Kyoto, Temples and Shrines

Almost every complaint about Kyoto is really a complaint about arriving at eleven in the morning. The sites are extraordinary; they are also finite in capacity, and everyone reaches them at the same hour. Shifting your day two hours earlier changes the city entirely.

What is actually here

Kyoto escaped the worst wartime bombing, which is why so much survives. The result is a working modern city with pre-modern architecture distributed through it — not a preserved museum quarter, but temples at the end of ordinary streets.

• Fushimi Inari — thousands of vermilion torii climbing a mountain. Open around the clock, no admission gate.
• Kiyomizu-dera — a hillside temple with a large wooden terrace and views over the city.
• Arashiyama — the bamboo grove, plus the surrounding hills and river which are far quieter.
• Ginkaku-ji and the Philosopher's Path — a walking route linking several northern temples.
• Nijō Castle — shogunal residence, with the famous 'nightingale' floors.

Geisha districts, and how to behave

Gion is the best known of Kyoto's traditional entertainment districts. Geiko and maiko — Kyoto's terms for geisha and apprentices — still work there, and they are going to appointments, not performing for the street.

Photography restrictions exist on certain private streets and are enforced with fines. Following someone to photograph them is both prohibited and unpleasant behaviour. The district is worth walking through in the early evening; the residents are not an attraction.

Getting around

Kyoto is compact and largely flat, which makes it one of the better Japanese cities for cycling. The bus network reaches everything but gets very full in peak season and can be slow. Where a train serves the same route, take the train.

[ADD YOUR OWN] The temple that actually got you, rather than the one that photographs best. Say which and why.