The last stop on our Japan Summer Honeymoon- Kyoto! We spent the most time here and used it as a hub for day trips to Osaka, Nara, and Hiroshima, and I have to say it was my favorite city. If you’re just dropping in, make sure to check out our general ‘summer in Japan’ travel tips in the trip intro post.
Don’t tell the other cities, but Kyoto was our favorite city. So much so that our new goal is to have an Airbnb there so we have an excuse to go every year. It felt like the best blend of traditional culture and creative growth. And it had the best coffee which we needed to cram everything in. If someone gave me a plane ticket right now, I’d be long gone to Kyoto. ✈
Day 1 | Hiroshima and Himeji Castle
Subway onigiri and pastries have become the default travel breakfast, and I honestly miss it. We took the bullet to Hiroshima for a morning tour, but the museum was under renovations (though they’re probably done by now). It was eye-opening to read personal stories of those affected “from the other side”. There were school children’s uniforms burned to ashes and white house tiles stained with black rain. The museum very much took the stance of teaching the inhumanities of war so that we could move forward in peace. They involve school children around Japan to make wish cranes and recycle they into paper clay. It was the heaviest day trip by far, but if we were going to experience Japan, we wanted to honor their history.
We had time for a quick lunch in Hiroshima and stopped at Nagata-ya for Okonomiyaki! We love seafood pancakes in the States and these ones were one of our favorite meals.
From Hiroshima, we hopped over to Himeji Castle. Neither of us knew much about Japanese architecture, but our tour guide was amazing! Japanese citizens volunteer to be free tour guides to practice their English. Take them up on it!! Our guide showed us how samurai built the castle (which was just a weapons storehouse!) to confuse enemies- illusion of how to get in, hidden floors, small triangular windows for shooters. The carpenters who worked on the castle hated wood knots so much, they cut them out and replaced with fun shapes like apples and stars! There is even still 1 original center beam that is 1000 yr old.
We made it back to Kyoto for tonkatsu at TONKATSU YAMANAKA (thank you Bon Appetit for the rec) for mouth-watering pork cutlets with the nicest elderly couple and cook.
Day 2 |Inari Gates, Tea Ceremony, Nishiki Market, Modern Kaiseki at Giro Giro Hitoshina
Ah, the famous vermilion gates. All the guides warned to get there early to get clear photos, so by 7 am we were there! What we somehow missed in all the guides was how long the Inari trail was. We only made it 2 out of 8 levels haha. From the marked second level though, there is a side street with souvenir vendor selling mini gates. The Inari gates run through a neighborhood and some of the house on the path have little, downstairs shops with different souvenirs! We found one that would write our names and date on the gate. It’s our favorite keepsake from the whole honeymoon. After all that non-hiking, we took a break at Vermillion cafe for freaking amazing ‘frozen cheese slice’ with sour cream & apricot jam.
My instance for cheesecake almost made us late to a tea ceremony demonstration. In my top 3 things I wanted out of this trip was 1) Go to the lavender fields 2) eat 3) watch a tea ceremony. The most recommend tea ceremony was at Camellia so we watched a student (she’s been practicing the art for 10 years!) prepare a drink, then whisked our own. We learned Nara is famous for tea whisks and made a mental note to grab one the next day.
The late afternoon was filled with ice cream and shop bopping. See those recs in the bottom TL;DR.
Kyoto is known for a traditional, multi-course meal called kaiseki. There is a food movement underway where younger chefs are pushing to modernize a traditionally formal occasion. Giro Giro Hitoshina is one of the rising stars and we were fortunate enough to get reservations. This was certainly our second foodie splurge (read about Yakumo Saryo in Tokyo) and it was a blast! It’s a very intimate restaurant, with patrons sitting right next to the open kitchen. Each course was delicious, and the chef passionately explained what everything was. It’s the kind of place you buy shots for the chef and are equally entertained by the staff and the food.
Day 3 | Bowing Deers in Nara and so. much. COFFEE
It’s Nara Day! The deer at Nara are truly fearless. Michael was instantly bombarded as soon as we bought deer crackers. He even got nipped! Walking a bit further, the deer get a lot less aggressive and we felt like Disney princess amongst the deer haha. Besides the deer, Nara has the giant Buddha. Our tour guide told us that one curl on Buddha’s head was the size of our heads!
Back in Kyoto, we grabbed coffee and legit Chai at Kurasu Kyoto and did more exploring/shopping before dinner. A few hours later, it was time for more coffee. I dragged Michael to Elephant Cafe to see the hype. Honestly, it was probably the only place we felt truly out of place. The coffee was amazing as everyone says, but the cheesecake was not as good as Vermilion’s or even the stations’ cheesecake in Osaka, and the barista was straight up rude. It feels horrible to post, but the atmosphere was very unwelcoming and I would have wanted to know before making it a point to get there.
Another place guides highly recommended was Ramen Sen No Kaze. Get there early people! We got in line 2 hours before closing and they only took 2 more parties after us for spots in line. The wait was 1.5 hours, so off we went for more coffee! This time at Drip & Drop for pre-dinner dessert and caffeine. Hey, these 10 hr walking sprees don’t sustain themselves. Drip & Drop was more our speed and felt refreshed before walking back to dinner.
