Kansai International Airport 1 hr 41
Gion (16 min) Geisha district featuring high-end shops & restaurants, a Zen garden & women in colorful kimonos. Kyoto Imperial Palace (9 min) Palace complex & former Imperial family residence reconstructed in 1855, with gardens & gates. Maruyama Park (17 min) Popular green space with an outdoor music hall, bronze statues & colorful, seasonal cherry blossoms. Shimogamo-Jinja (8 min) Legendary 2,000-year-old shrine & excavation site set in a tranquil, riverside forest. Yasaka Shrine (18 min) This Shinto shrine was erected in 656 A.D. & is home to one of the most famous festivals in Japan. Heian Shrine (14 min) Classic Shinto shrine complex built in 1895, with a giant gate & museums of modern & municipal art. Kinkaku-ji (11 min) Historic, tranquil temple with a gold-leaf facade set amid landscaped gardens & a reflecting pond. Nishiki Market (13 min) 400-year-old iconic market studded with stalls offering all manner of Japanese edibles. Kiyomizu-dera (22 min) Iconic Buddhist temple on Mount Otowa known for the scenic views afforded from its sizable veranda. Nanzen-ji Temple (18 min) Stately Buddhist temple complex with a Zen garden, forested grounds & walking paths. Nijō Castle (8 min) Built in 1603, this cyprus-wood castle with extensive gardens was a home for the shogun Ieyasu. Arashiyama (28 min) Winding, lush venue showcasing a host of monkeys plus a scenic bamboo forest & water vistas. Higashiyama Jisho-ji (16 min) This 15th-century Zen temple features picturesque gardens & a sand mound shaped like Mount Fuji. Ryōan-ji (14 min) On the scenic grounds of this 15th-century temple is a famous Zen rock garden & a yudofu restaurant. Fushimi Inari Taisha (27 min) Mountainside Shinto shrine dating from 711 A.D. featuring a path with hundreds of traditional gates. |