what are the places in kyoto worth to visit? look kyoto only have temples and they are look alike. kiyomizudera, fushimi Inari Tasha, ginkakuji, and arashimaya seems 1 day are enough

Any particular places to visit in Nara and Kibune/Kurama?

Thanks I might consider Reikanji or Honen-in.

Thanks!

Any other place to recommend to visit in Nara?

Thanks for recommending Ginkakuji, I actually thought of skipping both the silver and golden pavilions lol.

I would definitely do full day for Arahisyama whole day but not sure what to do in the evening. Maybe just stroll around Gion or kawaramachi shopping area..

I actually live right in the heart of Gion actually..

Thanks! I actually want to visit Tofukuji early in the morning when it opens as it is probably the most popular temple for autumn foliage viewing.

So crowded even when it is early in the morning! https://www.travelcaffeine.com/fall-colors-tofukuji-temple/

Also going to reserve another morning for Fushimi Inari due to the crowd

I would make sure I go to Tofukuji and Fushimi Inari during a weekday

yes..same flavour...can refer pic below
i saw apple flavour got box and packet as well
some place sold packet, some place sold only box
each place i go, they have their own unique kit kat flavour...can't buy it all




nara itself is very big
and plenty of shopping street in between that u can walk
it will took half of your day
when i'm on my fushimi inari >> uji >> nara day trip
i had to forego uji because scared can't make it and i was right...i left nara at 4.30PM at the end of the day

You can probably do the loop in Nara.
Kofukuji > Yoshikien > Todaiji > Kasuga Taisha > Naramachi

Ginkakuji should be nice in autumn, do it at the start of your northern Higashiyama route and make your way down to Nanzenji.

I'm planning to reach Fushimi ard 7 on a weekday, not super early I know but hopefully will not be too bad.

Oh and if you have a free evening, can check this out - https://flowers.naked.works/2019nijo-jo/

I already bought my tickets online haha!

This post has been edited by Monya Meow Meow: Oct 14 2019, 06:41 PM

I only did the usual loop in Nara - Todai-ji, Kasuga-taisha, Kofuku-ji, and of course the park itself is huge to walk.

I actually skipped Kinkaku-ji during my trip because it felt quite out of the way from everything else we wanted to do and also didn't want to crowd with the hordes of tour bus groups that will be there.

I just thought of something. Where are you on the 21st? Is it your day 6 in Nara?
Because every 21st each month, To-ji temple hosts a very big flea market. If you can somehow rearrange your itinerary a bit to maybe head to Kyoto on day 6 morning instead, you can go visit the flea market. You will love it - loads to see, eat and buy. Including visiting the temple, you can spend half a day there already.

As written on the box, that is a Kyoto Souvenir special edition. You probably can't get that anywhere outside Kyoto. And also more qty (12 vs 9pcs). Other than that its just a tourist trap. Where I went, the kitkats there aren't so touristy so most comes in packets like in ur pic. Those in boxed are really premium for a reason.
But hey, nothing screams "I was in Kyoto" like giving a Kyoto edition boxed kitkat.

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Oct 14 2019, 11:39 PM

All limited Edition are Tourist trap
In Japan no such thing is limited edition.
Personal Exp - more than 600 trip to Japan with 26 Year of exp

here are some tips for those who're travelling to kansai region

1. the immigration process only took 2-5 mins from the moment u queue, they have so many machine on standby
2. going out of japan are all using self check out machine like in KLIA2 for malaysian...but apply to all local and tourist
3. each place like kyoto, osaka, nara, kobe has their own confectionery(biscuit, cake..etc) so be sure to grab them if u see something u like...u can't get them if you left there....kit kat included
4. the seat availability for the sagano romantic train in their website is innacurate...it changes from time to time
5. if you're taking the bus from golden pavilion back to kyoto station, u can actually disembark at a bus stop in front of the kyoto university and visit the imperial palace and walk down toward kawaramachi(saves u a train ride to gion-shijo station from kyoto station)
6. visit fushimi inari by 7.30AM, it takes 1 hour to reach the top and 1 hour to go down....the moment you're half way down..you'll alot of people going up
7. the train in kansai region is more straight forward as compared to tokyo which is complicated
8. kobe is a huge area, i personally prefer u guys overnight if u wanna explore the whole place....it takes around 50mins to go there from namba station and back
i personally go kitano area, walk back down to chinatown...did not manage to visit harbourland
9. there are more family mart and lawson in kansai region than 7-11 unlike tokyo
10. u will never ever see a KFC in kansai region(at least i don't have yet) as compared to tokyo

This post has been edited by MR_alien: Oct 15 2019, 03:47 PM

Did you buy the 2 days kyoto bus & subway pass?
Or did you just use IC je?

Good stuff, thanks for sharing

This is gold!! Suggest sweet_pez to pin

Btw, I where's the best spot to take self portraits at Fushimi Inari? I read around halfway to the top. What about the bottom of Fushimi Inari? Not sure if we would climb all the way to the top

did not buy any pass at all since i can't even pick it up
and i don't travel more than 3 bus ride each day to make it break even
so i just use pasmo all the way

many places
there are multiple tori gates spot along the way up...got old and new
the one below when you're walking up is the most famous...especially the split

at the split...there will be a sign where it tells to to "use the right one only"
so the left one is completely empty...available for photo opportunities

Did you try going up the left way? Is it against the rules?

actually they both led to the same place
but they want to maintain left = down, right = up
so they put a banner on top that say "use the right one only"
so if u go early enough, many will use the left one to take picture since it's empty

I will be reaching Fushimi around 7am so that's good since I will have an option if the right side is crowded.
Any practical tips for the bamboo grove?

wow, good sharing , appreciate it

no
i did not went there early because i need to take the train ride to reach there 1st
it's beautiful though

thanks!