In mid-March, me and my younger brother set out on a trip of a lifetime to explore Japan. From Tokyo, we took the shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto – one of the most popular sights in the whole of Japan. We expected it would be busy on the charming streets of the old town geisha district in Gion and all around the most popular sights but nothing can prepare you for the overcrowded landmarks. For someone who loves to take time to admire the architecture and details of everyday life, this was quite unenjoyable.
We quickly learned that Kyoto has so much more to offer than the hyped Instagrammable locations, sometimes just a corner away from the popular sights. We got totally lost in the narrow streets, exploring Kyoto at a much slower pace and really taking in the culture.
There is definitely more than one way to travel and explore Kyoto. You can follow the crowd and wait in line to take those photos or you can venture away and find your own little gems – there were plentiful! In this video, I share some of the tourist traps, my recommendations in Kyoto and my preferred method to really embrace this incredible city.
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Timestamps
0:00 Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto
0:47 Kyoto’s first impressions
8:59 How NOT to travel Kyoto
18:07 Avoid tourist traps in Kyoto
22:40 Kyoto recommendations
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after our initial three nights in Tokyo we
headed off to Kyoto we took the bullet train
the shinkansen which is a good experience
on its own honestly the most challenging
thing is navigating the stations that
can be very busy at times other than
that the shinkansen is very comfortable and
obviously very fast but I wouldn’t say it was
mindblowing experience or anything out of
the usual we did enjoy it and it gets you
fast from A to B but it’s also really
expensive a 2hour trip to Kyo was about
€90 Kyoto itself is one of those destinations that
you read and hear so much about that get really
really hyped so I had probably the highest
expectations before visiting and I have to
say even though it was raining and it was really
really cold when we arrived there I was initially
very very excited and embracing everything
kich welcome from welcome welcome hello from
Kyo after we checked in to our hotel we went
straight to the busiest Market that we’ve ever
been to and we just went into like full-on
let’s explore Kyoto mode now I don’t know if
it was because it was Sunday afternoon
but the market was so busy it was very
hard to move it was very hard to actually
see what the Wenders were selling and to
actually stop and like try stuff so initially
we actually didn’t try anything we just like
strolled along and said okay let’s just find
a place where we can sit down recuperate get
some beers and just chill because everything
seemed so so hectic I was really overwhelmed
[Music] Stakes so after checking all the vendors
and seeing what they have in store for us later
we found the Craft brewery and just ordered some
beers now one thing that you have to know about
beers in Japan is that they’re actually really
expensive like all alcohol is really expensive
in Japan we were really surprised we were
really not expecting that but I think it’s
because well I don’t know either their taxes are
like really high or maybe because Japanese people
don’t really have the end to like break down the
alcohol so maybe because they cannot drink a lot
the alcohol is really expensive anyways the
beers were like sometimes ranging from like5
to €10 per beer they were usually craft but
still like really really expensive [Music]
we continued our exploration around the market
area and yeah my brother he’s a anime manga fan
so every time that we saw any like shop that
were selling any figurines or like any merch
we had to stop um it was fun for me for about
2 minutes and then I usually just went on and
like found something that I am interested in but
yeah if you’re into that kind of stuff of course
course Japan is literally like a Dreamland
you can get everything my brother was like
yeah he was thrilled because he found
like some really good stuff for really
cheap we soon got very hungry so we found a very
cheap Yaki Niko restaurant very close by and we
said okay let’s give it a shot honestly at the
time like we were so excited because it was just
super fun to grill our own meat and the meat
was so so tasty honestly I don’t know when was
the last time that I ate meat that was tasting so
good I’m not a meat person but this was just like
so yum and it was just so fun we really enjoyed
oursel and at the time we knew it was good but
now looking back like after the whole trip in
Japan this was honestly one of the best meal
that we had in the whole trip and guys
the food in Japan is so freaking amazing
like you can literally go to the most
lowkey most underrated place and the
food is still going to be mindblowing so
