4 days in Kyoto

Its not a bad plan IMHO.

The idea of dividing by area is good.Exactly what you want to see in each area you can do while you are there;no need to decide that in advance.

Thanks Lucapal!

That is exactly the idea. Have a rough idea of where to spend our time and then decide there. In this way I can keep a little bit of the surprise factor...

As some people advice to do all eatern part in one day, and others advice to include gold pavillion in the Arashiyama, I did prefer to make sure that my plan was not unbalanced.

Thanks for your comment.

You can visit the Fushimi Inari shrine after you have visited Nara. There are two train lines to the Fushimi Inari shrine, one JR and one not JR.
If you like cycling then you can do that in Arashiyama.

I think I will need at least 1 month to cover Kyoto! Love the city with the beautiful temples and landscape. Do not miss Higashiyama District,Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine, Kinkaku-ji Temple and Kiyomizu-dera Temple(my favorite). I have an itinerary that covers the Kansai region here. You can use it as a reference :-)

Hello

After some research, I have a plan for our 4 full days in Kyoto (Nara will be an extra day).

Just to know if it is roughly a good plan. We prefer to visit less things and somehow deeply and I am not sure if this plan is adequate.

Please note that our trip will be in late august and our hotel is close to Gion/Nishiki. So:

1) One full day in Arashiyama.
2) One full day in northern half of Eastern Kyoto.
3) One full day in southern half of Eastern Kyoto
4) Finally, one morning in northern Kyoto and then Tofuku which is said to be less crowded and spend the evening (and sunset) in Fushini Inari.

We'll visit Nijo castle the day 5, just before leaving Kyoto.

What do you think?

Is this a relaxed plan? too much? Not at all? I have seen that usually eastern Kyoto is done in just one day.

Are we missing something essential?

I just want to have a rough idea if these days are evenly distributed or there are very cramped days and others too much relaxed.

Anyway there are some musts, as fushini (an evening for sure). Golden pavillion (first thing in the morning). Arashiyama, which seems very appealing for us and that is the reason that we prefer to do a full day instead of combining it with the northern part. Also stroll around old streets and alleys.

Well, quite generic, I know. I also don't mind to skip some places to enjoy the rest in a more relaxed way (for example, I have seen that there are 3 main temples in the northern part, so maybe I could just visit 2)

I just mean to know if there is any big flaw with this plan or it is a good starting point. Although I am aware that there is no a unique answer.

Thanks!

Thanks a lot for your comments!
I will consider them

Not a bad plan at all. What time of the year are you travelling?

Whether to combine Higashiyama (the eastern part) in one day depends on how much time you have in Kyoto. There is certainly enough to keep you occupied for two days. If you have the time, you could continue on the southern Higashiyama day from Sanjusangendo to Tofukuji, Senryuji (has some interesting imperial graves) and Fushimi Inari.

What 3 temples in the north do you mean? Kinkakuji/Ryoanji/Ninnaji? Other good temples/shrines in the north: Daitokuji, Kitano Tenmangu, Shimogamo/Kamigamo Shrines.

Generally I am all for slow travel. However many of Kyoto's temples are tiny and even if you are in a very meditative mood, you might get bored sooner or later. At Kinkakuji in particular there is not much more than the postcard view to be had and you don't really need all that much time for it IMO.

As an alternative I'd consider a trip to the outskirts, e.g. to Ohara.

Many thanks!

We are traveling in late august. I know, hot, hot and hot.

Initially I was referring to Kinkakuji/Ryoanji/Ninnaji as the northern temples. I realize that there are a lot more but we have to choose.

My idea right now would be to visit Tofukuji and Fushini after the gold pavilion and probably Ninnaji (discarding Ryoanji which is said to be more crowded).

Adding Tofukuji and Fushini to the southern Higashiyama visit seems to me a more crammed one than the other although geographically speaking could be more reasonable.

So I could do one full day in southern Higashiyama and then one half day in these 2 northern temples and then the other half day in Tofuku/Fushini...

Just an option...

Kinkaku-ji is horribly crowded, though I've never been there first thing in the morning. I've actually never been inside. The building is new - not all that interesting, in my personal opinion.

With 4 days, you might want to spend one of them outside of the city itself somewhere. There are numerous options: Ohara/Kurama in the north of the city, Takao, from where you can walk to Arashiyama (that makes for a very nice day, and I don't think you need a full day in Arashiyama; at least, if you're anything like me ;-)), Otsu, Enryaku-ji temple, on the hills above Kyoto.

There is so much of interest in Higashiyama, I wouldn't plan too much there. Just walk, and see what you want to stop off and visit. Don't skip Sanjusangendo, and note that there are some other interesting, barely visited, temples and shrines immediately around there.

Anyway, lots of good options really. Lots and lots to see in Kyoto. Ah, two things I haven't seen mentioned on here at all: To-ji, which is one of the city's finest temples, and the nearby rail museum, which is excellent, and a nice break from all the temples and shrines.

As I said before,I'd decide exactly which temples to see when you are there,but if you are set on Kinkaku-ji (more important for the history than for the actual place itself IMHO)then I'd also have a look at Ryoan-ji.It has one of the nicest Zen gardens in the country.

Some temples are very crowded,others aren't.If you want to avoid crowds i'd visit the most famous places as early as possible in the morning (or evening if possible..like Fushimi Inari).So maybe choose your key temple in each area and go there first on that day?