Daitoku-ji
53 Murasakinodaitokujicho, Kita, Kyoto, 603-8231, Japan
Daitoku-ji is Kyoto's greatest temple that almost nobody visits.
Fushimi Sake District
Fushimi, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto
Fushimi has been brewing sake for 400 years, and the neighbourhood still smells like it — a sweet, yeasty fog that hangs in the air around the old wooden breweries lining the canal.
Gion District
Higashiyama, Higashiyama, Kyoto, Japan
Gion is where Kyoto keeps its most carefully preserved secret — the world of the geiko and maiko.
Heian Shrine
97 Nishitennocho, Okazaki, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto
Heian Shrine is a two-thirds-scale replica of the original Imperial Palace from 794, built in 1895 to celebrate Kyoto's 1,100th anniversary as capital.
Higashiyama District
Keihokuhosonocho Higashiyama, Ukyo, Kyoto, Japan
Higashiyama is the Kyoto you came to see — narrow stone-paved lanes climbing through a preserved Edo-period neighbourhood of wooden machiya townhouses, ceramic shops, tea houses, and temples.
Kenninji Temple
584 Komatsucho, Higashiyama, Kyoto, 605-0811, Japan
Kenninji is Kyoto's oldest Zen temple — founded in 1202 by the monk Eisai, who also introduced tea to Japan — and it sits right on the edge of Gion, hidden in plain sight while tourists walk past its walls on their way to spot geisha.
Kitano Tenmangū
Kamigyo, Kamigyo, Kyoto, Japan
Kitano Tenmangū is the shrine that every Japanese student visits before exams, because it's dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane — a 9th-century scholar-politician who was so brilliant that after his death he was deified as the god of learning.
Nishiki Market
Nishiki Market, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto
Nishiki Market has been called 'Kyoto's Kitchen' for 400 years, and the name isn't metaphorical — this is literally where Kyoto's restaurants and home cooks have been sourcing ingredients since the Edo period.
Philosopher's Path
Philosopher's Path, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto
The Philosopher's Path is a two-kilometre canal-side walk through northern Higashiyama that's named after Nishida Kitarō, Japan's most important modern philosopher, who used to walk this route daily while meditating on his way to Kyoto University.
Philosopher's Path (Tetsugaku no Michi)
Tetsugaku no Michi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto
The Philosopher's Path is Kyoto's most meditative walk — a 2-kilometre stone path along a canal lined with hundreds of cherry trees that connects Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion) in the north to Nanzen-ji temple in the south.
Pontocho Alley
Nakagyo, Nakagyo, Kyoto, Japan
Pontocho is a single narrow lane — barely wide enough for two people to pass — that runs for 600 metres between Shijō and Sanjō streets, parallel to the Kamo River.
Ryōan-ji
Ukyo, Ukyo, Kyoto, Japan
Ryōan-ji has the most famous rock garden in the world, and nobody knows what it means.
Yasaka Shrine
625 Gionmachi Kitagawa, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto
Yasaka Shrine guards the entrance to Gion like a spiritual bouncer, and it's been doing so since at least 656 AD.
Explore culture in Kyoto
GPS-guided narration at every landmark. Tap a spot on the map, hear the story. Every fact verified.