This was our first visit to Kyoto. Honestly i was really stunned by how different Kyoto is to the rest of Japan, it definitely is a very special gem to the country and its old traditions. Kyoto is really great for vegetarians and vegans as traditional food here goes back to how Monks eat, so even if your not vegan, trying the tofu restaurants and Obanzai is really fun to experience. Matcha is a big part of Kyoto so you get many Parfait cafes, tea houses and gift shops selling all the many ranges of roasted and green teas.
we also hiked up Fushimi Inari Shrine which on average take about 2 hours all together if you go right up to 14. we have done it twice now, first time took 2 and the second time we did it in 40minutes. i believe in you, its a great challenge and a killer thigh workout.
Higashiyama is the most popular tourist areas because you can rent out kimonos and go into all the cafes and try some really great dishes you dont find outside of kyoto.
seeing as this is from the early days, i will be posting recent kyoto trips soon as i have lived here for a while and no where all the best stuff is at.
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