The next stop on our Japan trip was Kyoto (if you missed the first stop, check out the Tokyo post, which also talked about the JR Rail Pass). Our cousin had to go home and didn’t continue the trip with us, but had helped us a ton and we were ready to be on our own!
We took the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, and all of our local travel was train (the majority of it was covered with our JR Pass) and walking. One day we topped out at over 30,000 steps!
Sakura Terrace – The Gallery (Kyoto)
Sakura Terrace was convenient, modern, and the staff were all incredibly helpful! It was very close to the train station – we walked with our luggage and it was only 1.5 blocks I think.
The train station was near Kyoto tower and had a full mall with restaurants, shops, etc.
The woman who helped us check in (I wish I could remember her name!) was extremely helpful! We talked to her a couple of times during our stay for suggestions in the area and got great feedback.
The rooms were very very small (as is typical in Japan), and the bathroom was a little strange with seemingly the same vinyl on the floors, walls and ceiling.
The hotes does offer lots of freebies like a daily alcoholic drink and unlimited tea, laundry, and a nice public bath area for some salt scrubbing and relaxation (no photos allowed inside because you have to be naked!)! We did laundry there, but had to wait a long time because they only had a couple machines. We met nice people in the lounge near the laundry room, though, and enjoyed the conversation!
Note: they have some strange policies about not booking multiple rooms and how many people they will host in 1 room, etc. If you’re traveling with others, book separate rooms on your own – not in 1 reservation.
Yakitori Restaurant near hotel
About 3-5 blocks from the hotel (walking distance), there is a small Yakitori place. I don’t know the name of it and can’t find it on the map, but show this photo to the hotel and they’ll give you directions. This was one of our top 3 meals in all of Japan!
I repeat: was one of the best meals we had in all of our trip! Inexpensive, traditional and super yummy! They also had an English menu, which was nice.
Arashiyama Area
This area is most well known for it’s bamboo forest, Oi River, and of course, Mount Arashi (Arashiyama).
Kyoto Arashiyama Yosiya
Tofu dishes are a specialty of Kyoto, so we tried out Kyoto Arashiyama Yosiya, which had an abundance of tofu! It was delicious!
Rickshaw Ride
Arashiyama’s beautiful bamboo forest was on our must-see list, and while it’s a really touristy thing to do, I definitely recommend the Rickshaw ride! We did this after lunch.
My research showed that Ebisuya was a good company to use, so we did that. Our driver was named Kai and he was great! It’s crazy to see how strong they are – running up hills pulling the whole rickshaw and talking at the same time.
You’ll take a ride through the bamboo forest and make a couple stops along the way to get out, explore a bit and take photos.
The “drivers” know pictures are important to tourists and know how to get good ones. It’s a great chance to get non-selfie photos of you or your group on your own phone/camera without having to pay for them (just tip nicely). Note: Bring cash for the ride and for tip, or you’ll need to go to an ATM!
Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine
This is a famous shrine in Kyoto. It’s a great little hike up lots of stairs, but don’t worry, there’s a reward of good food on the street afterwards!
Many people say to go early in the morning to avoid crowds and get photos without people in them. We went late afternoon, just before sunset, and although it was busy, I am a very patient person when it comes to photos! Haha.
As promised, the reward:
Pug Café
A pug café sounds silly (and it kind of was), but my husband has history with a special pug that passed away a few years ago. We had heard a lot about these “cafés” in Japan. There are hedgehog cafés, cat cafés, owl cafés, etc., so we decided we had to try one and this is what we decided on.
We traveled by train and walked a ways to get to this house, which had dedicated its downstairs to their pugs and the café guests. Don’t let the name confuse you – there are no sandwiches in this café! They give you a canned drink and a few small packaged snacks.
The pugs were trained to do some funny things, and you could buy special treats to get their attention. It was a strange and unique but sort of fun thing to do. Of course I would NOT recommend if you’re at all allergic to dogs, or if you don’t like to be licked, sat on, climbed on, etc.
Here are some friends we met that paid for the special treat
Are we crazy?
Maybe a little…
Well, on that note… Kyoto was one of our favorite places of the entire trip – rich culture, friendly people, lots of things to do. If we were to do it over again, we would spend more time here in Kyoto!
Questions? Comments? Let me know!
XO,
J
