The More lures of Kyoto and beyond.

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Destination: Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture (Distance from Tokyo: 470km, approximately 294 miles)

Map →　http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/kyoto/index.html

Date: November, 2009　
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Kyoto is famous as a city of basin-shaped valley. It’s surrounded by the hills. Because of its confined environment, the city is hard to get fresh air from the outside over the hills. That makes Kyoto infamous for the sever weather. Very hot and sticky in the summer and f@#%ing freezing in the winter. So if you want to make your trip enjoyable there, spring or fall is preferable to visit.

The size of Kyoto city is said 827.90km² and it formulates a rectangle shape with the long north - south vertical line and short east – west horizontal one. You can bike around the whole city except some steep hilly areas (of course you can challenge them, though). Although the tourist spots are scattered, you can cover most of them in a couple of days.

But you might be attracted to many things of Kyoto, as I wrote before, due to the diversity they show. Ranging from visiting traditional sites to having a crazy fun night at a club. Or you might wanna extend your trip somewhere to the neighbor areas. My suggestion is that you’d better be specific of what to do in Kyoto before you go. It definitely helps you save your time and money.

I briefly list up the to-do things in Kyoto you might be interested in by category.

Visiting historic / traditional sites:

This would be the main feature of Kyoto trip many people wanna do. There are tons of those places in and around the city, as if they are like convenience stores on the streets. Some of them are disregarded by people, but still very important to the history. It’s very funny, huh?

My recommendation is to visit somewhere which has a beautiful garden, ancient architecture, or grate view of the city. They are still worth of checking out, even if you are not much interested in the historical or religious stuff.

Relishing the Kyoto food:

Koyo has had the very rich culture in terms of food. Many good dining out places are everywhere not only for Japanese cuisines, but for other ones from all over the world. If you have a friend or somebody who lives in Kyoto, that’ll be perfect. Ask your buddy to take you to a hidden or secret spot only the local people know. Trust me, they are much more reliable than the Michelin guide.

One of my favorites of Kyoto cuisine is Saba Sushi (mackerel sushi), even though I don’t eat sushi so often. This sushi is usually thicker than other sushi recipes, especially the mackerel part is very substantial. It cab be a great combination with white wine, Japanese sake, beer, actually with any type of booze.

Exploring the Kansai area (http://www.kansai-japan.net/en/):

If your itinerary isn’t tight, I recommend you to visit other areas nearby the city. Nara (http://narashikanko.jp/en/), as I mentioned before, is another historic town. Osaka (http://www.osaka-info.jp/en/) is the second biggest city in the country and you might feel more excitement or dynamism than Kyoto. Kobe (http://www.feel-kobe.jp/_en/), my most favorite city in the world, is a famous port city. They are all in one-day trip distance from Kyoto.

If you are able to hold 1 or 2 extra day, Kinosak (http://www.kinosaki-hotsprings.com/), famous onsen town, should not be missed. It takes a couple of hours to reach there by train, but is worth of visiting.


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Traveling Tips in Kyoto

- Getting there by:
Train; Shinkansen to Kyoto from Tokyo (140 minutes). JPY13,520 for a one-way ticket. (http://english.jr-central.co.jp/index.html). This is the regular fare offered by Central Japan Railway Company. You can get a bit cheaper ticket at around JPY 12,500 from a discount ticket shop.
If you don’t use Shinkansen, the price can be reduced to about half. But it requires you to ride on several non-rapid local trains all day long from Tokyo. The cheapest service would be “Seishun 18 ticket” offered by East Japan Railway Company →　http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/seishun18.html
Bus; There are many companies offering overnight bus services from Tokyo to the Kyoto area ( 7 hours – 8 hours). Approximately JPY7,000 for a round-trip ticket.
FYI → (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2366.html)
Car; Tomei & Meishin Expressway (Approximately7 hours) from central Tokyo.

- To get around the Kyoto area:
There shouldn’t be a big problem in going from one place to another by using the public transportation within the city limits. Even if you extend your trip to somewhere its suburb, trains and buses still work well.

- Accommodation in Kyoto:
Because of the high popularity as a tourist destination, there are various types of hotels in Kyoto. From luxury hotels to capsule hotels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel),,, you can find suitable one according to your needs and budget range.

FYI →　(http://www.agoda.com/asia/japan/kyoto.html?NoLanguageRedirect=1)

- Travel Expenses:
You might have to prepare JPY 5,000 – JPY 10,000 (excluding hotel charges) a day to enjoy your stay in Kyoto, but it totally depends on what you do. The highest burden of your cost is probably meals. Other expenses are not so high. For instance, admission fees to get into a historic site are usually less than JPY 1,000. So if you are happy with having your meals at a McDonalds or somewhere similar, you can cut down your expenditures a lot.

- Local Tourist Information:
Official Kyoto Travel Guide (http://www.kyoto.travel/)
Kyoto Travel Plans (http://www.kyoto-okoshiyasu.com/en/)
Kyoto Perfect Guide (http://www.kyotokanko.com/index.html )

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