stunning Japanese Garden

Travel Tips: Where to go in Japan on a short trip 

I lived in Kyoto, Japan for 6 years before I started my world travels. So people often ask me advice about what to do & see, where to go when they visit Japan. Most of them are making a short 1-2 week trip to the country.

I always advise everyone to simply go stay in Kyoto for their entire trip, especially if they have only 1-2 weeks.

here I am in kimono with a tea ceremony teacher

Admittedly, I’m biased towards Kyoto. It’s my favorite place in Japan. I know that city like the back of my hand after exploring every nook & cranny for six years. And I’m particularly enamored of traditional Japanese culture, temples and the beautiful nature found in Japan. Kyoto has all of those in abundance.

However, I have also spent time in Tokyo and traveled quite extensively around Japan. I’ve cycled around Hokkaido, about 2/3 of Honshu (Japan’s main island) and Awaji Island. I’ve taken over-night ferries, an uncountable number of long distance trains & buses, and have driven a rental car around parts of Kansai.

I spent a Christmas vacation in Okinawa, hiked up Beppu Volcano on Shikoku.

hiking in Japan North Alps

I climbed Mt Fuji, hiked the Japan North Alps, visited dozens of mountain temples & shrines, explored seaside towns and many famous spots around the country.

So I think I have a pretty broad perspective on Japan and rather objective advice. I’m not telling everyone to go to Kyoto simply because it happens to be my own personal favorite. In fact, it’s because I’ve explored the country so extensively that I still wholeheartedly recommend making a beeline to Kyoto and staying there for your entire trip. At least if you have only 1-2 weeks in Japan.

(Now if you have 1 month or more to explore the country, well then, that’s a different story. Hit me up for more advice.) But with only 1-2 weeks, you’re better off staying in Kyoto and exploring the area in depth.

Lash cycling in Japan

What I discovered from my own explorations of Japn is that it’s an incredibly beautiful country with an amazingly varied terrain. There are gorgeous rocky coastlines, jagged mountains ranges, vast rural areas full of lush rice fields and quaint villages, billowing volcanoes and cute fishing villages. There’s also mind-boggling Tokyo and serene Mt. Fuji.

But it takes a lot of time and money to visit any of those places. Although Japan is a small country it’s very long & narrow. Distances between major places are really far, travel times very long.

For example, from Tokyo to Kyoto it takes 8-10 hours by rapid train. By bullet train it’s a short 3 hours between the 2 cities, but that costs as much as flying. Transportation in Japan is very expensive.

So if you try visiting several places in Japan, you’re going to spend a lot of time and money on trains, flights or buses. If you only have 1-2 weeks, you don’t want to chew up several days sitting on public transportation and shell out hundreds of dollars on trains.

Speaking of costs, everything in Japan is expensive: food, lodging, transportation, entry fees, temples, activities. You name it, it’s expensive in Japan. By staying in one place, exploring that area in depth and making day trips, so can reduce your total travel costs a lot by cutting out long-distance transportation.

temple in KYoto

In my opinion, its much better to explore one area in depth, minimize time sitting on trains, and spend your money on Japan’s amazing cultural arts, delicious cuisines, gorgeous temples and other unique experiences.

From Kyoto you can experience almost everything Japan has to offer. That includes traditional arts & culture, Japanese cuisines, temples & shrines & palaces & castles & gardens, onsen (hot springs),  nature, traditional festivals and also Japan’s mind-boggling modern urban life.

traditional Japanese meal at a ryokan – Japanese inn

 In a nutshell, here’s what you’ll find in/around Kyoto:

-All aspects of traditional Japanese culture (see below for details)

-Mountains and forests

-onsen

-traditional cuisines and sweets

-sake factories

-modern urban life

-day trips from Kyoto

Kyoto is easy to reach and to get around: 

inside ultra-modern Kyoto Station

In addition to all it has to offer, Kyoto is a fairly small, compact city. It’s laid out on a grid and has an excellent transportation system of buses, subways, trains & taxis. It’s easy to navigate and fast to get from place to place. that means you’ll be able to experience a lot, even with only 1-2 weeks.

Kyoto is much less confusing, less intimidating, easier, faster and more efficient than trying to navigate Tokyo.

Kyoto is also cheaper and easier to reach than Tokyo. You can find cheap flights to Osaka’s Kansai International Airport (KIX), or at least significantly cheaper than flights to Tokyo. From KIX there are direct, rapid trains to Kyoto Station in central Kyoto, which take about one hour.

Arriving in Japan via KIX and Kyoto is much easier and less confusing than trying to get into sprawling Tokyo from Tokyo’s Narita Airport.

