Is Kyoto Worth the Hype?

Is Kyoto Worth the Hype?

Kyoto, a city everyone thinks they know. Temples, 
cherry blossoms, and souvenir postcards. The images we know of Kyoto feel magical. But is 
this really what Kyoto is, or is it just the picture perfect Kyoto? I won’t show you the Kyoto 
of brochures. I will show you the real Kyoto and how to escape it. Kyoto is often considered the 
soul of Japanese culture and for a good reason. It was the imperial capital of Japan for more 
than a thousand years. It was here where Japanese culture really flourished. Zen gardens and geishas 
as well as Samurai lived here in Kyoto and made this place very special until today. I think we 
all know places like this one here. However, did you actually know that this exact place can also 
look very different? I was honestly surprised to see how extremely crowded Kyoto is. I definitely 
understand why people are visiting because it is a beautiful place. However, it didn’t quite keep 
up with my expectations that I had from all these stunning Instagram photos. Let’s see if Kyoto is 
still worth a visit despite all these crowds here. I’ll tell you a secret right at the beginning 
of this video, I have shown you this place here, super crowded just a few seconds ago, the 
secret how to find it, way more empty, is simply keep going. No, we aren’t here early 
in the morning. It’s actually the afternoon already. We just kept going. There are lots of 
people in the entrance taking their pictures and videos and so on. If you keep going up to 
the mountain, you will find it like this. This place here is called Fushimi Inari. It is a 
shrine and these Tori gates they were donated by merchants ever since the 8th century. On the 
front side of the gate, the ones facing uphill, the donor’s name is written here. This could be 
a company, a family, or even an individual. The back side of the gate facing downhill 
typically shows the date of donation. There are more than 10,000 of these gates here and 
it is an absolutely beautiful and mystical place. It has something very magical. It is completely 
free to visit and just so you know I do have a completely free Google maps that you can find 
in the description below. There’s a link. You can download it and you will find all my tips and 
tricks for Kyoto as well as all of the places we are visiting today so that you can make planning 
your own trip a little bit easier. In Kyoto, you definitely have to explore the heart of 
the city. Several temples are really not far away from the city’s basling center. However, they 
might have one tiny little disadvantage. I have a feeling that it’s going to be super crowded at the 
temple. We are late. It’s 11am I think right now and that is pretty late. If you want to go to places 
and experience them here in Kyoto with just a few people, you always have to be super super early. 
So, it’s very crowded here already. We just saw some people making mocki here which was quite fun 
to watch. There are a lot of stores here, a lot of souvenir things, food and so many tourists and a 
lot of people who dress up as geishas. Along the way, you can see rental places for the traditional 
clothes here of Japan. It looks beautiful. So, if you want to do that and get your perfect 
picture from Japan, you can rent them here as well. We’ve made it to the temple and so 
did about 1,000 other people as well. As expected, it is already super crowded. However, this is 
a beautiful place. The street to come all the way up here is already beautiful and worth it. and 
the temple. Well, we will get closer now and check it out from close up, but I believe it is already 
from here really beautiful. The conclusion is come early or accept that you will have like a thousand 
of other people in your surroundings as well. We are at another iconic place of Kyoto. 
You will see a lot of images on Instagram and social media in general of this pagod here. And as 
you can see, there are again a lot of people and you probably already get the idea that you have to 
get here early at around 6:00 a.m. if you want to get this perfect Instagram photo. Of course, this 
place is also marked on the free Google Maps that I have mentioned before. But to access this map at 
all times, you will definitely need good internet connection. My go-to internet solution is always 
Olafly for all of my trips. With the Holafly eSIMs, no SIM card swapping is necessary anymore. 
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safer the moment I arrive at my new destination. I will immediately have internet and will feel 
safer when going through immigration, for example, because I will immediately have access to Google 
Maps, Google Translate, and everything else that I might need during the immigration process or 
to get to my hotel. The installation process is super easy and it can be done within less than 
5 minutes. I would recommend you to do this at least one day before your trip to ensure 
that everything works out fine. However, the installation process is really straightforward. 
You just purchase your eSIM online or in the Holafly application and you will then have the 
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mobile data. If you want to get these, um, make sure to use the link in the description below 
or my code aventuralina to enjoy unlimited data with a discount during your next trip. [Music] 
