Rengeoin Sanjusangendo & The Kyoto Railway Museum

On our last day in Kyoto, we headed down to Rengeoin Sanjusangendo, a Buddhist temple with 1,001 statues inside. The bad news is that there are no pictures allowed inside. I would have loved photograph the statues, which were life sized and lined up in long rows inside the temple. On the other hand, being forced to really look at something and experience it, and not have others jostling for pictures was refreshing. This was one of my favorites places that we went in Kyoto. Afterwards we walked to the train station for lunch (there are some great options there - we had pork tonkatsu) and then to the nearby Kyoto Railway Museum. The museum opened in 2016 and I was very impressed. They have many great exhibits tracing the history of train travel in Japan as well as actual trains used throughout the years. 

Fushimi Inari

I knew Fushimi Inari was a popular shrine to visit, famous for its torii gates leading up the mountain, so even though I knew we should have planned to arrive early, we ended being caught in a huge crowd making its way up the mountain. Luckily, there is an alternate path up which was much less crowded but no less interesting, as there were many smaller shrines along the way. Just follow the signs to Mount Inari! From the top, you can then take the normal path back down. 

Ginkaku-ji

Heian Shrine & Nanzen-ji

On our third day in Kyoto, we spent the morning at Heian Shrine. The shrine itself is free to enter but you must pay a small fee to enter the gardens. It being December, the gardens weren't at their peak but the lack of crowds made it worth it (if for nothing else than to recreate Scarlett Johansson's scene from Lost In Translation!). Afterwards we went to Nanzen-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple which has been rebuilt several times, most recently in 1597. From Heian Shrine or Nanzen-ji, you can walk up the Philosopher's Path to Ginkaku-ji. On our way there, we stopped to warm up with some great udon at Omen. 

Nijo Castle & Kyoto Imperial Palace