3-Day Kyoto Travel Guide 🍁 | Top Spots & Tips

*3-DAY KYOTO ITINERARY BELOW* ⬇️ Sponsored by Airalo
Install the Airalo app here: https://try.airalo.com/sunny
Discount code: SUNNY (Limited to new users)
Coupon code expiration date: December 31, 2025
Airalo official YouTube channel: @airalo_ jp
#airalo #esim

==============================================================================

🇯🇵 Join me & K on a jam-packed 3-day Kyoto itinerary! ⛩️

==============================================================================
Tailor the viewing experience to your needs!

You can use the chapters below to watch the video is a *visual itinerary,* or watch each day from start to finish as a *vlog-style adventure,* for an example of what a day exploring magical Kyoto feels and looks like.

We were travelling from Osaka so no hotel recommendations in this one 🙁

If you have any questions about any of the places we went to in this video, chuck them in the comments down below!

We do not do private or group tours, however if you have any areas that you are curious about or want to know more about, we always welcome video ideas!

============================================================================

*Itinerary:*
*Day 1*
(0:00) Kiyomizu-dera
📍 Kyoto-Kawaramachi station → (taxi, walk or City Bus 207) → Kiyomizu-dera
- before 8am, you can take a taxi up to the temple instead of walking up

(1:46) Ninenzaka & the famous pagoda (Hokan-ji)
📍Kiyomizu-dera → (walk through Ninenzaka) → pagoda
- beautiful hilly streets with preserved traiditonal Japanese houses, and a magestic pagoda towering overhead

(3:10) Coffee at Kefu Stand
- Starbucks is famous but very busy and it’s very hard to get a seat
- Kefu stand is nearby and just next to the pagoda and has great coffee

(6:43) Nishiki Market
📍(Ninenzaka → (walk, cross Kamogawa) → Nishiki Market
- Kyoto's oldest market, full of history, food stalls and souvenirs

(7:57) Ramen Sen-no-Kaze Kyoto
- after Nishiki Market, stop by a super accessible ramen restaurant

(8:56) B-side Label (souvenir idea)
- a great place to buy some very unique souvenirs

(9:41) (THIS IS) SHIZEN
- a fantastic viral store that makes ice cream shaped like bouquets of flowers! 💐

(11:40) Shabu-Shabu Tajima-ya
📍(THIS IS) SHIZEN → (walk 15 mins) → Shijo Kawaramachi

*Day 2*
(13:47) Enkouji Temple
📍Kyoto Station → City Bus 5 → Enkouji Temple
- a stunning temple with unforgettable viewing platform of the traditional Japanese garden

(16:18) Coffee Base NASHINOKI
📍Enkouji Temple → City Bus 3 → Coffee Base NASHINOKI
- a very unique coffee shop, located within a Kyoto temple
- this coffee shop makes its coffee using water from a famous Kyoto spring
- please note: Nashinoki Shrine is FREE (¥5000 fee is for if you want to *pray* there)

(19:09) Tsukemen Yumenchu
📍Coffee Base NASHINOKI → City Bus 205 → Kyoto Staiton → train → Yamashina Station → walk → Tsukemen Yumenchu
- if you haven't tried tsukemen, you are missing out!
- no English menu

(20:58) Bishamondo Temple
📍Yamashina Station → walk → Bishamondo
- temple with beautiful autumn leaves
- ¥500 to enter the temple but you can explore a lot of the grounds for free
- Baikal Cafe right next to the temple

📍Yamashina Station → train → Kyoto Station → bus → Shijo-Kawaramachi

(23:41) Mandarake Kyoto branch
- super cool store selling second-hand manga and collectors items

(24:25) をにわ 河原町店
📍Shijo-Kawaramachi → walk → Pontocho
- izakaya with great views of the Kyoto cityscape
- however, it does not have an English menu
- here is the Google Maps link (the name is Japanese): https://maps.app.goo.gl/C2PYAtBarhf92hZP7?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

*Day 3*
(27:15) Ogawa Coffee - Kyoto Station Central Gate
- Ogawa Coffee provides beans to many cafes and coffee shops throughout Japan
- it also has longer opening hours than many other cafes (7am - 9pm)

(27:48)The Keihan & Eizan train lines
📍Kyoto Station (JR Line) → walk → Shichijo Station (Keihan Line)
- the Keihan line is very useful for accessing tourist attractions in Kyoto
- at the station, you will be able to download a map of the Keihan Line in English

(29:24) Hakuryu-en Garden
📍Shichijo Station → (Keihan Line train) → Demachiyanagi Station → (Eizan Line train) → Ninose Station → Hakuryu-en Garden
- a private garden not usually open to the public, except for special spring and autumn viewings
- viewings are capped at 100 people per day so it is recommended to book ahead

(31:23) Kifune Shrine
📍Hakuryu-en Garden → walk → Kibune-guchi Station → shuttle bus → Kifune Shrine
- a secluded shrine in the mountains of Northern Kyoto that has become very famous in the recent years, because of its beauty and serenity
- there are restaurants around the shrine, but plan ahead as they have irregular hours
(this is where we got stumped)

(34:06) CICON rooftop bar
📍Kibuneguchi Station → train → Mototanaka Station → City Bus 206 → Gojozaka
- rooftop bar serving delicious cocktails with views of Kyoto
- they have heaters and blankets during the colder months