Kyoto fall colors....

I will be in japan for a month - from Oct. 28th to Nov 27th. I hope to be in Kyoto for the fall colors. I have understood that the 2nd week of Nov. is best for that - but some say it is too late.

Any sources out there regarding this. What would be the most likely week to catch the colors? Are there any web sites that track the progress of the turning of the leaves?

thanks for any and all help.

Very unpredictable, but usually from the first to second week of November. Make sure you reserve your hotel in advance as this is a very popular season for domestic travel!

Cocodrilo is right. The time varies, but my wife and I visited Kyoto in mid-November 2003, and saw some amazing colors during that time. There are web sites that track the maple leaf front, but they're probably all in Japanese.

Thank you so much for the feed back - this helps. I currently have reservations for Nov 8th through 14th. It sounds like my timing is good and should stick with this plan .

Those sites are good for accurate reports up to a couple of weeks before they actually change, but how can you plan a vacation that way?

Some of the sites I think give the dates from previous years of when the colors were at their peak, so my wife was able to do some research and choose a time frame for visiting several months in advance. Also, there are probably web pages that give up to the minute reports, so Japanese can plan a day trip for the following day or weekend, for example.

November 8-14 should be a good time. One thing you might want to look out for is which temples are offering night views of the maple leaves (I remember we visited Eikan-do). I'm sure the Kyoto tourist information offices will have all the information.

Yes, quite a few of those places had evening light-up events and even concerts! We were too tired after leaf-viewing all day, and just wanted to have our sake & dinner so we skipped that! (Also, it's best to get up at the crack of dawn and to the sites before the hordes, and there will be hordes!) The rail company JR put out some lovely brochures with info on the light-ups- they're on stands at all the train stations and are free. Just grab what looks good, and they can explain to you where the place is in English at the tourist information center. The information center also has great maps in English!