If Tokyo represents Japan’s future.
Then Kyoto embraces it’s rich cultural past.
In fact there is so much history to see here that it can be hard to know where to start.
So if you are planning your next trip, you’ve come to the right place.
This is not just a travel vlog.
This is an interactive video guide designed to get you the information you need as fast
as possible.
Use the timecodes in the description below to get to the parts of the video that interest
you the most.
So if you need advice on cheap places to eat.
Hit the link.
If you want to know how to avoid the crowds in the most popular spots in the city.
Hit the link.
Or just sit back and enjoy the whole thing.
My name is Ryan.
That’s me there being chased by some hungry deer.
And this is Emma.
And welcome back to the One Shot Adventures channel.
If you are looking for the famous historic streets of Kyoto, then look no further than
the Higashiyama district.
This is exactly how I imagined the streets of Kyoto.
Home to tonnes of souvenir shops, shrines and cafes.
It’s all a bit busy and a bit touristy here.
I mean there’s even a tatami style Starbucks.
But the immaculately restored streets are well worth exploring.
You can find some really cool experiences hidden in the side streets.
Like attending a traditional Japanese tea ceremony at Camellia.
Unfortunately the main temple here is under renovations so it’s completely covered by
this sort of tent.
But there’s still some amazing views of Kyoto city from the top which is definitely
worth it.
This first bit of temple talk brings us nicely into Chapter 2.
Kyoto is Japan’s old cultural centre so today we’re going to check out some temples.
Kyoto is absolutely full of temples and while they all have something unique to offer, if
you pack too many into your trip you can start to feel a little bit templed out.
But don’t worry we’re going to cover a few more of the essentials right now.
Our first stop is Kinkaku-ji which is the Golden Temple.
We’ve got here for 9am which is opening time so hopefully we should miss most of the
crowds because it does get very busy here.
Arigato Gozaimasu!
How cool is this ticket?
It’s like a full on scripture.
We just about managed to be first in.
Just in the last ten minutes a huge queue formed behind us.
The Golden Pavillion was originally built in the 1300s but it was burnt down in 1950
and then rebuilt in 1955.
So the pavilion that is there now is actually a reconstruction.
So it only took around 30 seconds for all of the crowds to catch up with us but the
temple is really really nice.
And about halfway through it started pouring down with rain so luckily it only takes 15
minutes to walk around the grounds.
Your fortune is good.
Our second stop is Ryaon-ji temple which is most famous for it’s rock garden.
The origin and meaning of the zen rock garden remains unclear, so it’s recommended that
you spend a little bit of time sitting in front of it and seeing how it feels to you.
By the way if you want to know how much anything featured in this video costs.
I’ve put all of the prices down in the description below.
Our third stop of the day is Ninna-ji temple.
Ninna-ji is home to a bigger and arguably much more impressive rock garden.
And it gets far less busy than Ryaon-ji.
That was really really nice.
It’s so peaceful in there.
It is easy to pack in more than three temples into one day but honestly it will start to
lose impact if you see too many in a short space of time.
If you have more days to explore make sure you spread them all out so get the maximum
impact.
This next shrine definitely deserves some special treatment.
The Fushimi Inari shrine is instantly recognisable as one of the most popular sights in all of
Japan.
But empty shots like this need to be well earned.
There is no entrance fee and the shrine gates insanely busy by 9am.
So with that in mind we left a little earlier.
It is stupid o’clock in the morning but it should be worth it because we are off to
see one of Japan’s most famous sights and hopefully there will be no people there.
So we’re just walking up to the Fushimi Inari shrine, which is a shinto shrine to
the god of rice.
There were a few other early birds on the path with us.
But for most of our hike we just saw bugs and cats.
As well as the thousands of Torii gates there are also thousands of statues of foxes here.
In shinto foxes are believed to be the messengers for the rice gods.
If you come off the main path there’s loads of these smaller little shrines around with
these tiny versions of torii gates.
Climbing to the summit and getting back down again takes between 2 and 3 hours and once
you get to the top you get some amazing views over the city.
We made it to the top.
There’s a beautiful shrine at the summit.
It’s definitely worth it to get up early and see it in the best way because I don’t
see how it could be as enjoyable when you are stopping every 2 seconds for someone to
take a photo.
Let’s take a break from all of these landmarks and talk about food.
If you are like me then trying the local delicacies is one of the most important things to do
when I travel to new places.
But doing it affordably in Japan can sometimes be a bit of a challenge.
Most tourists in Kyoto will head straight to the Pontocho alley area.
A beautiful and popular little street full of lots of lively bars and restaurants.
But it is very very expensive.
So if you want to keep your budget down here are my top three tips.
First head over to the Nishiki food market.
It’s like one long tunnel and then every so often there’s a road that goes straight
through it.
You can try everything here from fresh seafood to cute themed sweet treats.
