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So... I'm planning a trip to Kyoto, already bought my tickets and will be staying with a childhood friend of mine in Kyoto for 10 days.
I'hve been spending the past 2 days researching various things to do in Kyoto for my visit and have already come up with a few things but progress is slow, funny how you dont feel like the old superhero you used to be when you could find whatever you wanted to on the net, either I got worse at it or the web just grew bigger.
Anyway, I have seen, and read, quite a few threads about Kyoto here on TL, they are mostly about people visiting Kyoto and doing awesome stuff like MEETING  BeSt: (Crap, can't seem to find it)
But I'm hungry for more information and was kinda hoping for the globetrotting component of TL.net to help me find a couple of great places in and around Kyoto to go, both for culture, history, food and anything else thats just amazing and "MUST SEE".
![[image loading]](http://japanfakta.se/kyoto-kinkakuji.jpg)
One of the temples I suppose I'll be visiting!
We're probably also going to go to Osaka at least one day to check out what it has to offer too, aswell as go swimming in the sea, apparently its still around 30º there which is warmer than summer ever got here in southwest Sweden this year.
Will supply a full report on my trip once I get home aswell! 
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United States16368 Posts
I kind of got bored of temples and shrines by the time I was in Kyoto the second time, so it wasn't too pleasant. Most people enjoy it the first time they go though.
Just go to wikitravel and look up all the shrines and temples you should visit, they are all fairly unique, and you can just go to as many as you can. Majority of them are within the city centre, but some are rather far out and require careful planning with trains and buses.
Some of my more memorable places in Kyoto:
Kinkaku-ji (in your picture)
Ryoan-ji
Ni-jo
To-ji
Kyomizu-dera
Inari Shrine
Kyoto is perhaps most famous for kaiseki ryori, which I happen to hate, but some people (claim that they) love it, so I guess it's a personal preference. A good course served in a decent restaurant will run pretty steep in terms of price. For reference, I paid over 10,000 JPY per person in a nice restaurant with a good view (food still sucked imo). I can probably look this up for you if you are interested.
Macha is also something you should perhaps try while in Kyoto, the traditional style is actually pretty hard to find even in Japan (the only other comparable experience was in Kanazawa's). It's definitely something I would recommend regardless whether you've had it before.
Generally speaking, good food in Kyoto is pretty expensive, but you can always settle for average food (will have no problems exceeding your expectations) for around 1000 to 3000 JPY.
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If I had one, and only one, destination to suggest, it would be definitely to visit Fushimi Inari Taisha (and don't you think a walk throughout the entire shrine takes less than a few hours!). Other than that, head up to Arashiyama and mingle with the monkeys in the monkey park, stroll through the bamboo forest, and battle your way through the crowds at Kiyomizudera temple. Also definitely rent a bike and take a random ride in any direction; you'll love how you always discover some temple or tiny shrine tucked away in a nondescript street corner.
Visiting Kyoto Tower might also be a good idea, not so much due to any spectacular views (absolutely no skyscrapers makes for a mediocre vista), but because the mounted binoculars there were the only ones we ever saw that were free to use – plus the magnification and focus were outstanding.
Sorry I can't tell you much about Kyoto's food or nightlife, because when me'n'buddies were there in early August, the weather was murderous and the tempo with which we stormed through the sights was insane.
Ah, and definitely keep an ear out for the various street lights jingles, especially in the area around Kyoto Station, where every corner of the crossing chimes its own peculiar tune. If you could shoot a video of that one crossing (forgot where it was) with three distinctly different "birds" each chirping his own green-light melody, I would be much indebted, sir! It's one thing we've had an entire week to do and never actually got around to.
Besides Kyoto, there's a ton of cities like Kobe (amazing walk downhill towards downtown from Shin-Kobe station), Nara (never EVER buy the deer cookies, and for god's sake, get the hell away from the nasty critters asap), Osaka (excellent bayside aquarium, long-ass arcade across Ebisubashi bridge), Himeji with its castle...
I think I will go and sob over a bunch of photos from the trip again, excuse me.
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I've been to Kyoto twice and never got bored of it. I really like it, here's my favourites:
Ginkakuji: Silver temple, I personally think it's beautifuler than Kinkakuji but I've heard many found it boring (I think I left Kinkakuji within 15 minutes  what a waste of my 500 yen)
Inari Shrine: So peaceful and quiet and relaxing, go all the way up and sit on the benches there. Have a drink, pat a neko and enjoy the view over Kyoto
Kiyomizudera: I'm not sure if the leafs are already turning red, it's supposed to be stunningly beautiful during cherry blossom season and fall season. Either way it's worth a visit! You can take a great picture before going to the temple with Kyoto in your back displaying Kyoto tower there.
Yasaka Shrine: North of Kiyomizudera lies Yasaka shrine which has a terrific park. It's on Gion street so you can head there right afterwards for a long long shopping street. Geishas run around there from time to time I heard.
Arashiyama: To the east of Kyoto, easy reachable by JR train. Very beautiful relaxing scenery with a wooden (partly stone now) bridge crossing a river. There's a monkey park there where you can feed dem monkies. You can also take a short boat trip where they demonstrate their fishing-with-birds techniques (Ukai). They use birds to catch fish, I found that very nice.
As for Osaka, the castle is worth a visit. It was quite impressive to me. Don't go to the aquarium on a sunday (packed, and I mean the Japanese way of packed.). At night you have to go onto the Umeda Sky Building, it has a 360° open air platform which makes for a mouth opener view. I think that was the most impressive city vista I've experienced in Japan. (If you go to tourist information center at Osaka station and ask for the way to it you might get a discount for going up. Not much but pretty cool either way. )
I might edit if I can think of more later. Please enjoy your stay!
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Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I obviously won't have time to visit EVERYTHING in one trip
Is there anything in these cities that I should see that aren't old temples, like arcades, shoppingmalls, some other parts of japanese culture or even great restaurants?
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EPT
