5-day itinerary

Kyoto

Most visitors to Kyoto turn back at the lower gates of Fushimi Inari — the upper mountain trail is almost always quiet and the view from the summit over the city is worth the hour it takes to climb. That's the starting point for this 5-day Kyoto itinerary: knowing where the crowds are and routing around them. The plan covers the bamboo grove in Arashiyama (before 8am, not after), a full day in Nara — 45 minutes by Kintetsu express, deer in the park, the enormous Tōdai-ji bronze Buddha — and a half-day in Uji, 20 minutes south, where the Byodo-in temple sits in its mirror pond and the matcha shops on the main street are genuinely exceptional. Book the Gion Kappa counter the moment you read this.