So, all in all, by heading directly to Kyoto and spending your whole vacation there, your trip to Japan will be much easier, less expensive, less intimidating and more culturally rewarding than heading to Tokyo and/or trying to travel all over the country.

If you’re not convinced yet, here are more details of what you’ll find in & around Kyoto:

Geisha spring dances in Kyoto

Traditional culture & arts:

– over 3000 temples & shrines, including most of Japan’s most famous ones

– Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle, 4 Imperial Palace residences

– 800-year-old sculpted gardens and bonsai

– Geisha walking on public streets

– arts: kimono & obi weaving, woodblock prints, paintings, tatami mats & blinds, enamelware, pottery

– traditional houses & neighborhoods

– major traditional festivals, one almost every month

– Kyoto cuisine and all other Japanese foods

– tea ceremony

– performing arts: Gieisha dances, bunraku (puppet theater) Noh, Kabuki , traditional music concerts

– world class museums

– homestay program: stay with a Japanese family for a night

famous Kinkakuji aka GoldenTemple – Kyoto

Japan has such refined, distinctive and extensive traditional arts & culture that if you miss them you’ve really missed a huge chunk of what Japan is, which is why it is recommended to find Japanese lessons online before visiting. The traditional culture is really what makes the country completely unique from any other country in the world, to a large extent anyhow. (Of course there’s also manga, Japan’s ultra modern cities & urban life. You can experience those in / around Kyoto, too.)

The best place to experience Japan’s traditional culture is Kyoto. Sure, you can get bits & pieces of it in Tokyo and a few other places, but Kyoto is the only place you can experience all of it.

In fact, Kyoto has so many cultural arts, temples, festivals and events going on throughout the year, that you’ll still have to pick & choose which ones to experience. Even in two weeks, you won’t have enough time for all of them.

However, you’ll be able to see & do an amazing amount in 1-2 week’s time because Kyoto is so compact.

Japanese Temple Garden in Kyoto

For nature, Kyoto offers: 

– Japan’s most famous gardens

– two rivers running through the city, lined by parks

– mountains surrounding the city, with hiking trails and city views

– mountains temples & shrines

– onsen (hot springs) within 1 hour of city

– bamboo forests, pine forests

– autumn leaves

– spring cherry blossoms and plum blossoms

In addition to the mind-boggling assortment of traditional culture, Kyoto is surprisingly full of nature, especially for a Japanese city. It rests at the foot of two mountain ranges, which surround the city on three sides. Two large rivers flow down through central Kyoto, lined by park lands and farm plots.

The Kyoto Imperial Palace sits right smack in the middle of of the city, surrounded by a vast public park filled with pine trees, grassy lawns, gardens and walkways. And many of Kyoto’s 3000+ temples & shrines have exquisite sculpted gardens.

Japanese modern urban life:

– Shijo shopping district

– Japan’s amazing Department stores

– modern youth culture

– night life

– nearby Osaka and Kobe cities

Kyoto is also a modern city where you can experience Japan’s unique urban life. For a taste of really big city life with tall closely-packed buildings, masses of neon signs and intense nightlife, Osaka is just 30 minutes away by train.

drinking sake in an onsen at Yoshino

Day trips from Kyoto include:

– Yoshino: onsen town on a mountain ridge

– sake factories just south of Kyoto in Fushimi – Inari

– Lake Biwa: Japan’s second largest lake, surrounded by vast rice fields & tiny villages

– Koya San: mountain top monastery, offering over night accommodation to guests

– Osaka : skyscrapers, hectic crowds and neon signs

– Kobe : another large city on the sea

– Nara : a smaller traditional city

Finally, it’s easy to make various day-trips from Kyoto to see completely other aspects of Japanese life. You can reach a mountain top onsen town, sake breweries, the huge modern cities of Osaka and Kobe, Japan’s second largest lake – Lake Biwa, open countrysides full of sweeping rice fields, and the Japan Sea on Honshu’s north coast, among others.

As if all that’s not enough, many of Kyoto’s best activities and attractions are free. That’s a handy way to cut down on your expenses. Check out my two posts on Free Things to do in Kyoto: part 1 here / part 2 here

Happy travels to Japan!

cheers, Lash

—————————————————————————————————————————————

You might also enjoy:

MY INTERVIEW ABOUT JAPAN ON ORDINARY TRAVELER New Years Eve in New York City and Kyoto, Japan TRAVEL TIP- MONEY SAVING TIPS FOR TRAVELING IN MALAYSIA TRAVEL TIPS: GUIDE TO DAY TRIP AROUND CHARMING PENANG ISLAND