World Traveling Feet Kyoto Osaka Japan

At Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Another long-weekend in Japan? Don't mind if we do! March is our favorite time in Japan - especially being 2 years to the date since we met in Tokyo. It was Trisha's birthday weekend, and this time we wanted to explore Kyoto and Osaka. We highly recommend Kyoto as there is so much to see in the city. We couldn't get to it all, so I'm pretty confident we will be back someday soon! Read on below to hear about our adventures and delicious treats we enjoyed during our 4 night stay.

Out and About in Kyoto and Osaka

We arrived in Tokyo on Friday evening, checked into our hotel near Tokyo Train Station and headed towards our favorite Udon restaurant, Hanamaru Udon, for a quick, cheap, yummy dinner. Nothing like fresh noodles and warm soup to ease the jet lag after 11 hours of flying!

The next morning we walked to the train station to buy our high-speed train ticket to Kyoto. Tickets purchased, train track located, car # found on the very long train...and off we went sitting in our reserved seats. The trip took about 2 hours and was very pleasant passing the beautiful countryside. We even lucked out with an amazing glimpse of Mt. Fuji before the clouds came in!

Our first afternoon in Kyoto we checked into our Airbnb and then took the train out to Arashiyama.

We enjoyed a quick visit of the Tenryu-ji Zen Temple
Then walked down and through the breathtaking Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (a highlight and must-see for us!)
Lastly we took in the quaint town with a stroll down the main street - tasting Tofu skin on a stick (what this part of Japan is known for) and browsing the shops (finding a bag of seasoning that to this day we use on our eggs and rice and simple call "umami goodness"!).
Back in Kyoto, that night we walked over to Pontocho Alley to look for dinner (while also enjoying great photo ops in the tiny alley). We lucked into finding an amazing Isakaya style restaurant - Pontocho Suishin - where we splurged on the 8 course dinner. Scroll down to the Food & Drink section below for delicious photos!

**On mobile device, click any photo to enter gallery with captions

On our single full day in Kyoto it was cold and raining, but we still made the most of our excursions as we had a lot to cram into one day!

First, we had a taxi drop us off near Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple with several spots to enjoy throughout the area. The large temple at the top is really spectacular and the veranda is a great spot for sweeping views of the city.
After the temple we enjoyed a long stroll, and fun shopping down Matsubara-dori; a winding street filled with food and gift shops. You'll eventually turn into the Sanneizaka area where you continue down stairs and hills in the bustling pedestrian street, and finally turn onto more unique streets in the Ninenzaka area.
- Look out for the Starbucks wooden building - a funny blend of traditional Japanese culture and current day.
Continuing our very LONG walk, we turned onto Shijo dori street so we could see the famous Hanamikoji Street. A historic district known for kimono shops and geisha. We took a quick peak and photo, and then moved on.
Finally we were starving and exhausted so we decided to look for something to eat in the Food Hall of Marui Shopping Center. A soba noodle shop (Echigo Kanouya) ended up being the winner, on the top floor, with good food and nice views of the city.

After lunch we walked through the Nishiki Market - fighting the insane crowds of people to take a peak at the food vendor stalls along the way.
Lastly, to squeeze in our last must-see place in Kyoto; late in the afternoon we took the train out to Kinkaku-ji Buddhist temple. It's known for it's beautiful gold-leaf facade, and with the end of day sun setting and a light drizzle of rain - we relaxed into the beauty of the temple view from across the rain-drop pond.
We were so exhausted that evening and after a long-nap and pouring rain outside we prepared cup of noodles and a sip of sake in our room and called it an early night!

Today we were in transit between Kyoto and Osaka. We checked out of our Airbnb and found a luggage locker at Kyoto station to leave our suitcases while we explored Fushimi Inari.

The train arrived and it was a short walk over to the Fushimi-Inari Taisha entrance. We did little to no research on this shrine before visiting - other than knowing it was famous for the brightly colored orange gates. I think it was more impressive that way, so I'm not going to say much. But I will give you one tip - it's a lot of walking and steps! Wear the right shoes (thankfully we had our hiking shoes on) and be prepared for a good workout. It's a breathtaking place - enjoy!
When you get back down to the main entrance, turn down the street with the food vendors on it. We found some delicious treats here and had a great make-shift lunch. (Scroll down to the Food and Drink section for photos)
- Dumplings, fried tofu and sweet fish-shape filled pancakes.

After Fushimi-Inari we wanted to do a sake tasting, so we found a place nearby that we took a taxi to. It was a pretty deserted area (not really what we were expecting), but we went into the sake brewery and enjoyed the tour and tasting at Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum.
From there we walked to the train station and went back to Kyoto station to collect our bags. Very important note here! Kyoto station is HUGE! And when we took a different train line back we ended up in a completely different area of the station. Needless to say we walked around for quite a while until we finally retraced our steps back to the luggage lockers. WHEW!
Off to Osaka we went.

Our final time in Japan was spent in Osaka. We arrived in the evening, checked into our hotel and then found a spot to try the famous Okonomiyaki (Japanese style pancakes filled with meat and veggies of your choosing) at Yukari Sennichimae .
The next morning we visited Osaka Castle and finished with a lovely find of Brut Rose just outside the castle. A cheers to Trisha on her Birthday and the finish of another wonderful vacation in Japan!