Kyoto

Kyoto is of course a must for all tourists visiting Japan because of the history and sheer volume of beautiful places to visit. But be warned: it is a typical modern Japanese concrete city with nice things in it and it can be a nightmare if you go peak season. The train station looks like something out of Star Wars and you look at the skyline and see a fusion of old beautiful with modern teaming concrete. I suppose the contrast works well once you are in a peaceful traditional Japanese garden sipping green tea. The gold temple, silver temple and Philosophers' Walk are excellent. Gion is great to see the geisha, but foreigners have been warned to ...  Read the complete review

Only half an hour from Osaka by bullet train, but virtually joined on (to give an extent of how big Osaka is), is Kyoto - surely the most popular tourist destination in Japan. Kyoto itself is a bit of a contradiction. It's crawling with tourists, yet you are only a moment away from finding a quiet spot, sectioned from anywhere. There are many modern buildings and development, yet all of it's history has been left undisturbed. After spending so much time in the company of quiet natured, charming Japanese people for the past 5 or 6 days, it was slightly off-putting to be surrounded by Hawaiian shirt wearing tourists again, who each took it in turns ...  Read the complete review

Warning: Many of you may want to scan this review, as it is far too long. Kyoto has a great deal to see though... __________________________________________________________ Kyoto gives its name to possibly Japan's most historically and culturally rich prefecture (Kyoto-ken), and is contained within the Kansai region. The city itself which was then known as Heian-kyo, was used as the country's capital before Tokyo and shares this privilege with nearby Nara which predates it. Along with Osaka, Nara is also well worth a visit if you are interested in learning a little about Japan's history or seeing many of its most beautiful shrines and ...  Read the complete review

I have visited Kyoto on two occasions and each time I cannot find enough time in the day to visit as much as I would like. Kyoto is situated about 2 and 15 minutes away from Tokyo by Shinkansen (Bullet train) and about 30 minutes away from Osaka or 75 minutes from Kansai (Osaka’s main airport). Upon arriving in Kyoto you cant help but notice that this city is not like other cities such as Tokyo as there are very few high rise buildings. This is due to the being a covenant on all land in Kyoto that prohibits the building of structures over 10 stories. (This however is no longer in force). This was originally done so that huge buildings, towering into the ...  Read the complete review