this was so so yummy he’s like in seven
heaven I honestly cannot praise it enough
it’s very good with our stomachs full we
definitely needed a stroll so we just kind of
continued to explore the area in the central
Kyoto if there’s a good place to shop for souvenir
or kimonos especially then that’s definitely Kyoto
I was so thrilled because I’m obsessed with
kimonos so for me one of the main goals of
going to Japan plan was to buy some kimonos and
I definitely had a big big selection [Music] here
we didn’t really have a clear plan of where we
wanted to go or what we wanted to see I kind of
just wanted to explore the area so we kept walking
North from the central Kyoto and we stumbled upon
this really cool area really cool neighborhood
that honestly now I don’t even know where we were
walking but it was kind of like a mix of old
and new there was a lot of really nice streets
there was a lot of old buildings but mixed with
the new a lot of like hidden temples and things
like that a lot of people walking around in kimono
taking pictures but not really tourist it didn’t
seem like there was a lot of people so I don’t
know if it was because of the weather or because
it was Sunday afternoon but at that initial
point I really thought that oh my God like you
is nice like there’s not many people you can just
freely walk around explore you can see everything
very clearly you can stop and take pictures
and just enjoy yourself it seemed very nice
very lovely that’s until the next day when you’ll
see what I’m talking [Music] about we did stumble
upon some busier areas where there was more people
more Instagram moment kind of situation more girls
dressed in kimonos but I didn’t really like put
the two and two together like I wasn’t sure where
we were walking so we just like passed by and
then found this like really cool Temple Place
very chill again not many people so I really
enjoyed myself every time we stumbled upon a
park or a temple area where it wasn’t too busy
it just felt like a moment to take a breather
because everything else is so busy I personally
went on this trip as a journalist to write an
article so beforehand I got collaborations with
hotels and restaurants to feature them in this
article what this means is that I got restaurants
accommodation and sometimes attractions for free
in this case a hotel wanted to treat us to try
some sake was very nice because we actually
haven’t tried real sake before so this was very
special but for me the most special moment in
this evening was actually just looking out to
the street because it seemed such a movie likee
scene everything was kind of surreal and I just
really took in the moment to realize where I am
we woke up at 6:00 in the morning the
next day because of jetl so I was like
okay we’re up let’s go and explore Kyoto
let’s go to some of the most touristy places
the muses the most instagrammable
stuff which is you know the Tory
Gates very naively we thought we’re gonna be not
alone but at least it’s not going to be busy well
surprise surprise probably every other tourist in
Kyoto that was jet laack woke up at 6:00 a.m. and
went to see the Tor Gates or the bamboo forest
we didn’t even bother going to the bamboo forest
because as you’re going to see the Tory Gates
were extremely busy I cannot even imagine how
it is during the day but it was still very very
pretty I really enjoyed it but I think these kind
of locations are just they hit you differently
when you have the peace calm the serenity of
the place that you can just sit there and meditate
and be with your own thoughts and like really soak
it in and not be surrounded by so many people
who are you know chitty chatty taking pictures
I completely understand that I’m also contributing
to this problem but in all honesty this was one of
the very few touristy places that we actually
ended up visiting because this experience has
taught me that there’s so much more to Kyoto than
just the really famous sites and the really famous
pictures that you see on Instagram because
yeah at the end I can say that this was quite
underwhelming because of the whole essence of the
place was gone because it was busy because it is
supposed to be this Zen quiet calm place and it
was everything but how do you rate the to gate
pretty very pretty pretty out of 10 pretty out of
10 I guess what I’m trying to say is that when you
you are traveling no matter what the destination
no matter what the location is of course there’s
always going to be these locations that are like
super famous and super touristy all the sites
and all the buildings and temples and pagodas and
stuff that everybody wants to see because they’re
just like incredible pieces of architecture
incredible pieces of art but destinations are
so much more than that no matter where you go in
the world the places where you visit are there’s
someone’s home there’s you know there’s so much
other things going on there’s the whole culture
behind it and the whole history and everything and
