Kyoto

The Thousand Kyoto

Modern luxury inspired by Zen, with an emphasis on sustainability. Right next to Kyoto Station, so it is especially convenient for a day that starts with a train.

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Royal Park Hotel Iconic Kyoto

A boutique hotel with changing exhibitions by artisans from Kyoto. Between the station and the city center.

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Hotel M's Est Kyoto Station

A bright and especially clean budget hotel, minutes from Kyoto Station. The rooms are small, and that is known in advance.

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Kyoto · Tattoos accepted

Funaoka Onsen

A neighborhood bathhouse more than a hundred years old, about a quarter of an hour by bus from Kinkaku-ji, with wood carvings of Kyoto festivals and majolica tiles in the bathing room. ¥550, the fixed sento price in Kyoto Prefecture since April 2025, and not an onsen price. It is one of the well-known places in Kyoto that accept visitors with tattoos without covering them, including the outdoor pool and the sauna. The water is not from a natural hot spring, and this is a bathhouse and not an onsen.

¥550 · ≈ $3MapsSource

✓ Price checked October 2026

Kyoto · Mountains

Kurama Onsen

Kyoto's mountain onsen at the northern end of the Eiden line, with an outdoor pool facing the forest. It closed during the Covid period and reopened in November 2024, so old guides still write that it is closed. Open roughly 10:00 to 21:00. It fits with the walk between Kurama and Kibune, and sits exactly at the end of it.

¥1,500 · ≈ $10MapsSource

Kyoto · Traditional

Hyotei

A historic kaiseki restaurant in Higashiyama. It suits anyone who wants a full traditional Japanese experience and not a quick meal.

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Kitcho Arashiyama

Three Michelin stars, kaiseki in garden pavilions in Arashiyama. Lunch is significantly cheaper than dinner, and from the same kitchen.

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Kyoto · Kaiseki

Kikunoi Honten

Traditional kaiseki near Maruyama in Kyoto. It suits a festive evening, with a long meal based on the season.

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Nishiki Market

A 400-year-old covered alley, 'Kyoto's kitchen'. Dashi rolls, octopus and matcha sweets. Very narrow at busy hours, and eating while walking is considered impolite.

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Pontocho Alley

A stone alley in Kyoto along the Kamo River, lit by lanterns. Duck hot pot and traditional Kyoto cuisine. In summer the restaurants open terraces over the river, and that is the season to come.

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Market · Kyoto, North and Center

Nishiki Market: Kyoto's kitchen

400 years, 130 stalls, and one covered lane: quail eggs on octopus, Kyoto pickles, tamagoyaki and sake.

¥1,500 · ≈ $10MapsFull itinerary

Kyoto · Certified kosher

Chabad of Kyoto

The Chabad house of Kyoto in the Okazaki district (30-3 Okazaki Tennocho, Sakyo), run by Rabbi Motti and Libby Grumach since 2019: prayers and Shabbat and holiday meals, and kosher food delivered to individuals and groups. Make contact on WhatsApp as early as possible.

MapsPhone: +81 90-3684-7707Source

✓ Price checked September 2026

Kyoto · Vegan, not kosher

mumokuteki cafe

A fully vegan cafe in central Kyoto, on the second floor of the mumokuteki shop near Teramachi street, five minutes from Kawaramachi Station. Japanese and Western dishes with no animal ingredient at all. 11:30 to 20:00, closed on Wednesdays.

MapsSource

Kyoto · Vegan, not kosher

Vegan Ramen Uzu Kyoto

Vegan ramen that was selected for Michelin's Bib Gourmand and received a Green Star. Tasting meal only: you book up to 30 days ahead and prepay ¥7,700 per person, and you can cancel without a penalty up to 48 hours before. An excellent choice for a Japanese meal without meat or fish, but not for keeping kosher.

¥7,700 · ≈ $49MapsSource

Temple and garden · Kyoto, Higashiyama

Kodai-ji: garden, bamboo and Rikyu's tea house

The temple that the widow of Toyotomi Hideyoshi built in 1606.

¥800 · ≈ $5MapsFull itinerary

Break · Kyoto, Arashiyama

% Arabica: the coffee with the queue and the view

A short break, if you have time.

¥700 · ≈ $4MapsFull itinerary

Break · Kyoto, northern Higashiyama

Blue Bottle Nanzen-ji: coffee in a 100-year-old machiya house

The day's break, if you have time.

¥800 · ≈ $5MapsFull itinerary

Kyoto International Manga Museum

A former elementary school with over 300,000 volumes of manga on open walls, and you may sit and read as much as you like. There is a shelf in foreign languages. An excellent place for a rainy day in Kyoto. ¥1,200, 10:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30. Closed on Wednesdays, and also on 24 November, from 26 December to 6 January and from 25 to 29 January 2027.

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Kyoto · Evangelion

UZUMASA KYOTO VILLAGE (formerly Toei Kyoto Studio Park), Evangelion Kyoto Base

Toei's film studios in Uzumasa, an open park where period dramas are filmed, which was renovated and reopened in March 2026 under the name UZUMASA KYOTO VILLAGE. At the center stands Evangelion Unit-01 at a height of 15 meters, and you can enter the entry plug and stand on its palm. ¥2,800 from junior high school age and ¥1,600 for a child from age 3, a price valid until the second renovation stage in spring 2027. Admission closes an hour before the park closes.

