Kyoto: Temples and Lots of Tourists

Everyone seems to love Kyoto and told us we would need more days here than in Tokyo, but although it’s a beautiful city, it was not our favorite, probably because it seemed to be over run with tourists. We were able to escape the crowds at least a bit, and still had a great time!

The typhoon that was supposed to hit Kyoto on the days we were there but at the last second it cut north, so we only had rain the first afternoon/evening when we arrived. Again we had some beautiful weather days to explore the city. Little did we know this would not be our last taste of typhoon adventures on this trip.

We started with an early morning visit to Fushimi-Inari temple. We arrived around 8am (gotta take advantage of those early mornings for the kids) and made a bee line for the thousands of tori gates behind the shrine. It seems 8am wasn’t quite early enough as it still hard to find an opportunity to take photos without tons of people around. The farther up we climbed, the easier it was, but still no small feat. We only went about 1/3-1/2 of the entire trail but it was enough to get a feel. Emmeline loved counting all the foxes at all the shrines. I think our total number was 155!

 

After we circled back to the main temple (by now gates so packed people couldn’t even walk), we decided to try and find the “secret” bamboo forest on the side of the gates. We had read about this on a blog as an alternative to the bamboo forest in Arashiyama, which was also become so packed with tourists you can barely walk, and was a 40 min train ride from where we were staying. And how pleasantly surprised we were! No one else there, and so peaceful with the bamboo swaying in the wind. I’m sure it’s not as long as the Arashiyama one, but it was enough for us, and anything we could do to avoid more tourists was great!

  

 


After naps at the hotel (maybe Cora’s first nap of the trip in her bed), we wandered around town and the Gion area. We were a bit disappointed by this area, we expected it to be bigger and more traditionally wooden. Instead it, and nearby Gion Corner, felt fake and purely for tourists (pretty much opposite of how we felt in Tokyo). Expensive restaurants and only tourists were on these streets.

 


Another blog find for the win was a free geisha show every night at the Hyatt Regency. We decided to check it out since geishas are hard to find in Kyoto now unless you pay a crazy amount of money for a dinner/show. It was perfect for our family. Two songs/dances, free champagne, and photo taking at the end. Perfect for the attention span of our girls!

 


On our last day in Kyoto we decided to rent bikes to see the city, and it was by far the best thing we did in Kyoto. Everyone loved it, and Nick and I loved the electric assist bikes. It seems locals in Kyoto bike everywhere, and we visited some parks where we were definitely the only tourists. The girls, especially Emmeline, loved climbing and playing for hours on end in beautiful weather!

 

 


While Cora was napping, Emmeline and I took a break from playground play to go check out a little garden we had ridden by earlier. It was so quiet and peaceful with only a handful of other people there. I imagine this is what all the shrines and temples used to be like in Kyoto, which is why people fell in love with it.

 







Before returning the bikes we enjoyed ice cream by the river complete with some rock throwing. Perfect end to a great day!

 


We did eat some amazing food in Kyoto. Our first night we found this fusion Japanese restaurant, and it was probably the best meal we had in all of Japan! We also ate the famous A5 Wagyu steak, and boy oh boy was it delicious. Everyone devoured it, and the girls enjoyed their blessings and toys the owners gave them. We also tried our first conveyor belt sushi restaurant here. It was a super local one, as it was near the geisha show away from the tourist area, but it made it that much more fun! Cora is officially a sushi fan (especially tuna), and Emmeline still loves miso soup and edamame the best!

 


All in all a great visit to Kyoto. Although we didn’t visit very many of the “famous, must-see” temples, I don’t feel like we missed out on much. I much preferred seeing the local side to Kyoto.