Kyoto’s Cultural & Scenic Trail

One of Kyoto’s most celebrated temples, best known for its massive wooden terrace that juts out over the hillside, offering sweeping views of the city.

This street is known for its wide variety of shops, local products, and different restaurants offering Asian and international cuisine.

This famed mochi shop in Nara is best known for its lightning-fast mochi-pounding demonstrations and freshly prepared yomogi (mugwort) mochi filled with red bean paste.

Chion-in Temple is the head temple of the Pure Land sect of Buddhism. It was originally founded in 1234 and later developed under the patronage of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Shintō shrine located in Kyoto’s Gion district. It’s historically significant and remains active with festivals and rituals.

One of the oldest shrines in Japan.

Kyoto’s most famous Shinto shrine, dedicated to Inari, the deity of rice, prosperity, and business.

Hōgon‑in is a sub‑temple of the Tenryū‑ji school in Arashiyama, Kyoto, with roots dating back to 1461. It is renowned for its refined Zen garden and its integration into the surrounding Arashiyama landscape, particularly using the wooded slopes as a borrowed backdrop.

Pedestrian street

Gion is a historic district in Kyoto’s Higashiyama ward, originally established as a place of lodging and entertainment for visitors to the nearby Yasaka Shrine. Over time, it became one of Japan’s most renowned geiko quarters, characterised by wooden merchant-houses, tea-houses, narrow alleys and lantern-lit evenings.

Public park in Kyoto’s Higashiyama district, Maruyama Park is famed for its seasonal natural beauty—especially cherry blossoms in spring and fall foliage later in the year.

This five-storey Buddhist pagoda is part of Hōkan‑ji Temple in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto. Standing about 46 meters tall.

Breathtaking pathway surrounded by towering bamboo stalks that sway gently with the wind.

This historic arcade stretches about 400 metres along Nishikikōji Street in central Kyoto and is packed with over a hundred shops specialising in food-related goods: fresh produce, seafood, pickles, sweets, cookware and snacks.

This temple serves both as a Buddhist site and a war-memorial. At its core is a striking 24-meter tall concrete statue of the Bodhisattva Kannon, erected in 1955. Beneath and around the statue are halls and memorials dedicated to the war dead and to peace.

Built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo period, Nijō Castle is one of Kyoto’s best-preserved examples of feudal-era architecture.

One of Nara’s most important Buddhist temples. It features iconic structures like the five-story pagoda and the Central Golden Hall. The temple complex showcases Nara’s rich Buddhist heritage and offers a glimpse into Japan’s ancient capital’s spiritual and political history.

One of Japan’s most historically significant and visually striking Buddhist temples

World Heritage Site as part of “Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto

Zen Buddhist temple celebrated for its striking dry-landscape rock garden.

Temple that belongs to the Jodo Sect of Buddhism also known as "Ensozan".