And we came here at 7:00 a.m. already to not have it extremely crowded. I believe this is super 
important because it can get super crowded and it is a very peaceful place and so beautiful to hear 
like the wind rushing through the bamboos. It is extremely mystical and very spiritual. However, if 
there are a lot of people, I believe it won’t have the same feeling anymore. So, I would recommend 
you to come here early, as early as possible. Up there, we saw a lot of people already returning 
after they finished the path of the bamboo forest. It’s a bit sad to be honest because there’s 
so much to see here in this area. There’s this beautiful park area with the riverside. It’s very 
peaceful as well and definitely worth a visit. The bamboo forest section itself is really 
not big. It’s like I don’t know 4 to 500 meters long and that’s it. So I definitely 
do not recommend you to come here just for that and just to get your photo taken here at 
this spot. This area here is not that close to the city center. So in my opinion just the 
bamboo forest is not worth it. The whole area definitely yes. And we will check out another 
temple now that also looks absolutely stunning. At first, we wanted to go to a different 
temple, but it was meant to open up at 9 a.m. and we were there like 15 minutes 
early, and there was already a very long line waiting in front of it. So, the other one is 
quite popular by now and very touristic. So, we decided to go to a different temple and chose 
this one here. It is a beautiful, peaceful place, very spiritual again and magical and definitely 
the one that I would recommend. However, there’s an entrance fee you have to pay of 600 yen. At the 
other temple, it was 500 yen. So, a bit cheaper, but I think this one is the better choice if 
you want to feel the magic of this whole area. I always try to be as real as possible when I 
show you places here on YouTube because I am honestly so tired of seeing places on YouTube 
or Instagram having high expectations and then getting there and getting the feeling that it’s 
not at all what I had expected. So I definitely would recommend you rather this place here, this 
temple because there are like three people with us right now at I don’t know 5 minutes past 9 or 
something like that. And on the other one which was recommended on Instagram as the secret spot 
near the bamboo forest. Um yeah was super crowded. You can also rent like people who will take you in 
their carriage like this one passing now. They will take you through Kyoto through this place 
here as well. I don’t know how to feel about it or actually I do know how to feel about it. I 
feel bad about it. I would never ever do that. It seems terrible to pay someone to do such 
a hard work. However, at the same time, I guess they live from it. I don’t know, 
difficult situation. It just feels extremely off that there are people sitting in these 
carriages like kings and then others running and sweating here in the sun. Let me know in 
the comment section what you think about this. After years of war, Kyoto reinvented itself not 
as the capital of politics but as the capital of allegence. Geishas emerged and they were 
living embodiment of dance, art, conversation, anti-eremonies. Geishas were often misunderstood 
in the west. They embody “Iki” which means subtile beauty that doesn’t need to shout. And we are 
currently walking through Gion which is a former Geisha district. It is a beautiful district 
that remains its ancient character and I love that you can still feel the history of this area. The 
architecture remains and is still the same as many years ago. You really feel the history of this 
place and it’s really enjoyable to walk through it. However, there are a few streets that are 
nowadays private alleyways which are closed for tourists because unfortunately some tourists 
misbehaved there and they were disrespectful towards the geishas that still live there. 
After centuries of war, Kyoto chose another path. Power gave way to eleigence. Strength gave 
way to art. The geishas were never cortisans. They were masters of subtle beauty, trained in 
music, poetry, and conversation. Their art was not to seduce, but to captivate. There are about 
1,000 geishes remaining here in Japan today, and Gion is their most important stronghold. And if 
you step a little bit outside of the city center, you will find a beautiful, enchanting path 
that will keep you thinking. You’re now walking down the Philosopher’s path. It is a very 
calm and tranquil and spiritual place and a place where history and thought come together 
until today. The philosopher’s path was named after one of the most famous philosophers 
of Japan. He used to walk this exact same path on a daily basis and he thought about 
Zen Buddhism, ethics and the sense of life while doing so. And the name stuck until today. 
Japanese call this path the philosopher’s path. It is a beautiful place and starts at a very 
popular temple. A temple that we went to before, but it was super crowded. There was a long line 
waiting for the entry tickets and you have to pay a fee of 500 yen. So, we decided to skip 
the temple because along this path there are also various temples, smaller shrines that you 
can see. The philosopher’s path looks timeless, but it actually has a relatively modern story. It 
stretches about 2 kilometers along a kennel lined with cherry trees linking the silver pavilion 