of course it’s amazing to see those places but for
me it has always been more interesting to see like
the behind the scenes if I can call it that like
to go and visit the places where the locals are
having coffee to go and see the back alleys like
the really dodgy places the very resting and
like these barely standing together buildings
I have to admit that I have kind of a soft spot
for buildings that are kind of like ready to be
torn down some of my favorite buildings in the
world are the ones that yeah they’re so old and
like barely standing together they’re not the
golden temples and these fancy modern buildings
or anything like that there are like really really
kind of like humbling places where you can really
see how time has influenced and changed and aged
them that combined with nature and nature taking
its course and how nature affects everything
I think what I found very interesting in Japan
and very and very intrig inging is just how
they combine and fuse the old and the new the
the modern the nature versus manb build it the
whole play and the whole Harmony is completely
on another level than what we have in the west and
you can always find neighborhoods of like really
fancy modern buildings and then just around the
corner is going to be this like really old Temple
and no matter where you go there’s always going
to be a park somewhere nearby where people can
just kind of step away from the hustle and bustle
of Tokyo or any other City they are very busy but
I still feel that people no matter how busy the
cities may seem they have a different pace like
I lived in Paris and in London and people here
just seem more calm like more Serene everything
is just taken at a slower Pace more considerate
everyone is like waiting patiently standing in
a queue like no one is rushing running anywhere
it’s just a different kind of pace of living and
I really really appreciated that throughout
the whole trip and it slowed me down for
[Applause] [Music] sure one of the main missions
that we had for Japan was to try as many different
food items as possible we tried everything
from like the most basic Mochi to street food
to Micheline star Chef dining everything you can
possibly imagine because let me tell you the food
is so different than what we have in the west so
it’s a Once in a-lifetime kind of opportunity so
I just want to try as many different things and
I would say 90% of the time I was completely
blown away by The Taste and presentation of their
[Music] food we did go to explore the gion area
in Kyoto which is very famous it’s the gisha
district and it’s famous for a reason it is very
very beautiful but it is also very very busy now I
was prepared for this I saw the pictures I saw how
busy it gets and this is cherry blossom season
mind you the most busiest season everybody in
Japan is traveling and everybody out of Japan is
traveling to Japan to see the Cherry BL blossoms
spoiler there were no shy blossoms but I was still
quite overwhelmed by how overcrowded it is I’m
the kind of person who loves to stroll around and
just observe people watch admire the architecture
admire the crafts the Traditions the little
shops I love to take my time and just observe are
overwhelming so this area was definitely the kind
of place that I didn’t enjoy and I guess it was
a little bit disappointing because this is the
main attraction in Kyoto and it was completely
unenjoyable it was just completely overcrowded
and if I have the right information they actually
just restricted tourists from this area if my
sources are correct then the visitors are now
banned from visiting this area which I completely
understand because I cannot imagine living there
it’s just a river of people endless flow going up
and down you cannot really stop to take pictures
or anything it’s just it’s not livable it’s not
enjoyable I maybe we spent 10 minutes there and
then we ventured out to find other areas which
were just as pretty and so much more enjoyable
and at this point I have to mention that it isn’t
what you think it is most of the tourists that
come to this place are actually domestic tourists
they’re Japanese and they’re all coming there for
I don’t know what reason but they’re all taking
pictures and yeah it’s just a lot of them there
only really a small percentage of tourists
mostly from China Taiwan and then from the
West that come there but nonetheless it’s it loses
its charm it loses its initial Beauty and what it
is representing and what it was supposed to be so
I just want to warn you if you are going to Kyoto
and you have this idea in your head of visiting
gion and taking all these amazing instagrammable
pictures of course you can do that I think if
you wake up at 4:00 a.m. but in the middle of
the day it looks completely overcrowded kichwa
from Kyoto we are just walking down the street
common theme here in Kyoto closed everything’s
closed trying to find some coffee actually on
our last on our second and last day here this is
