Kid in Kansai: How to nail Kansai with a toddler in tow (Part 5)

Onward to Kyoto!

Depending on where your hotel is, you can take a train to Kyoto Station, or Sanjo which is the City Centre. Our hotel, Kyoto Royal Hotel & Spa, was a five to ten minute walk from Sanjo station.

In Kyoto, nearly all the sights are accessible by buses, rather than subways, which makes the One-Day Bus Pass invaluable at 500 yen (unlimited rides for a day), since each bus ride, regardless of distance, is already 230 yen.

The hotel concierge had a very handy map detailing all the major sights and the buses which serve them, plus where the six bus stops around our hotel were.

Kyoto's sights can be roughly divided into Western (Arashiyama), Northern, Eastern (Higashiyama), Southern and Central.

We decided to tackle the Western Arashiyama area and Northern in one afternoon.

After a 20-minute bus ride, we reached the Arashiyama area where Tenryuji and the Giant bamboo groves were housed.

Upon embarking at Arashiyama, you will see a very picturesque sight of a river and bridge, with the mountains as a backdrop.

You can buy a ticket to enter Tenryuji, and the north exit leads directly into the giant bamboo grove - a tranquil and beautiful forest of bamboo three or four times the height of an adult.

Arashiyama: Tenryuji and the giant bamboo grove

Kid alert: This place is generally nice for kids, especially the giant bamboo grove. A lot of walking is needed though, so be prepared to carry the little one quite a bit here.

Kinkakuji (not to be confused with Ginkakuji) is a lovely gold-covered temple sitting atop of a lake amidst a landscaped garden. We reached there after taking two buses from Tenryuji (very tiring!), but the view was worth it. 

Kinkakuji, resplendent in all its golden glory

Kid alert: Nothing much for the kid to do here but ours was entertained by a series of selfies with the temple as the backdrop. The ubiquitous pebbles were once again here thankfully.

Not to forget.. the meals! A very good katsu-don place can be found at Sanjo Dori, a pedestrian-only covered shopping street. It's sort of next to the Lipton Cafe - sort of, because you can see a poster with katsu on it, and next to it is a narrow alley that leads to the restaurant itself. The sets come with free flow shredded cabbage, barley rice and miso soup. Kiddy sets are also available and come with a cute kiddy gift. Perfect for young and old!

Fantastic katsudon at very reasonable prices

The complete itinerary:
Day 1: Osaka (Kuromon Market, Osaka Castle, Dotonbori)
Day 2: Osaka (Shitennoji, Sumiyoshi Taisha)
Day 3: Kobe, Himeji (Himeji Castle, Mount Rokko, Harbourland)
Day 4: Nara (Todaiji, Kohfukuji, Nara Park)
Day 5: Kyoto (Arashiyama, Tenryuji, Bamboo Grove, Kinkakuji)
Day 6: Kyoto (Kiyomizudera, Sannenzakai, Ninenzakai, Ishibe Koji, Maruyama Park, Shoren-in, Chion-in, Nanzenji, Path of Philosophy, Ginkakuji)
Day 7: Inari, Uji (Fushimi Inari Taisha, Byodoin Temple, Kaiseki)
Day 8 & 9: Kyoto (Nijo Castle, Kyoto Station, Pontocho, Gion)