Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
Ukyo, Ukyo, Kyoto, Japan
The bamboo grove at Arashiyama is a corridor of towering green stalks that rise 20 metres on both sides of a curving path, creating an effect that's part cathedral, part science fiction.
Fushimi Inari Taisha
68 Fukakusa Yabunouchicho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto
Ten thousand vermillion torii gates march up a mountainside in an unbroken tunnel of red, and the further you walk, the fewer people there are, until it's just you and the mountain and the foxes.
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.
Kyoto Imperial Palace
3 Kyotogyoen, Kamigyo, Kyoto, 602-0881, Japan
The Kyoto Imperial Palace was the Emperor's residence for over a thousand years — from 794 until the capital moved to Tokyo in 1869 — and it sits in the centre of the city like a quiet eye in a storm.
Monkey Park Iwatayama
Nishikyo, Nishikyo, Kyoto, Japan
The concept is simple: you climb a hill, and at the top there are 120 wild Japanese macaques who are completely unbothered by your existence.
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.
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 free in Kyoto
GPS-guided narration at every landmark. Tap a spot on the map, hear the story. Every fact verified.