3-DAY KYOTO JAPAN TRAVEL ITINERARY 🇯🇵 things to do, places to eat, travel tips & hidden gems

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🇯🇵 Join me & K on a jam-packed 3-day Kyoto itinerary! ⛩️

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Tailor the viewing experience to your needs!

You can use the chapters below to watch the video is a *visual itinerary,* or watch each day from start to finish as a *vlog-style adventure,* for an example of what a day exploring magical Kyoto feels and looks like.

We were travelling from Osaka so no hotel recommendations in this one 🙁

If you have any questions about any of the places we went to in this video, chuck them in the comments down below!

We do not do private or group tours, however if you have any areas that you are curious about or want to know more about, we always welcome video ideas!

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*Itinerary:*
*Day 1*
(0:00) Kiyomizu-dera
📍 Kyoto-Kawaramachi station → (taxi, walk or City Bus 207) → Kiyomizu-dera
- before 8am, you can take a taxi up to the temple instead of walking up

(1:46) Ninenzaka & the famous pagoda (Hokan-ji)
📍Kiyomizu-dera → (walk through Ninenzaka) → pagoda
- beautiful hilly streets with preserved traiditonal Japanese houses, and a magestic pagoda towering overhead

(3:10) Coffee at Kefu Stand
- Starbucks is famous but very busy and it’s very hard to get a seat
- Kefu stand is nearby and just next to the pagoda and has great coffee

(6:43) Nishiki Market
📍(Ninenzaka → (walk, cross Kamogawa) → Nishiki Market
- Kyoto's oldest market, full of history, food stalls and souvenirs

(7:57) Ramen Sen-no-Kaze Kyoto
- after Nishiki Market, stop by a super accessible ramen restaurant

(8:56) B-side Label (souvenir idea)
- a great place to buy some very unique souvenirs

(9:41) (THIS IS) SHIZEN
- a fantastic viral store that makes ice cream shaped like bouquets of flowers! 💐

(11:40) Shabu-Shabu Tajima-ya
📍(THIS IS) SHIZEN → (walk 15 mins) → Shijo Kawaramachi

*Day 2*
(13:47) Enkouji Temple
📍Kyoto Station → City Bus 5 → Enkouji Temple
- a stunning temple with unforgettable viewing platform of the traditional Japanese garden

(16:18) Coffee Base NASHINOKI
📍Enkouji Temple → City Bus 3 → Coffee Base NASHINOKI
- a very unique coffee shop, located within a Kyoto temple
- this coffee shop makes its coffee using water from a famous Kyoto spring

(19:09) Tsukemen Yumenchu
📍Coffee Base NASHINOKI → City Bus 205 → Kyoto Staiton → train → Yamashina Station → walk → Tsukemen Yumenchu
- if you haven't tried tsukemen, you are missing out!
- no English menu

(20:58) Bishamondo Temple
📍Yamashina Station → walk → Bishamondo
- temple with beautiful autumn leaves
- ¥500 to enter the temple but you can explore a lot of the grounds for free
- Baikal Cafe right next to the temple

📍Yamashina Station → train → Kyoto Station → bus → Shijo-Kawaramachi

(23:41) Mandarake Kyoto branch
- super cool store selling second-hand manga and collectors items

(24:25) をにわ 河原町店
📍Shijo-Kawaramachi → walk → Pontocho
- izakaya with great views of the Kyoto cityscape
- however, it does not have an English menu

*Day 3*
(27:15) Ogawa Coffee - Kyoto Station Central Gate
- Ogawa Coffee provides beans to many cafes and coffee shops throughout Japan
- it also has longer opening hours than many other cafes (7am - 9pm)

(27:48)The Keihan & Eizan train lines
📍Kyoto Station (JR Line) → walk → Shichijo Station (Keihan Line)
- the Keihan line is very useful for accessing tourist attractions in Kyoto
- at the station, you will be able to download a map of the Keihan Line in English

(29:24) Hakuryu-en Garden
📍Shichijo Station → (Keihan Line train) → Demachiyanagi Station → (Eizan Line train) → Ninose Station → Hakuryu-en Garden
- a private garden not usually open to the public, except for special spring and autumn viewings
- viewings are capped at 100 people per day so it is recommended to book ahead

