Kyoto City Travel Guide Japan: Tourism information

Kyoto City Travel Guide Japan. Tourism information. Kyoto is old Japan writ large: atmospheric temples sublime gardens traditional teahouses and geisha scurrying to secret liaisons. This is a city of some 2000 temples and shrines: a city of true masterpieces of religious architecture such as the retina-burning splendour of Kinkaku-ji (the famed Golden Pavilion) and the cavernous expanse of Higashi Hongan-ji. Its where robed monks shuffle between temple buildings prayer chants resonate through stunning Zen gardens and the faithful meditate on tatami-mat floors. Even as the modern city buzzes and shifts all around a waft of burning incense or the sight of a bright vermillion torii gate marking a shrine entrance are regular reminders that Kyoto remains the spiritual heart of Japan. Few cities of this size pack such a punch when it comes to their culinary cred and at its heart is Nishiki Market (Kyotos kitchen). Kyoto is crammed with everything from Michelin-starred restaurants chic cocktail bars cool cafes and sushi spots to food halls izakaya (Japanese pub-eateries) craft-beer bars and old-school noodle joints. Splurge on the impossibly refined cuisine known as kaiseki while gazing over your private garden taste the most delicate tempura in a traditional building slurp down steaming bowls of ramen elbow-to-elbow with locals then slip into a sugar coma from a towering matcha (powdered green tea) sundae.