travel insurance company said it was not a problem to travel there. Days after returning to Canada, the world went into a full lockdown and many Canadians were scrambling to get home from all over the world, including Japan. Teresa and I have always felt fortunate to be able to travel and are often very "lucky" on our adventures. We definitely used some of that luck for this trip.


We are already looking forward to our next visit to Japan when the Ikebana course gets rescheduled. I have many plans which hopefully will include climbing Mount Fuji (a two-day hiking experience), hiking Kyoto to Tokyo (a 10-day experience if you do the whole thing) and visiting Okinawa. I am sure there are many more experiences to find.


As always let me know any questions or comments at thethirdperiod.ca@gmail.com.


Travel apps and technology:


  • Hyperdia - https://www.hyperdia.com/. A must-have for train travel in Japan.

  • Google Maps - I know it is dull to mention this given how much everyone uses it but a must-have for walking and public transit in Japan.

  • TripAdvisor - Another common app but a great way to highlight and then find restaurants that you want to try.

  • Pocket wifi - A must-have for travel in Japan. An affordable way to stay connected.

  • Phone plan - In addition to the pocket wifi, I got a minimal voice, text and data plan from our cell phone provider. Although you can do most of what you need on the pocket wifi connection, you will want to be able to text (in case you are separated from your travel partner(s), call for information, reservations etc. If you get the minimum plan it will provide more than enough usage along with the pocket wifi, which is not very expensive but can really help out for your travel.


Travel Tips


  • Always plan out your train travel in advance on Hyperdia. Although you cannot buy your tickets on the app, it gives you the route you need, which you can then show to the ticket agent. Much easier than trying to explain in English to someone who does not speak English. It is also worth considering buying your ticket in advance. Ticket kiosks can be busy and you don't want to get stuck in a long line and end up missing the train you want. All long train rides in Japan require, in addition to the basic fare, a reserved seat fare, again something that is worth doing in advance

  • Once you have your train ticket, don't leave it to the last moment to get to the platform. Major city train stations are huge in Japan and you don't want or need the stress of rushing at the last minute and potentially missing your train.

  • Talk to people! It is the best way to learn about the area you are in, find out about things to do in the area, find great restaurants etc. Japanese people are incredibly friendly and helpful, so don't be shy to ask!

  • Save the favourite restaurants and tourist sites you have found on TripAdvisor. When you use "near me", TripAdvisor will bring up your favourites first so you can see what is close by.

Websites I used for our travel to Kyoto


Restaurants we loved

Fun Stuff to do


Other Stuff - Packing for this trip was tricky as we were going to experience a wide variety of weather. We decided to take one roller bag each (mine was bigger than Teresa's!). We weren't going anywhere fancy so that cut out some clothes to bring. Here were a few keys.

  • Ski Jacket - This was the warmest coat we brought. We wore it on the plane to and from Japan so we did not have to pack it. We also brought toques, gloves, scarves primarily for Hokkaido. We didn't need to wear this in Osaka, Hiroshima or Kobe but it was a definite must in Hokkaido in February!

  • Bubble Coat - I resisted buying this coat but eventually got it for our Alaskan cruise. Lighter than a ski jacket, it easily packs into a small bag and doesn't take up much space. We got ours at Costco - a bargain

  • Rain Jacket - Teresa and I have his and hers (smile) Outdoor Research rain jackets (different colours!). These jackets are totally waterproof (apparently you can stand under a waterfall and not get wet!). We bought them originally for our trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand but have worn them hiking everywhere. With rainpants, they are great for wet weather and also serve as a light jacket when it's warmer. We wore rainpants over long underwear and other layers when it was cold out (snowshoeing). Very versatile and again, packs up into a very small space.

  • Boots and shoes - Teresa and I have the same Salomon hiking shoes which we got originally for our trip to China. I searched the Salomon website but it looks like they don't sell the exact model anymore. They were TechLite and were great hiking shoes. Light, comfortable and waterproof, I would definitely get this brand again. I bought a pair of Salomon winter hiking boots for this trip. I had never had anything like this before and they were excellent. Warm (to - 30 degrees I think) and comfortable. Teresa and I wore our winter boots on the plane, again to save packing space.

  • French Press coffee thermos - As I mentioned in my original post, Airbnbs in Japan do not have coffee makers so this was a must-have. It is about 2.5 cups of coffee, perfect for starting the day. We bought ours on Amazon - https://www.amazon.ca/Bodum-Insulated-Stainless-Steel-0-45-Liter-15-Ounce/dp/B008TYX1DW/ref=sr_1_5?crid=27EQTVKQZNBWB&dchild=1&keywords=french+press+thermos&qid=1603052727&sprefix=french+press+ther%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-5


Airbnb


  • Kyoto - https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/32526893?source_impression_id=p3_1607891780_CBQAkBLwxfDMfwcO&guests=1&adults=1





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