Kyoto

Fushimi

Fushimi Inari Taisha

Thousands of vermilion torii gates climb the wooded Mount Inari behind the shrine. The crowd thins after the first gate tunnels: walk up to the Yotsutsuji crossroads for the view over the city, or on to the summit loop.

Morning · ~120 min

Higashiyama

Kiyomizu-dera

The wooden stage of the main hall juts out over the hillside with the whole city below. It opens at 6:00: come at opening, before the lanes below fill, then walk down through Sannenzaka.

Morning · ~75 min

Saga-Arashiyama

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

A path between walls of giant bamboo, from Tenryū-ji's north gate towards Ōkōchi Sansō. Go at first light: by mid-morning it is shoulder to shoulder. Do not touch or carve the bamboo.

Morning · ~30 min

Gion

Gion and Hanami-kōji

The teahouse quarter south of Shijō-dōri, lanterns and latticed facades along Hanami-kōji. Walk the public street and let it be a neighbourhood: the district asks visitors not to stop, touch or photograph geiko and maiko without consent, and its private side alleys are closed to through-walking.

Evening · ~60 min

Sakyō

Ginkaku-ji

The Silver Pavilion's garden: a raked sand sea, a sand cone and a moss hillside path with a view over the city. Start the Philosopher's Path here and walk south to Nanzen-ji.

Morning · ~60 min · ¥1000 per ticket

Nakagyō

Nishiki Market

A covered street of about five blocks of pickles, tofu, fish, knives and sweets that Kyoto kitchens shop in. The traders ask you not to eat while walking: eat at or inside the shop where you bought.

Morning · ~60 min

Sakaimachi-Sanjō

Inoda Coffee (main shop)

Kyoto's classic coffee house, a local breakfast institution in an old townhouse. Start a central day here before Nishiki Market, a ten-minute walk away.

Morning · ~45 min

Saga-Arashiyama

Togetsu-kyō Bridge

The long wooden-railed bridge over the Katsura river with the forested Arashiyama hills behind. Walk across at the end of the day, when the day-trippers head for the station.

Late afternoon, and in mid-November for the autumn colour on the hill · from The south bank upstream of the bridge, bridge and hill in one frame

Evening · ~30 min

Kita

Daitoku-ji

A walled Zen precinct of sub-temples and gravel lanes. The main temple is rarely open, but Daisen-in, Ryōgen-in and Zuihō-in open all year for their small dry gardens; check each one's hours at its gate.

Afternoon · ~90 min

Ukyō

Ryōan-ji

Fifteen stones on raked gravel, seen from the veranda of the abbot's hall. Sit for a while; then walk the pond garden around it.

Morning · ~45 min · ¥600 per ticket

Saga-Arashiyama

Tenryū-ji

A World Heritage Zen temple whose 14th-century pond garden borrows the Arashiyama hills behind it. Its north gate opens straight onto the bamboo grove: see both in one early walk.

Morning · ~60 min · ¥500 per ticket

Gion

Yasaka Shrine

Gion's own shrine, open day and night at the top of Shijō-dōri. Pass through after dinner, when the lanterns of the dance stage are lit, then walk into Maruyama Park or down to Gion.

Evening · ~30 min

Sakyō

Philosopher's Path

A two-kilometre stone path along a cherry-lined canal between Ginkaku-ji and the Nanzen-ji area, with small temples and cafés off it. Best in early April and in November; pleasant any morning.

Morning · ~60 min

Sakyō

Nanzen-ji

A great Zen compound under the hills: climb the Sanmon gate for the view, see the Hōjō's rock garden, and walk under the brick aqueduct of the Lake Biwa canal behind it.

Afternoon · ~75 min · ¥500–600 per ticket

Nakagyō

Pontochō

A lantern-lit alley one person wide between Shijō and Sanjō, restaurants on one side backing onto the Kamo river. Come for dinner; in the warm months many open river terraces (yuka).

Evening · ~90 min

Higashiyama

Kyoto National Museum

Kyoto's treasure house: Buddhist sculpture, screens, ceramics and calligraphy in the Heisei Chishinkan wing. Open late on Fridays; during special exhibitions the collection galleries change, so check what is on.

Afternoon · ~120 min · ¥700 per ticket