Three nights in 京都
Part of our Spring 2025 trip to Japan
This was my third trip to Japan’s ancient capital. I visited in 2011 and then again in 2023. While in town we stayed in a 京町家 just off of 五条通 in 下京区, not far from the center of town.


That first night we were still very jet lagged. We got dinner nearby at 赤まる, and went to bed soon after.
Our first stop the next morning was Wanderers Stand for coffee and toast. Lovely coffee and lovely toast, though no obvious connection to Bolton. Then it was back to Kyoto Station to catch ひかり 535 to Himeji (which see). After returning to Kyoto on ひかり 508, we took the 嵐山本線 to see 天龍寺, the Bamboo Forest, and 大河内山荘.



timbray I’m on a train in Kyoto and the girl sitting opposite me has a sweatshirt that reads: “UNAVAILABLE ERR 451 PRIVATEREASONS”.

We worked up quite an appetite putting all those steps in, so we ate dinner as soon as we got back to Kyoto Station. We went to かつくら up on the 11th floor for 豚カツ. It was super yummy.
We spent the morning of our second day in town at 伏見稲荷大社, which I’d been to twice before. I was really excited to show it to Erin. She hiked up the whole way! I was so proud.








After climbing up and down the mountain shrine, we had a surprisingly decent lunch at the generically-named お食事処いなり. Then we went to Nara.
After some train-related challenges on our return to Kyoto, we had dinner at 柚子元 on the main alley of 先斗町, very close to the 鴨川.



Until next time, Kyoto.