Day 4 | Summer Festivals, Golden Pavilion, Bamboo Forest
The Gion Matsuri festival is THE Kyoto summertime festival. It’s a month-long parade in July that dates back to 869. 869! It was an easy morning of enjoying matcha lattes and ice cream while the 25m tall, wooden floats went by. It was amazing to see how they turned these old school, 2 story structure (with living trees!) with a series of bamboo beams and pure manpower.
The Golden Pavilion was next on the site seeing tour. It very picturesque, but a very quick trip. We couldn’t go in and the grounds like other shrines & temples and learned that it’s not even the original Pavilion! A novice monk burned it down in the 1400s, and the current pavilion was built in 1950. We tried to grab lunch at Shoraian for their famous tofu and ended up hiking in a yukata and long sleeved button down. Don’t let the photos fool ya- we were drenched in sweat. Made it to an overlook when we overshot the restaurant and turned around only to find that it was completely booked. Whoops. Instead, we hiked to Arishima Forest (bamboo forest). It was gorgeous, but a lot smaller than we expected. This day was full of ‘huh, was not expecting that’.
Rested at the hotel before heading to the market street and Sou-Sou (‘so-so’) to browse rows of gorgeous fabrics and prints. Ended up seeing the last bits of the Gion Matsuri march through the market.
We hadn’t had shabu-shabu yet, so we had dinner at Yamafuku. Freaking delicious. Flying fish stock with think pork slices, finely grated onions, and the best plum wine I’ve ever had (Aodani no Umeshu, Green Tea Umeshu). Mochi with sesame powder and black honey perfectly topped it off. Walking back to the hotel, we had the biggest surprise- we actually passed by a Geisha!!! Neither of us thought we’d actually get to see one.
Day 5 | Flea Market Finds and Osaka Festival
During the summer, Kitano Tenman-gū Shrine has one of the best flea markets. It’s a great mix of second hand, craftwork, and food. If you want to buy yukata or kimono, look off the tourist path and check out flea markets! I loaded up on wood spoons, mugs, and ceramic gifts for our parents, and small carved animal figurines. I regret not buying more 🙁 Quickly caught the bus back to the hotel for our Furoshiki class.
We learned how to wrap a box, 2 wine bottles, a single bottle, and make and adjustable bag. At the end they gave us our own Furoshiki wraps and a commemorative photo!
After relaxing a bit at our hotel, we hoped the train to Osaka and wandered up and down the food stalls at the festival. Osaka’s vibe is a lot more colorful than any other place we had been yet with a more diverse range of fashion and people. Firework show started, but it was so faraway from the river with buildings in the way, we decided to beat the crowd and head back.
Sites
Himeji Castle | This was the most clever use of architecture I’ve ever seen in a castle. They offer free tour guides and we can’t recommend them highly enough! Our guide pointed out the significance of the different shaped windows, how the elevation tricked invading samurai, and even made sure we got a picture together!
Shoren-in | Majestic Buddhist temple at the end of the Higashiyama route
Fushimi Inari Shrine, vermillion gates | 2 hour walking trail. Go in the early morning
Hiroshima Peace Museum | A gut-wrenching learning experience
Nara deer | Grab crackers further into the temple path to avoid a deer mob
Cafes, Coffee, and Snacks
% Arabica Kyoto They have multiple locations, but the one by the bamboo forest has an incredible view
Stardust | Coffee and pretty things
Elk Coffee | Japanese pancakes, coffee, & 3D latte art
Kurasu Kyoto | Coffee and coffee accessories shop. Get the Chai!
Drip drop coffee | Good spot for lunch or late late night coffee
Kanshundo Higashiten | Japanese Patissier and wagashi lessons
Elephant Factory Coffee| The freshest coffee you can get
Kagizen Yoshifusa Honten | traditional matcha + dessert
Vermilion | Their frozen cheesecake is summertime heaven
Food
Soba no mi Yoshimura | Soba
Yamafuku | Shabu-shabu and the nicest staff. Take their recommendations!
Ramen Sen no Kaze|Ramen and Gyozas (come early to reserve place)
Nishiki Market | fish, octopus skewers, dumplings and matcha ice cream. Class tourist market but nice
Shoraian | Tofu in the bamboo forest
Nagata-ya |Okonomiyaki in Hiroshima
Giro Giro Hitoshina| If you only have one place to eat in Kyoto, make it this one
Shopping
Wife & Husband | Pretty antique coffee shop
Aritsugu | Knives Store in Nishiki Market
Pass the Baton | Concept store
Today’s Special 😐 Cool shop dishes, plants, and accessories
Sfera | Like a Japanese Design Within Reach. What my dream house would be.
Kitano Tenman-gū Shrine flea market | Handcrafted goods and Kyoto famous ceramics
Graniph | Unique graphic tees shop
It was a bit difficult approaching this first “travel guide”- I could go on and on about each city but even felt that a cliff notes version of our internal was getting lengthy. Let me know if you like these travel guides, which parts you felt were useful, or even if you’re wondering why travel is even on a DIY lifestyle blog. I’d love to make more but want them to be useful for you!
A Summer Honeymoon Travel Guide to Japan Part 2: Hokkaido 
ICP: Caffe Streets Review 
Six Summer Sandals for Serious Travel + Comfort 
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