(31:23) Kifune Shrine
📍Hakuryu-en Garden → walk → Kibune-guchi Station → shuttle bus → Kifune Shrine
- a secluded shrine in the mountains of Northern Kyoto that has become very famous in the recent years, because of its beauty and serenity
- there are restaurants around the shrine, but plan ahead as they have irregular hours
(this is where we got stumped)

(34:06) CICON rooftop bar
📍Kibuneguchi Station → train → Mototanaka Station → City Bus 206 → Gojozaka
- rooftop bar serving delicious cocktails with views of Kyoto
- they have heaters and blankets during the colder months

[Sunny_in_Japan]

Sponsored by Airalo
Discount code: SUNNY (Limited to new users)
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[billbollins]

Photo number 2 is my fave. I loved it when you scared K, I laughed out loud! 🤣. Great vid as ever.

[CityWalkKUHD]

Very interesting and lots of nice pictures.

[newlifein]

Really cool video, were planning our Japan trip for 2025, and your video was insightful and thanks for sharing

[jindesu]

This brought back so many memories for our trip to Kyoto last year, it was such a great video!
The music during the Bishamondo segment gave such a cool vibe.
Also, photo#2 was best haha

[vinoiwnl]

amazing video as always Sunny! Will be using this as reference for our trip this March 🙏

[adn]

Another lovely video. I’m hoping to head to Kyoto next week and will use this as a guide.

I’m spending Christmas in Osaka this year and would love to know anywhere that offers a really Christmassy atmosphere (lights, markets etc. etc.).
My understanding is that Christmas isn’t hugely celebrated in Japan but I may be wrong.

[ですウイスキー大好き]

なかなか侘び寂びがわかる人やね。感心しました。
ようこそ、私の住む京都に。

[TexLemi]

Great video!
Photo No.2 is my favourite !

[ひさお-sh]

綺麗な紅葉だけど…
人混みが苦手だからな😅
サニーの動画で満足したよ
ホントにプロみたい🎉
今から寒くなるから風邪には気をつけて暖かくして寝なよ!

[kurofune.uragabay]

Enkouji's garden for example was just...🤯. It's one that I haven't visited yet, and I have been to quite a few, including less accessible ones like Genko-an's. Beautiful vlog, thanks guys 🙇‍♂


Japanese maple tree (A. Palmatum) is one of the most beautiful trees anywhere, but when autumn arrives and the leaves change colour it's game over, nothing like it. Add to it the most refined tradition of garden design and beautiful Japanese temples and you get Kyoto's gardens, the absolute top. (good thing they declared the old imperial capital a UNESCO world heritage site, I can't think of a place more deserving )

[HRG米花]

「赤がすごい赤い(The reds are so
生卵🥚苦手だったんですね💦梅干は克服しましたかw😎

[dalmatessakai]

I am loving your videos ! planning on visiting Japan in late 2025 .It will be my first visit to Japan . How stressful can it be travelling by myself with the obvious language barrier ? getting on the right train, getting reservation in japanese restaraunts ? or would you recommend joining a tour guide / package ? thank you

[georginaxuan]

I love your video! Could you do a vegan guide in Kyoto or Osaka?

[markl]

Such a great video, it’s amazing how much the colours have changed in the past three weeks. It looks so different. We came for three weeks at the end of October which I guess is a bit early. Would you suggest end of November to early December being better?

[JohnHare]

Definitely number 2! The framing is insane.

I am living vicariously through your autumn videos. I visited in late October, but wasn't lucky enough to see any change in colour.

[KimNguyen-skcl]

What dates was this filmed? We came in October but the leaves were all green

[avcbisu]

What days were this filmed? :) we'll be flying to Japan in three days!

[luquinhasleiva]

Wow the amount of people at Kiyomizu! I was there around 7 like 3 weeks ago and there was like a third of that, but also a third of red leaves haha. Barely.
Absolutely love Kamogawa river. We happened to see deers in the river a bit more north of the city.