Kyoto
Temples, gardens and wooden lanes in the old imperial capital.
Kyoto was Japan's capital for more than a thousand years, and it keeps the temples, shrines, gardens and geisha districts that the modern capital does not. It lies in a bowl of wooded hills, with the eastern Higashiyama slopes, the bamboo of Arashiyama to the west and the torii gates of Fushimi Inari to the south. Osaka's airports serve it.
Why go
For the concentration of beauty: the Golden Pavilion on its pond, the raked gravel of Ryoan-ji, the stone lanes of Gion at dusk, the vermilion tunnels of Fushimi Inari, and gardens designed centuries ago to change with the seasons.
And for the craft and the food: kaiseki dinners, tofu in a temple garden, the knife shops and tea houses of the covered market, and the ryokan where the room is tatami and the bath is cypress.
Highlights
What people go for, in no particular order.
01Fushimi Inari
Thousands of vermilion torii gates climbing the mountain in tunnels, with fox statues and small shrines along the way. Early morning or dusk for the quiet; the full loop is a few hours.
02Kinkaku-ji and Ryoan-ji
The gold-leafed pavilion reflected in its pond, and the rock garden of fifteen stones a short bus ride away, both in the north-west of the city.
03Higashiyama and Gion
The lanes of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka up to Kiyomizu-dera's wooden stage, the Yasaka pagoda, and Gion's tea houses along Hanamikoji, where geiko and maiko pass at dusk.
04Arashiyama
The bamboo grove, the Togetsukyo bridge over the river, the monkey park on the hill and the gardens of Tenryu-ji, on the western edge of the city.
05The Philosopher's Path and the north-east
A canal-side walk under cherry trees from Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion, past small temples to Nanzen-ji's great gate and aqueduct.
06Nishiki Market and the food
The covered market of pickles, sweets, fish and knives, and the restaurants around Pontocho alley and along the Kamo river, with terraces over the water in summer.
07Nara and Uji
The great Buddha and the deer park at Nara, less than an hour by train, and the tea town of Uji with the Byodo-in temple, on the way.
Areas
Where to base yourself, and what each area is like.
Gion and Higashiyama
Ryokan and machiya townhouses among the temples and the geisha district. Atmospheric, and busy by day.
Central Kyoto and Kawaramachi
Shopping, the market and the restaurants around Pontocho, central to buses and the subway.
Kyoto Station and the south
Hotels around the station for the trains to Osaka, Nara and Tokyo, with Fushimi Inari close by.
Arashiyama
Riverside ryokan on the western edge, quiet once the day visitors leave.
When to go: Kyoto
- SpringMarch – May
- Cherry blossom along the canals and in the temple gardens, usually in early April. The city fills; book far ahead.
- AutumnOctober – December
- Maples turning red in the gardens through November, with temple illuminations at night. The other peak, and to many the finer one.
- SummerJune – September
- Hot and humid, with the rainy season in June and the Gion Matsuri parades in July. Riverside dining and mountain temples for the shade.
- WinterJanuary and February
- Cold and clear, sometimes with snow on the Golden Pavilion, and the temples at their emptiest.
Getting there
Airports
Two airports in our search serve Kyoto. Distances are measured in a straight line.
- KIXKansai International · Osaka
- ITMItami International · Osaka
Distance from
- SINSingapore4,980 km
- BOMMumbai6,370 km
- DXBDubai7,600 km
- SYDSydney7,830 km
- LHRLondon9,490 km
- CDGParis9,590 km
- JFKNew York11,080 km
- JNBJohannesburg13,150 km
Getting around: Kyoto
Trains from Kansai airport reach Kyoto station in about an hour and a quarter; Itami is closer by limousine bus. Within the city, buses reach the temples, two subway lines cross the centre and private railways run to Arashiyama and Fushimi.
Bicycles suit the flat centre; the eastern hills are walked. A subway-and-bus one-day pass or an IC card covers most journeys, and taxis are polite, clean and easy to hail.
Practical facts
The country, its currency and languages, the time zone and the time there now.
- Country
- Japan
- Currency
- JPY · Japanese Yen
- Languages
- Japanese
- Time zone
- Japan Standard Time
- Local time now
- Calling code
- +81
The atlas
Kyoto in figures
The figures under this guide: the climate on modelled 2001–2020 averages, how far it is from the UAE, and the places around it.
Climate
The weather in Kyoto, month by month
- Jan6°
- Feb7°
- Mar11°
- Apr17°
- May22°
- Jun25°
- Jul29°
- Aug29°
- Sept26°
- Oct20°
- Nov14°
- Dec8°
- Mild to warm and dry
- Mild to warm, humid or showery
- Hot
- Cool
- Wet
- Cold
Good for going, on these averages: May and August.
Mean highs run from 6°C in January to 29°C in August, with about 1,657 mm of rain in a year.
These are modelled averages for 2001–2020; the seasons described above are our own reading of a typical year.
Month-by-month climate for KyotoModelled averages for an area about 50 km across, not a weather station's record: NASA POWER climatology, 2001–2020.
Airports
How far it is from the UAE
From DXBKyoto
7,600 km
9 hrs 40 mins · Estimate
From AUHKyoto
7,710 km
9 hrs 50 mins · Estimate
The great-circle distance, and a rough flying time: the distance at an average 850 km/h plus 45 minutes for take-off and landing. Real flights follow airways, meet headwinds and wait for traffic, so schedules differ.
On the map
Places near Kyoto
From the journal
Related reading
Destinations
When to see the cherry blossoms in Kyoto: the dates, the data and a plan
Thirty years of Japan Meteorological Agency records, six recent seasons and the city's own advice, for planning a spring trip to Kyoto from the UAE.
Updated 29 September 2026 · 8 min read
When to go
The best time to visit Japan: seasons, rainy season and typhoons
Late March to May and October to November suit most trips to Japan. The weather agency's averages, the rainy and typhoon seasons, and the holidays that fill the trains.
Updated 29 September 2026 · 11 min read
Plan this trip: Kyoto
Open the trip builder with Kyoto already filled in. Flights, stays and everything else are priced together in one quote, prepared by a person on our team.