So what is it?
It’s a strawberry and red bean jam on a sweet dumpling.
And I definitely recommend trying the Okonomiyaki which is a savoury Japanese pancake.
It’s got a sweet soy sauce on top and inside there’s sort of vegetables it’s really
nice.
We spent a couple of hours here browsing all the stalls and trying all of the free samples.
With only about £5 you can get a tonne of food which is perfect for a local lunch.
To save money on meals there’s a really decent selection of ready meals and sushi
rolls in the Japanese convenience stores like Lawson, 711 and Family Mart.
But if you want to get your hands on the freshest of sushi for a decent price here’s a good
tip.
If you head into a supermarket between 7 and 8pm all of the sushi they sell is discounted
because they dont sell it the next day.
We just got some great deals.
For some budget drinking head over to Kyoto’s 200 yen bars where you can get beer and cocktails
for as little as £1.50.
I love this.
They give you a little private room just for a drink.
Cheers!
We found one of the 200 yen bars right next to one of Kyoto’s most famous districts.
Gion is home of the Gieshas and flocks of tourists head here every evening in hopes
of catching a glimpse of one of them as they walk between shows.
Now contrary to what you may have heard Geishas are not prostitutes they are hostesses who
entertain through dance and song and sometimes just good old conversation.
So just as we were leaving the Main Street of Gion we did see a Geisha walk straight
past us.
We didn’t film or take photos or anything because right behind here was just this mob
of tourists just following her.
It felt a bit like paparazzi.
So if you do make it to Gion remember to try and be respectful and don’t hound the Geishas
just to get a good photo.
A trip to Kyoto would not be complete without visiting a bamboo grove.
And most tourists head to the same one.
The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is probably the second most iconic sight in all of Kyoto.
Much like the Inari Shrine it gets insanely busy by 9am.
This is what it looks like at about 9:30.
So once again we got up early to see if we could avoid the crowds.
6:30.
So it’s just coming up to 7am and we’ve just arrived at Arashiyama Bamboo grove.
We’ve walked past a few people so far but it’s really not very busy.
It is very very nice here, very peaceful.
But I’m not quite sure if its worth getting up so early because it’s very very short
the actual path.
I mean you can sort of walk all the way through it in about 5 minutes.
It’s quite a lot of effort for such a short experience.
It is nice though, it’s very nice.
You’ll get some really shots just pointing your camera up at the bamboo whem there’s
loads of people here.
Luckily if you want to see some very peaceful bamboo groves, but dont really care for getting
up super early in the morning.
There are plenty of other alternative options around the city.
Here’s 2 of my favourites.
When we were at the Fushimi Inari shrine there’s a actually a secret bamboo grove there.
So you walk right alongside the torii gates and past this rest room here.
There’s a few gates here too.
It’s quite small but very peaceful.
The second alternative option is actually at a different temple.
So this is Kodai-ji temple which has some beautiful gardens and a bamboo grove which
is really really nice.
So what I would say is Fushimi Inari, well worth getting up early for.
Bamboo grove.
It’s nice but its up to you.
If you make the early trek to Arashiyama make sure you check out the views from the Togetsukyo
Bridge and from the Arashiyama park.
But the crowning glory is actually at the end of the bamboo path.
So we’re now in the grounds of Okochi Sanso which is a old villa which was constructed
by a famous Japanese silent movie star.
And the grounds here are really really beautiful.
I’m actually enjoying this a lot more than the bamboo grove.
With your entry ticket you get a free green tea as well so I’m quite looking forward
to that.
Now just in case you are getting a little bit sick of Kyoto now let’s check out the
most famous day trip you can take to the ancient city of Nara.
Most famous for it’s polite bowing deer.
Trains leave every half an hour from Kyoto and the ride takes about 40 minutes.
Here we go first deer sighting.
To be honest I wasnt overly impressed with Nara.
It is very pretty there but it's completely overrun with tourists and their deer food.
You can tell that some of them are just sick of the whole bowing thing.
Just give me the cracker mate.
Just give me the biscuit.
I’m not bowing.
In fact they can get pretty aggressive once they know you have food and trust me, they
know!
Oh my god.
He knows what you got.
This isnt going well.
They’re not bowing.
Away from the deer park there’s also the big Buddha temple which is apparently the
biggest wooden structure in the world!
We only did half a day in Nara and to be honest we thought that was more than enough.
Kyoto is an incredible city with so many things to do.
You can spend weeks and weeks there and still end up finding something new.
I just hope that this guide gave you a few ideas on where to start with planning your
trip.
And that is the end of our time here in Kyoto.
The bags are back on and we’re heading onto our next destination which is Hiroshima.
If you liked this video make sure you give it a thumbs and make sure you subscribe to
the channel too and I’ll see you next time.
Movie!
Thank you!