¥2,800 · ≈ $18MapsSourceTickets on Klook

✓ Price checked October 2026

Kyoto · Tax-free

Shijo-dori department stores, Kyoto

Kyoto's main street, with the two large department stores: Daimaru and Takashimaya, both with a tax-free counter. From 1 November 2026 you pay the full price, and the tax goes back to your credit card after customs approves it at the airport. Daimaru deducts a fee of up to 2.3 percent of the pre-tax purchase amount from the refund, so you get back less than the full 10 percent. The counter at Daimaru is on floor 8. Take your passport, not a photo of it.

FreeMapsSource

Shopping · Kyoto, North and Center

Teramachi and Shinkyogoku: the arcades of the center

Two parallel arcades, with 19th-century shops (seals, brushes, tea) alongside manga and clothing shops.

FreeMapsFull itinerary

Kyoto · Knives

Aritsugu

A maker of knives and kitchen tools whose main store sits in Nishiki Market. A santoku knife 18 cm long is listed in its price list at ¥28,600, but the price list is current as of May 2025 and the company writes that prices may change. Aritsugu's website says that the name engraving service, offered in the past, has been discontinued. The shop is open 10:00 to 17:00 with new sales until 16:30, closed on Wednesdays, and knives go only in checked luggage.

¥28,600 · ≈ $181MapsSource

Kyoto · Tea

Ippodo Tea Kyoto Main Store

A tea house in business since 1717, with a main store and a tearoom in Kyoto. From 1 October 2026 the cheapest tin of matcha, 20 grams, costs ¥864 instead of ¥648, and most types of tea go up by tens of percent, some of them up to double. Because of the matcha shortage the company continues to limit quantities, so you cannot always buy several tins of the same type. Ippodo also has shops in Tokyo, in Marunouchi and in Aoyama.

¥864 · ≈ $5MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Kyoto · Incense

Shoyeido Kyoto Main Store

An incense maker whose main store has been operating in the same place, south of the Imperial Palace, for more than 300 years. A box of 20 sticks from the Horikawa series, with a soft sandalwood scent, costs ¥1,100. Scent sachets for which you choose the fragrance and the fabric bag are sold only in this store and in the branches in Osaka and Ginza. The store is open every day 9:00 to 18:00 and closed only at the start of the year.

¥1,100 · ≈ $7MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

Higashiyama · Temple

Kiyomizu-dera Temple

The temple with the terrace that hangs over the valley. ¥500, after a rise from ¥400. Open from 06:00, and that is the only hour when you can see it without a crowd. On illumination evenings (in 2026 in spring, on 14 to 16 August and on 21 to 30 November) the temple is open until 21:30.

¥500 · ≈ $3MapsSource

✓ Price checked November 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Fushimi · Shrine

Fushimi Inari Taisha

Ten thousand red torii gates up the mountain. Free and open 24 hours. Up to the first gate it is always crowded. If you continue 30 minutes uphill you reach the Yotsutsuji junction and are almost alone. The full walk to the top: two and a half hours.

FreeMapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Northern Kyoto · Temple

Kinkaku-ji Temple

The Golden Pavilion on the Mirror Pond. ¥500. The route is one-way and takes 40 minutes, and there is no entry to the building itself. On weekdays before 09:30 or after 16:00 it is less crowded.

¥500 · ≈ $3MapsSource

✓ Price checked September 2026

About this place and what is nearby

Kyoto · Culture

Camellia Flower Teahouse

In a tea room near Kiyomizu-dera you watch the ceremony, eat a seasonal sweet and learn to whisk matcha yourself. The shared session lasts 45 minutes and costs ¥4,000, and in March, April, October, November and the New Year period ¥5,000. The instruction is in English, up to 8 participants, from age 6, and there is a session every hour between 10:00 and 17:00. You can add a full-day kimono rental for ¥6,000.

¥4,000 · ≈ $25MapsSourceBook on Klook

✓ Price checked September 2026

Kyoto · Food

Kanshundo Higashi Shop

With an instructor you make three fresh Japanese sweets in seasonal shapes and one dry sweet, eat one with matcha and take the rest home in a box. The class lasts about an hour and a quarter and costs ¥3,700, at four times a day. Book two to three days ahead, at least two participants are needed, and children from age 5. The explanation is in Japanese with an English handout that you ask for when booking, and the sweets are not kosher.

¥3,700 · ≈ $23MapsSourceBook on Klook

✓ Price checked September 2026

Kyoto · Culture

Kyoto Samurai Kenbu Theater

You learn basic moves with a Japanese sword from masters of kenbu, the sword dance of the samurai, and see a short demonstration. The short version lasts an hour and a half and costs ¥10,000 for an adult and ¥9,000 for a child aged 5 to 11, and a two-hour version with a full show costs ¥13,000. The instruction is in English, and the shared classes are held on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Cancelling a day before costs 30 percent of the price, and on the day itself all of it.

¥10,000 · ≈ $63MapsSourceBook on Klook

✓ Price checked September 2026