to the neighborhood of Nanzen-ji. It’s a very beautiful place, very calm. I wasn’t expecting 
that when I saw the crowds there in the temple, but I think it’s worth it. And during cherry 
blossom time, this place is especially beautiful because there are lots of sakura trees here in 
the area. and they make this path one of the most popular and picturesque places during Kyoto’s 
cherry blossoms. In recent decades, Kyoto has evolved into a unique blend of ancient and modern. 
And while Kyoto welcomes millions of visitors every year, there are still quiet corners. We 
decided to go to Kuruma, which is a little bit further outside of the city center. It took us 1 
hour and 10 minutes to get all the way up here. And I was thinking about not going here because it 
is so far away. And now I’m so happy we actually came because it is so beautiful. It is a huge area 
of various temples and shrines. You can climb up all these stairs. There’s also a cable car, but 
we are going to walk up the stairs because I think there’s a lot to see along the way. And this is 
only the entrance part. And I feel like this is already so beautiful here. You pay an entrance 
fee of 500 yen, which is completely fine, I think. And I believe the whole path would be almost 3 km 
long. I’m excited to see what we can find here. [Music] I’m actually so happy we came. This 
is a sacred place, so always be respectful. It is also a very peaceful and quiet place. 
And you basically don’t hear anything but nature. There are a handful of people with us 
here. Every now and again, you see two or three people and that’s it. I believe that a lot of 
people were like me and skipped this place just because it is so far away. However, I believe 
it is worth it. I think so far this is probably even my favorite place here in Kyoto of all the 
things we have seen here. [Music] But at night, you should definitely head back to the heart 
of Kyoto to explore its lantern lit alleyways. You definitely shouldn’t miss out on a walk 
through Potoncho. It is this cute little alleyway here that is beautifully lit up at night. It 
is quite touristic as well as you can see, but I still believe it is worth it. There are 
lots of restaurants here and also smaller stores. What I really like is the architecture that also 
remains quite old and the way it is lit up. It is not like in Tokyo with all these harsh flashing 
lights. It is really a cute area to walk through. The lantern lit alley feels like it slipped 
out of another century. By day, it’s quiet, but when night falls, the wooden facads glow with 
paper lanterns, and the alley transforms into one of Kyoto’s most enchanting experiences. For a 
long time, Potoncho was known as an entertainment district, and it kind of is like that until 
today. There used to be lots of tea houses here, lots of geishas in the district. And if you are 
lucky, you might even see one of the geishas even today walking through the district here going 
from one appointment to another. Besides that, again, it is very touristic. There are so 
many restaurants and you can even enjoy a traditional dinner here sitting on the floor on 
small chairs and cushions. It looks absolutely beautiful. It is a very very charming district 
and highly recommended despite all the people. Potoncho is a beautiful way to end your trip 
of Kyoto. It is extremely touristic like the whole city in general. But honestly, it was a 
beautiful visit. This here is the Japan that I think a lot of people have in their heads, right, 
with the temples and the beautiful cute alleyways with the lanterns and everything. I thought it 
was super cute and super nice to visit. It’s a beautiful city. And even though yes, there 
are a lot of people here, lots of crowds, it is still worth it in my opinion. If you are 
interested in the historical side of Japan, you should definitely come here to Kyoto 
because this is where you will feel the weight of history. Kyoto is not a city you simply 
visit. It is a city that reveals itself slowly, like a secret whispered only 
when you’re ready to listen.

Kyoto is one of the most iconic and touristic places of Japan and a dream destination for Japan travellers. But what is Kyoto is not as Instagram picture perfect as you expect? In today’s video I will show you what it’s really like to visit Kyoto… And how you can avoid the crowds!

Let’s visit Kyoto’s best places like Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Fushimi Inari Shrine and one spot that is still a hidden gem, avoided by most tourists… 🤫

#kyoto #kyotosightseeing #kyotovlog #hiddengems #japan #japantravel

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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:26 Kyoto History
00:50 Kyoto: Expectations vs. Reality
01:19 How to escape the crowds in Kyoto
01:45 Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto
02:23 FREE Kyoto Google Maps
02:39 Start of Temple Tour through Kyoto
03:36 Kiyomizu-dera Kyoto
04:18 Yasaka Pagoda Kyoto
04:41 Best Internet Connection for Japan
06:33 Holafly Discount Code for your eSIM
06:43 Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
07:56 Secret Temple near Bamboo Forest in Kyoto
10:04 Gion district Kyoto and Geisha History
11:34 The Philosopher’s Path
13:26 Hidden Gem of Kyoto (Must-visit!)
14:56 Potoncho Alley Kyoto
16:24 Is Kyoto worth the Hype?
17:05 Outro