City guide

Things to do in Kyoto 京都

418 places our team picked in Kyoto, by category.

• Museum 13
• Shrine 16
• Temple 49
• Castle & Palace 7
• Landmark & Tower 2
• Statue & Monument 2
• Bridge 9
• Vista & View 6
• Photo Spot 20
• Camera Store 6
• Park 14
• Garden 6
• Nature & Hike 2
• Beach & Waterfront 3
• Theme Park 2
• Zoo & Aquarium 3
• Pokémon & Character Store 3
• Anime & Otaku 1
• Activities & Experiences 9
• Movie Theaters 2
• Shows & Entertainment 8
• Live Music & Karaoke 4
• Arcade & Games 1
• Sports & Sumo 2
• Mall & Department Store 5
• Unique Store 21
• Shopping Street 9
• Market 3
• Restaurant 15
• Breakfast & Brunch 1
• Ramen & Noodles 34
• Sushi & Seafood 16
• Café & Sweets 22
• Izakaya 3
• Bars & Nightlife 17
• Onsen & Sento 5
• Stay 28
• Local Secret 7
• Transit Hub 6
• Luggage Storage 29
• Tourist Info 7

Top sights

• Keage InclinePhoto Spot · Okazaki / Keage — A disused 582 m inclined railway that once hauled boats up and down the Lake Biwa Canal, now a tunnel of cherry blossom you can walk along…
• Uzumasa Kyoto Village (Toei Kyoto Studio Park)Theme Park · Uzumasa / Ukyo — Toei's working samurai-film backlot turned theme park, relaunched in March 2026 as an "Edo-period Kyoto" immersive park with costumed…
• Ujigami ShrineShrine · Uji — A small, quiet World Heritage shrine across the river from Byodo-in whose main hall, built around 1060, is the oldest surviving shrine…
• Fushimi Inari TaishaShrine · Fushimi — Head shrine of the 30,000 Inari shrines of Japan, with roughly 10,000 vermilion torii forming tunnels that wind up sacred Mt. Inari, open…
• Sagano Onsen Tenzan-no-yuOnsen & Sento · Saga / Uzumasa — A modern day-spa onsen near Arashiyama with 100% own-source hot spring water, hinoki-scented Japanese-style buildings, outdoor rock baths…
• To-jiTemple · Minami Ward / Kyoto Station south — The temple with Japan's tallest wooden pagoda, a 55 m five-storey landmark seen from the bullet train, and a 3D mandala of 21 statues in…
• Tenryu-jiTemple · Arashiyama — Arashiyama's head Zen temple, with Muso Soseki's 14th-century pond garden that borrows the forested slopes of Arashiyama as its backdrop,…
• SanjusangendoTemple · Higashiyama-Shichijo — A 120 m long wooden hall holding 1,001 life-size gilded statues of the thousand-armed Kannon, ranked in rows like a golden army, guarded…
• Kyoto Museum of Crafts and DesignMuseum · Okazaki — A free basement museum in Okazaki showcasing 74 of Kyoto's traditional crafts, from Nishijin weaving to Kiyomizu ware, with live artisan…
• Heian ShrineShrine · Okazaki — A grand 1895 replica of the Heian imperial palace in vivid vermilion and green, fronted by one of Japan's largest torii, with a stroll…
• Daikaku-jiTemple · Saga / Arashiyama — A former imperial villa-temple in Saga with vermilion corridors, painted sliding doors and Osawa-no-ike, Japan's oldest surviving garden…
• Kozan-jiTemple · Takao / Ukyo — A mountain temple in the Takao forests that owns the Choju-giga, the 12th-century scrolls of frolicking rabbits and frogs often called…