KYOTO—City officials are attempting to combat a return of graffiti marring Arashiyama’s bamboo forest, one of Kyoto’s most beloved tourist destinations.
If you travel to Japan, honestly just… Skip Kyoto. It is so full of tourists (national and international), you cannot possibly imagine unless you’ve seen it.
Sure, there’s a lot of impressive temples there. But so is the rest of the country.
We were lucky enough to spend 4 weeks in Japan earlier this year, and if I could do the trip again, I would straight-up skip Kyoto and Osaka.
Rent a car, drive in some random direction. You’ll he a lot happier, it it will actually be your trip. By far the best memories coke from places not in any travel guide.
Definitely planned for next time. This time we went south to Fukuoka (already very few tourists) and rented a car back to Tokyo, staying in smaller towns. Highly recommend.
Counter point: I loved osaka and kyoto, would skip tokyo before them. On kyoto we went up to the main temples using side streets and small foot paths and down on the main road.
We stayed in a regular neighborhood in osaka, drank and had fun on small 5-people bars with the locals and visited the city center occasionally. Made me appreciate the quiet japanese life even in a big city. Very charming city
Interesting. We really enjoyed Tokyo, but spent most of our time there in smaller, out of the way areas. Absolutely loved it.
Though my favorite memories are from a super tiny seaside town (no public transport, ended up there because we misread the map) in the middle of nowhere.
I would stay near (ish) to Kyoto and just go one day, the National Museum in Kyoto is really good and you can see the rest of what you want to see quite quickly. It is about as commercialized as you can get for a town in Japan, its approaching Disney levels of parody.
Staying further away lowers the cost and as long as its on one of the direct train lines into Kyoto it doesnt take long to get there. There is a lot to do in daily travelable distance in the region that is a better use of your time.
If there’s specific things you want to do that happen to be in Kyoto, I agree. I just think (somewhat from personal experience) that going to Kyoto because that’s what you should do on a Japan trip is a bad idea.
If you travel to Japan, honestly just… Skip Kyoto. It is so full of tourists (national and international), you cannot possibly imagine unless you’ve seen it.
Sure, there’s a lot of impressive temples there. But so is the rest of the country.
We were lucky enough to spend 4 weeks in Japan earlier this year, and if I could do the trip again, I would straight-up skip Kyoto and Osaka.
Rent a car, drive in some random direction. You’ll he a lot happier, it it will actually be your trip. By far the best memories coke from places not in any travel guide.
Go north. Hardly anyone goes to Tohoku and there’s so much to see
Definitely planned for next time. This time we went south to Fukuoka (already very few tourists) and rented a car back to Tokyo, staying in smaller towns. Highly recommend.
Go in early Aug if possible. The Tachineputa festival in Aomori is the best in all of Tohoku. Kanto festival in Akita is up there as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goshogawara_Tachineputa_Festival
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akita_Kantō
Alright, thanks for the recommendation (seriously)!
instructions unclear, am now drowning in my keicar in the ocean
I mean… that’s a pretty memorable trip, no?
Counter point: I loved osaka and kyoto, would skip tokyo before them. On kyoto we went up to the main temples using side streets and small foot paths and down on the main road.
We stayed in a regular neighborhood in osaka, drank and had fun on small 5-people bars with the locals and visited the city center occasionally. Made me appreciate the quiet japanese life even in a big city. Very charming city
Interesting. We really enjoyed Tokyo, but spent most of our time there in smaller, out of the way areas. Absolutely loved it.
Though my favorite memories are from a super tiny seaside town (no public transport, ended up there because we misread the map) in the middle of nowhere.
Oh, and while I’m at it: do not trust any food recommendation written in English. Good or bad.
If you look at stuff in Kyoto at 5 am in the morning (or earlier) it is nice and empty.
Source lived in the Region for a year
Yeah but then most of the things people come to Kyoto for a closed.
Not saying I disagree.
I mean, fair point. i was mainly thinking of temples and stuff where you can run around without having to go inside.
True. Especially the more “popular” temples are only open during regular hours, though.
In any case, I don’t doubt that you can have lots of fun and have the city for yourself at early hours!
I would stay near (ish) to Kyoto and just go one day, the National Museum in Kyoto is really good and you can see the rest of what you want to see quite quickly. It is about as commercialized as you can get for a town in Japan, its approaching Disney levels of parody.
Staying further away lowers the cost and as long as its on one of the direct train lines into Kyoto it doesnt take long to get there. There is a lot to do in daily travelable distance in the region that is a better use of your time.
If there’s specific things you want to do that happen to be in Kyoto, I agree. I just think (somewhat from personal experience) that going to Kyoto because that’s what you should do on a Japan trip is a bad idea.