the first time that I’m actually tuning in because
guess what I didn’t feel like it the streets
are so overcrowded with tourists that it’s been
quite overwhelming uh but finally after being
in Japan for like what 5 six days I’m starting
to feel a little bit better I think the jetl is
easing and uh yeah just feel a little bit more
up to Adventure and exploring today which
is good but as you see kyota is not only
the traditional buildings and temples and pagodas
but it’s just a lot of blocks of buildings where
people live and uh I actually prefer this part
to the over L tourist neighborhoods so yeah the
plan now is coffee shopping for kimonos and
then train to Osaka but just wanted to show
you these cool cars everything here is boxy
don’t know why but they just like it that way
okay how do you like k everything’s
boxy everything’s boxy the houses
the the land they have can build yeah I
know how do you like Kyoto from 1 to 10
UHA AA is my kind of place who AK Akihabara
Akihabara yeah that’s my kind of place and
Koto not to much the long shops were nice
the The Long Street now with like the street
vendors was the one the himashi or something
like that market the market is yeah one thank
you quality food
market we still have halfway to goish
[Music] our last day in Kyoto was actually by
far my favorite so far I felt like my energies
were back and my mood definitely improved we
didn’t really do anything special we were just
kind of wandering around the neighborhoods and
randomly stumbling upon cool stuff cool shops
cool cafes that now I don’t even remember
where exactly we were sorry about that
but I guess sometimes you just kind of have to
get lost to find the cool places at least in my
experience it’s like that we did find this
amazing amazing kimono shop in the Central
Market area they were selling kimonos by the
grams it was 1 Yen per 1 gam of weight of
kimonos and most kimonos they weighed somewhere
between like 700 g and like 1 kilog so we got
some amazing looking kimonos they are secondhand
by the way they look nice for a really good price
now looking back I wish I would bring a bring
a bigger suitcase so I could buy more kimonos
because you cannot get this kind of stuff in
Europe my brother was so Trill he bought a
yucata for himself and uh I think this was kind
of like the highlight of the the day [Music]
[Music] schol you can probably see from the
Smile of my face that I really really enjoy
that after that we were up for some beers and
we again randomly found this little beer place
this Brewery we ordered a large and well
we didn’t quite know what we were getting
ourselves into but as you will see the large
beer is actually extra extra large compared to
what we have here in [Music] Europe wow [Music]
so after finishing only one beer we were kind of
buzzed finally enjoying Japan because I pooped
three times and bought some
[Music] onas and had a large
beer this is the size of
the beer it’s the same size
as I guess it wasn’t just the kimono
shopping I think maybe a little bit of
alcohol had something to do that we actually
really had an amazing time and I felt like I
don’t want to leave Kyoto we definitely have
some unfinished business before heading to the
station to catch a train to Osaka we couldn’t
help ourselves but go back to the market to
try some more street food honestly there’s so
many options and so many things look so tasty
everything that we’ve tried was so amazing
I highly recommend when you are in Kyoto do
try their meats their beef oh my God the meat
melts in your mouth and all the sauces are so
amazing we definitely did the most shopping in
kyoto so I bought kimonos my brother went into
his anime shops and bought loads of figurines
I also found a 100 yen shop that I thought was
really really cool because you can literally
get anything your heart desires for 100 yen
so I bought a lot of stationery and just
like little things little notebooks and
cards and things like that that I can use
throughout the year and it’s always going
to remember me of Japan I just thought
it was really cool and it was like 100
yen I definitely left Kyoto wanting to see
and experience more because even though it
seemed like we traveled Kyoto completely
wrong and just followed the crowd instead
of our instincts we kind of turned it
around and it just turned out to be so
much more than what you see on Instagram
and all the travel guides I really do hope
I get the chance to come back and Discover it
properly thank you so much for watching bye-bye
2 Comments
Amazing. Every place you're visiting I've been to. Thanks for sharing
Another great video, Katja. Your observations about the harmony between old and new, nature and man-made are so thought-provoking
All of the food looks so delicious 😍😍 loved seeing all the placed you stumbled upon, like you said sometimes you have to get lost to find the cool places
You guys look so good in your kimonos! That blue is beautiful 💙 so happy to see you enjoying Japan! The large beer probably helped 😂