Japan, Kyoto & Beyond

Kyoto was Japan’s imperial capital for over a thousand years, from 794 to 1869, and it shows. The city holds 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 1,600 Buddhist temples, and 400 Shinto shrines — and somehow still functions as a living city rather than a monument. The finest experiences here resist easy summary: watching monks at dawn prayer in Nanzen-ji’s garden courtyard; a kaiseki dinner of 12 courses in a machiya (wooden townhouse) where each dish references the season’s exact moment; an apprentice geiko glimpsed at dusk on the stone-flagged lanes of Gion’s Hanamikoji Street. Arrive before 8am at Fushimi Inari, when the 10,000 vermilion torii gates climbing Mount Inari are still quiet, and you’ll understand immediately why this city holds such a grip on people who visit it.

Japan’s ryokan — the traditional inn, typically family-run and built around the same site for generations — is one of the world’s great accommodation formats. The best combine tatami-floored rooms, futon bedding, private or shared outdoor onsen (geothermal hot spring baths), and kaiseki cuisine into a total immersion in Japanese aesthetic values: wabi-sabi (the beauty of imperfection), ichigo ichie (the unrepeatable nature of each moment), omotenashi (hospitality that anticipates needs before they are expressed). There is nothing quite like it anywhere else.

The onsen ryokan tradition runs deepest away from Kyoto, in mountain resort towns that have been receiving pilgrims and city dwellers for centuries. Kinosaki Onsen has seven public bathhouses connected by willow-lined canal streets; guests move between them in yukata robes in the evening. Kurokawa Onsen is a village of 30 ryokan with outdoor rotenburo baths above a river gorge. Hakone offers Fuji visible across the caldera lake on clear mornings. These are the closest Japanese equivalent to the intimate, environment-defined stays you find in bubble hotels or cave hotels elsewhere.

The Kii Peninsula, south of Osaka, contains the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes — mountain trails through cryptomeria forest connecting a series of grand shrines. The multi-day walk (4–6 days from Kii-Tanabe to the grand shrines) is as close as Japan comes to the Camino de Santiago in terms of atmosphere and physical commitment. Simple mountain guesthouses (minshuku) along the route provide meals, futon beds, and the company of fellow pilgrims from around the world.

In the Japanese Alps, the village of Shirakawa-go (UNESCO World Heritage) preserves farmhouses with steeply pitched thatched roofs — gassho-zukuri, literally ‘hands in prayer’ — in a landscape of rice paddy and mountain backdrop. Several operate as guesthouses. Sleeping in a structure built in the 17th century that still functions exactly as it was designed to is a quietly profound thing.

Japan’s Shinkansen network connects major cities in times that beat flying once airport transit is factored in: Tokyo to Kyoto in 2h15m, Kyoto to Hiroshima in 1h25m. Pick up an IC card (Suica or ICOCA) at the airport; it covers metro, JR trains, and buses and eliminates individual ticket purchases entirely. The Japan Rail Pass, bought before departure, pays for itself on a single Tokyo–Kyoto return.

The yen’s sustained weakness against the dollar and euro since 2022 has made Japan genuinely affordable by Western standards. A kaiseki dinner at a serious ryokan that would have felt extravagant a few years ago now costs less than a comparable meal in Paris or New York. This is the moment to go deep.

Getting There

Flights: Tokyo’s Narita (NRT) and Haneda (HND) are the main international entry points; Osaka’s Kansai Airport (KIX) is the closer gateway for Kyoto (75 minutes by Haruka Express). Direct flights to Osaka from London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Helsinki make the Kansai arrival practical for a Kyoto-first itinerary. Search and compare flights on Kiwi.com and Aviasales.

Airport Transfer to Kyoto: From Osaka Kansai, the Haruka Limited Express reaches Kyoto Station in 75 minutes. From Tokyo, the Shinkansen Nozomi reaches Kyoto in 2h15m. For private transfers (useful with heavy luggage or on arrival from Narita late), book through Welcome Pickups or KiwiTaxi.

Getting Around

Rail: The Japan Rail Pass covers Shinkansen between cities and JR regional lines; purchase before departure from Japan. Kyoto’s city buses and subway connect the main temple districts. An IC card (ICOCA in western Japan, Suica nationwide) handles metro, bus, and convenience store payments. Car rental is irrelevant within Kyoto — traffic and parking make it counterproductive. Compare rates for regional exploration on QEEQ or EconomyBookings.

Tours & Experiences

Book early-morning Fushimi Inari hikes, geisha district (Gion) walking tours, sake brewery visits, and Arashiyama bamboo forest experiences through Klook and Viator. Tea ceremony experiences, Nishiki Market food tours, and Kodo drumming performances are consistently well-reviewed. Traditional Noh theatre and Maiko (geisha apprentice) dinner evenings book through WeGoTrip.

Travel Essentials

eSIM: Get a Japan eSIM from Airalo before departure. IIJ and Docomo provide excellent 4G coverage throughout Japan including rural areas. Pocket WiFi rentals at airports are the alternative but eSIM is simpler.

Travel Insurance: Standard travel insurance covers Japan well. The key coverage is trip cancellation (cherry blossom and autumn foliage season bookings are expensive to lose) and health (Japan’s healthcare costs are high for uninsured visitors). SafetyWing covers Japan comprehensively.

VPN: NordVPN or ExpressVPN for accessing home streaming services during ryokan evenings.