As requested, here’s a list of some of our Kyoto recommendations!
WHERE TO STAY
Hotel Mume
If you’ve never been to Kyoto (and/or you don’t speak Japanese), you need to stay here. Mume is a cute 7-room boutique hotel with the most graciously helpful staff who will send you to the best restaurants & sights. In Kyoto, the language barrier can make it difficult to find & book reservations yourself (especially if you have any kind of food limitations). Hisako, the owner, and her staff go completely out of their way to make sure you have the best Kyoto experience possible. She even walked us to our restaurant one night. Reasonably priced, the room rate includes a nice breakfast and happy hour drinks. Book the flower room, and tell them I sent you.
Machiya Residence, Hatoba-an
This is an amazing newly renovated Japanese style two-story townhome. This group has a handful of other places as well (you’re not renting an apartment someone lives in). We stayed here for most of our trip this time. During a long trip it’s great to have the convenience of a kitchenette, washer, etc. The only drawback is that you’re on your own for making all of your plans, which, as I mentioned above, can be difficult.
Hyatt Kyoto
Beautiful large hotel, reasonably priced, with friendly staff. Not as personal as Mume but a very nice hotel if Mume is booked.
RESTAURANTS: our top favorites
Yata – beautiful place, upscale but lively atmosphere, great food, a la carte dinner menu.
Isoya – veggie-focused fun, hipster-ish place that feels more like a tapas bar. No english menu, but the veggies are all on display so you can point and get by. (not all vegetarian).
Okutan – our favorite tofu hot pot place (although we’ve been to many good ones). Go for lunch.
Gion Nanba – Our favorite kaiseki meal this trip. It’s tiny and quiet, but fun to sit at the counter and watch the chef artfully prepare your meal. There is no menu, but the chef was so kind to show us a cooking dictionary so he could communicate each course with us. There’s no meat here, but definitely fish.
RESTAURANTS: other great ones
lunch:
Inaseya – traditional Japanese, had a nice veggie lunch set.
Iyomata – little sushi place in the Nishiki Market. No english, but you can point to the plastic food to see sort of what you’re getting!
Hale – vegetarian place in the Nishiki Market, we sadly didn’t make it to but some Kyoto friends highly recommended it.
Ryōan-ji Yudofu – another tofu hot pot restaurant, located on the grounds of the Ryōan-ji temple. Beautiful view of the gardens.
dinner:
Gion Horibe – another quiet beautiful kaiseki meal. No english. Fish, no meat.
Manzara Gion – a la carte casual dinner place. Easy english menu.
Manzara Honten – similar to the one above, a little more casual.
Kukuzen – another kaiseki, a little bit fancier than the other two mentioned.
note: There are tons and tons of amazing restaurants, so this isn’t by any means a complete list. The only not-great food we had were at some places in Pontocho – I suggest only eating there if you have a good recommendation.
MARKETS & MORE
Nishiki Market – Kyoto’s street market, a must see.
Yaoichi – fancy organic grocery store, or as I liked to call it, “the Whole Foods of Kyoto.” Beyond groceries, they have prepared foods, a great bakery, a cafe on the top floor and a rooftop garden!
Daimaru – downstairs from the department store… tons of prepared food counters.
Ippodo – best matcha ice cream.
TEMPLES, SHRINES & SIGHTS:
there are so many, these are just a few we especially liked:
Fushimi Inari-Taisha
Ginkaku-ji
Kinkaku-Ji
Ryoan
Toji
Arashiyama Monkey Park & Bamboo Groves
Oh, my gosh….I just made these for lunch, and they are fabulous! I love the sweet corn vs the savory mushrooms. They had a few explosions, and I will check to see if I have a new burn scar by my eyebrow after lunch. I was thinking there was no way they’d be worth the explosions, but they are sooooo good. Thanks for sharing!
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Hi! I also live in Chicago. We’re going to Japan in June–wondering do you need reservations for all of these restaurants or did you just stumble in?
I love Kyoto, we’ve stayed in the city several times but haven’t tried any of the accommodation you mentioned here, great to add a few more to the list to add a new experience on future visits. Thanks.
This is a great list of places to eat and visit while in Kyoto! Thank you for this. This is definitely helping me plan my visit to Kyoto. There are some delicious sounding restaurants on this list!
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Thank you so much for your post! We are traveling to Japan in March to visit my brother and Kyoto is a must see! This post just made me even more excited then I already was! Did you stay at any Ryokan’s?
Excited to read your Kyoto recommendations! Kyoto is such an inspirational city.
Excellent tips, thank you! I love the look of Mume.
This post is IMMENSELY useful. Your photos are beautiful and I am now desperate to get to Kyoto. Thank you.
Looks like a very exciting trip. Love your detailed recommendations!!
Oh how I love Japan! Fushiri Inari was one of my favorite stops in Kyoto.
As a travel blogger, I must say, I prefer reading the travel post of other non-travel bloggers. It just seems so much more personal because I know it is your personal trip and not a sponsored trip. Thanks for the detailed itinerary. I hope to go to Kyoto soon!
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