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Kyoto Without the Crowds Is Just a Question of Hours

Kyoto, JapanMira Okonkwo@mira6 min readTravelled Solo

Trip notes

If you are going yourself

Everything practical for Kyoto, Japan in one place — where it actually is, where to sleep, how to move, what to eat, what the weather does, and what to put in the bag. The story itself follows.

Travelled

Solo — Built entirely around getting up before everyone else, which is hard to negotiate with company.

The route

6 stops · 1 slept in · 4 nights

Stayed the nightPassed throughOn footBy train

Drag to pan, use +/− to zoom, tap a pin for detail.

  1. Kyoto Station hotel

    4 nights · base

    Unromantic and unbeatable — every 05:30 train in this list leaves from here.

    Good signal — Fibre wifi indoors and 5G outside. Nothing here is a problem.

  2. Fushimi Inari

    Passed through · 06:00

    Five minutes by train, and completely empty. Same gates, same mountain, no queue.

    Good signal — Signal all the way up the mountain, though slower near the top.

    By train

  3. Arashiyama

    Passed through · 07:00

    The bamboo grove on another morning. Works exactly the same way.

    Good signal — 5G, with free wifi at the station and in the cafés by the grove.

    By train

  4. Nishiki Market

    Passed through · 09:30

    Breakfast and pickles before the tour groups arrive. Knives at the far end.

    Good signal — Fine, though the covered arcade drops you back to 4G.

    By train

  5. Kiyomizu-dera

    Passed through · 16:30

    Late afternoon as the eastern temples close, rather than at noon in April.

    Good signal — Strong signal on the approach, and free wifi in most of the shops.

    On foot

  6. Pontochō

    Passed through · sunset

    One lantern-lit lane by the river. Read the menus outside and pick.

    Good signal — 5G by the river. Some older restaurants ask you not to use a phone at all.

    On foot

Fushimi Inari — the 06:00 start in the story34.9671° N, 135.7727° E

Open route in Google MapsOpen in OpenStreetMap

Weather

Best time to go

November for maples, February for quiet, late March for blossom

Nov (best)17 °C / 8 °C
Deep maple colour, a long season, and a third of the blossom crowds.
Feb9 °C / 1 °C
Cold, quiet and roughly half price. Temples at their most austere.
Late Mar–Apr19 °C / 8 °C
Cherry blossom, and the single busiest fortnight in Japan.

Ranges are typical daytime high and overnight low.

What to pack

Temple floors, long walking days, and cold mornings

  • Shoes that slip on and off easily — you will remove them repeatedly
  • Socks without holes, for the same reason
  • Layers for a 10 °C swing between a 06:00 start and midday
  • A warm coat in February; Kyoto sits in a basin and holds the cold
  • Comfortable walking shoes — 15 km a day here is normal
  • A small folding umbrella, useful in every season

Where to stay

  • Near Kyoto Station

    Hotel

    Unromantic and unbeatable for the 05:30 starts — trains to Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama both leave from here.

  • Gion / Higashiyama

    Ryokan or machiya

    Walk to the eastern temples before dawn. The most atmospheric and the most expensive.

  • Nishijin or Demachiyanagi

    Guesthouse

    Residential north-west and north-east, cheaper, and a short bus or bike ride from everything.

Getting around

  • Getting there

    Fly to Osaka (KIX) and take the Haruka express, about 80 minutes, or the shinkansen from Tokyo in 2¼ hours.

  • Trains

    The JR Nara line reaches Fushimi Inari in five minutes from Kyoto Station; the JR San-in line reaches Arashiyama in 15.

  • Buses

    They cover the temples the trains miss and they are slow and full by 10:00. Another argument for early starts.

  • Bicycle

    Kyoto is flat and a rented bike beats the bus for anything within the grid. Park only in marked bays.

Food stops

  • Nishiki Market

    Covered market

    Go before the tour groups, around 09:30. Pickles, tamagoyaki, sesame tofu, knives.

  • Shōjin ryōri

    Temple cuisine

    Buddhist vegetarian, served at several temples at lunchtime. Book a day ahead.

  • Pontochō

    Alley of restaurants

    One lantern-lit lane by the river. Some places are exclusive, plenty are not — read the menus outside.

  • Kissaten

    Old-style coffee house

    The right place to spend the crowded middle of the day: siphon coffee, thick toast, no hurry.

Day by day

5 days, start to finish · 10–14 February 2025

  1. Day 1

    10 Feb

    Arrive, then the easy things

    Haruka in from Osaka, drop the bag, Nishiki Market late afternoon, and Pontochō as the lanterns come on. Set an alarm for 05:15.

    Visiting1Kyoto Station hotel4Nishiki Market6Pontochō

    Staying Kyoto Station

  2. Day 2

    11 Feb

    Fushimi Inari at six

    Same gates, same mountain, no queue. Back for breakfast by nine, museums and a long lunch through the crowded middle, north temples at 16:30.

    Visiting2Fushimi Inari

    Staying Kyoto Station

  3. Day 3

    12 Feb

    Arashiyama at seven

    The bamboo grove works exactly the same way. Then a kissaten for siphon coffee and thick toast while the city fills up.

    Visiting3Arashiyama

    Staying Kyoto Station

  4. Day 4

    13 Feb

    Higashiyama, back to front

    The Kiyomizu approach before the shops open, the garden at Shōren-in at midday, and Gion at dusk rather than at noon.

    Visiting5Kiyomizu-dera

    Staying Kyoto Station

  5. Day 5

    14 Feb

    One last empty temple

    Pick whichever you liked most and go at opening. Then the airport train, which takes 80 minutes and always feels like 40.

    Visiting1Kyoto Station hotel

    Staying — travelling home

The story

Fushimi Inari is famously impossible and it is also completely empty at six in the morning. Same gates, same mountain, no queue for the photograph everyone has. The bamboo grove at Arashiyama works the same way. So does almost everything.

The daily shape

  • 05:30–08:30 — the famous sites, alone. Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama, Kiyomizu approach.
  • 09:00–11:00 — breakfast, a coffee, the Nishiki market before the tour groups.
  • 11:00–16:00 — museums, a long lunch, the garden at Shōren-in, a nap. Do not fight the crowd.
  • 16:30–sunset — the northern temples as they close, and Pontochō as the lanterns come on.

Go in November or February

Cherry blossom season is beautiful and it is also the single most crowded fortnight in Japan. November's maples are, in my honest and slightly heretical opinion, better — deeper colour, longer season, and about a third of the people. February is cold, quiet, and half price.

Kyoto rewards the early and the patient. It does not reward the person who arrives at Kinkaku-ji at noon in April and concludes that Japan is busy.

The temples are not overrun. They are overrun between ten and four. Here is the other Kyoto.

  • #japan
  • #temples
  • #early mornings

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