In November, I had the pleasure of reacquainting myself with Kyoto over the course of a bit more than two days. Though it was a couple of weeks before the famous fall foliage season really kicked into gear, the trees were already starting to turn red and orange and we lucked out with mostly sunny weather. The highlights of the weekend in Kyoto were too many to count but among them were just wandering around in the picturesque neighborhood of Gion, as well as our spectacular ryokan, Shiraume, which you can read about here, and walks adjacent to the Silver Pavilion and the Bamboo Forest. If you have only two days in Kyoto, here is what you should focus on.
The Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji Temple)
Once we dragged ourselves out of our wonderful neighborhood of Gion, the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji Temple) had just opened and was not yet overrun by tourists so we had the place almost entirely to ourselves. While we had the bright idea to go there right as it opened at 8:30, we forgot to bring cash with us. It must be some sort of curse that whenever you actually need a convenience store there is not one to be found and when you aren’t desperate, there are four on every street intersection. This was the case for us as the closest ATM was in a Family Mart almost half a mile away, incredibly enough!
Still, once we returned with cash in hand, the tour buses hadn’t yet arrived and the side trip hadn’t set us back that much. While the pavilion itself, built by an arts- and culture-loving shogun named Ashikaga Yoshimasa in the 1400s, is a beautiful landmark, the peaceful and immaculately maintained garden was the aspect that impressed me most.
Path of Philosophy to Eikandocho Temple
After the Silver Pavillion, we picked up the Path of Philosophy (also sometimes called the Philosopher’s Path) and walked along it until we got to the Eikandocho Temple, another open-air peaceful temple complex.
The Path of Philosophy was a charming walk along a small river with forested neighborhoods on one side and small shops and cafés on the other. My advice: disregard whatever time it is or how hungry you may or may not be, grab a matcha ice cream cone from one of the many spots selling them and wander slowly along the river. You may see old men sitting on benches playing the flute, or a pair of friends sailing little boats made of leaves and flowers down the river. With little to no traffic and the quaintest views one could possibly ask for, the Path of Philosophy was easily one of the most enjoyable aspects of Kyoto, even more so than some of the temples. If you are hard pressed for times during your two days in Kyoto and you’ve already been to a temple or two, make the Path of Philosophy a priority.
The Bamboo Forest at Arashiyama
Of all the famous attractions in Kyoto, the farthest afield is likely the famous Bamboo Forest out in Arashimaya. While on the map it’s about six miles, as the crow flies, from Gion, it’s a very quick and easy subway ride. You don’t even really need to pay attention to the stops, you can just get off when every one else does. And that, perhaps, helps to summarize the problem with the Bamboo Forest. It was simply overrun and too crowded to enjoy. Large tour groups were marching through, everyone wanted to stop for a selfie, which blocked the path, and unrelatedly but still annoyingly, there were leaf blowers going at full strength the entire time we were walking through which really ruined the atmosphere.
Our wonderful host at the Ryokan where we stayed advised us to go to a place called the “secret bamboo forest” but unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to get there as it was about a mile and a half away and we had a train to catch. Still, we walked in that direction and almost got there. Similar to the Path of Philosophy walk overshadowing the Eikandocho Temple, walking around the area outside the Bamboo Forest was significantly more enjoyable than the main attraction and next time I’ll be in Kyoto next month, I plan to spend more time exploring the surroundings and will skip the Bamboo Forest itself.
Book cheap flights with Delta SkyMiles to or from Osaka Kansai Airport (KIX)
If you plan on visiting Kyoto on your Japan trip, it could make sense to leave from Osaka Kansai airport (KIX) which is just about a 40-minute train ride from Kyoto. While Kyoto seems to be busier than ever, flights to KIX are not as full as airlines would like them to be. Cash fares are cheaper, sometimes by thousands of dollars, than flights to and from Tokyo and decent mileage award fares in and out of KIX are plentiful and reasonable in business and economy.
People love to moan about their “Skypesos” but even Delta SkyMiles has significantly reduced mileage award costs to and from KIX. I recently booked a flight out of Osaka Kansai back to Charles de Gaulle on Air France’s wonderful new Boeing 777 product for 80,000 miles. What’s even better is that the taxes and surcharges are eminently reasonable at just 4,100 Yen ($28.9).
Air France/KLM’s FlyingBlue frequent flyer program also often features Promo fares to KIX. These days, you can fly one way in Economy with either Air France or KLM for just 18,750 miles!You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to your FlyingBlue account at a 1:1 ratio and the signup bonus (60,000 points) from the Ultimate Rewards card could buy you a roundtrip flight between CDG/AMS and KIX with more than 10,000 miles to spare!
Or you can splurge and book yourself a flight in business. You can read about my business class flight with KLM from Amsterdam to Osaka here.