After waking up at the Hyatt Place Kyoto, we took the train down to Nara to spend the day. We saw many of the ancient capital city’s very tame deer and visited Todai-ji and Kasuga Taisha. While there was some fall foliage to be seen, it wasn’t nearly as good as what we’ve seen in Kyoto on this trip.
Continue reading “Oh Deer, a Day in Nara”Kitano Tenmangu and To-ji
We headed out in the morning by bus from the Hyatt Place Kyoto to Kitano Tenmangu, a Shinto shrine in northwestern Kyoto. After spending the morning there, we had lunch and visited To-ji, a Buddhist temple near Kyoto Station. We ended the day at Kyoto Station where we did some shopping and had dinner.
Continue reading “Kitano Tenmangu and To-ji”Higashiyama High and Low
We started out the morning by heading up to Shogunzuka Seiryuden from the Hyatt Place Kyoto where we have been staying. After enjoying the view and garden, we headed back down to have lunch at Sanjo, north of Gion. After an excellent meal, we visited Shoren-in and Chion-in before ending at Yasaka-jinja. We had a nice matcha snack in Gion before heading to dinner near Kyoto Station.
Continue reading “Higashiyama High and Low”Daytime Kiyomizu-dera and Evening Kodai-ji
We ended up waking up early at the Hyatt Place Kyoto and headed out to Kiyomizu-dera, hoping to beat the crowds. We were successful but the morning light wasn’t great due to the proximity of the mountains. We ended up visiting three times throughout the day hoping for better light! Later, in the afternoon, we walked over to Kodai-ji and stayed for their nighttime fall illumination event.
Continue reading “Daytime Kiyomizu-dera and Evening Kodai-ji”Koraku-en and the Meiji Jingu Inner Garden
After breakfast, we checked out of the Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo, dropped off our bags at Shinagawa Station, and headed to Koraku-en, a garden near Ueno. After walking through the garden, we had lunch nearby and then visited the Meiji Jingu‘s inner garden. We then had an afternoon snack in Omotesando before taking the Shinkansen to Kyoto where we checked into the Hyatt Place Kyoto.
Continue reading “Koraku-en and the Meiji Jingu Inner Garden”