This day is meant as an easy, flexible first full day in Kyoto.  We visited Sanjusangendo and the Nishiki Market.

Breakfast in Kyoto

So maybe we aren’t that adventurous, but we generally got quick breakfasts at Kyoto Station on our way to the train or local bus.  Most often, we visited a bakery that is on the south side of the station.  A few times we had a sit-down breakfast at a restaurant at the station.  There are plenty of options.

Get a good map

Visit the Kyoto tourist office (opens around 8:30am) and get their English language tourist map, and also their guide to the city bus system (here’s a link to it but they’ll give you a nicer printed one).

Getting to Sanjusangendo

In general, for local sites, you have 4 options:

• Walk – depends on your tolerance – Sanjusangendo is about a 20-30 minute walk
• Taxi – there are TONS of taxis waiting on the south side of Kyoto station.  Taxi’s are a good deal if you have 3-4 people vs mass transit fares.
• Kyoto subway – useful to some but not all of Kyoto
• Kyoto bus – these go everywhere, and compared to most US city bus systems, is pretty easy to use, but still it’s the trickiest if you don’t speak Japanese.  Most buses display the upcoming stop on electronic signs in both Japanese and English, and the bus system has named stops much like a subway would.

In the case of Sanjusangendo, subway isn’t an option. We walked.  If you wanted to take the bus, you’d find from the city bus map you can take either 100 or 206 from Kyoto station to Sanjusangendo.

Visiting Sanjusangendo

There’s really just one thing here, but it’s pretty impressive:  the main hall contains 1001 statues, in rows like a chorus, with one huge statue in the middle.   You won’t spend a ton of time but it’s worth seeing.  You can read more at Japan Guide.

Afterward, if you need a break, you could simply head back to your hotel, or do as we did – continue to downtown Kyoto and tour the Nishiki Market.

Getting Downtown

From Sanjusangendo, we walked west a few blocks and got on the Keihan railway (the Shichijo stop).  We went 2 stops north to Gion Shijo.  Downtown is just across the bridge from the station. The Keihan is NOT covered by the JR pass.

If this is the first time you’re riding a Japanese subway system, you might be a little intimidated by their automatic ticket machines.  Fortunately, most of the systems you’ll encounter work more-or-less the same way.

• Find the English button
• Figure out what fare you’ll need (most are distance / zone based, there’s usually a map with at least English station names so you can tell what the fare will be)
• Find the English button on the machine
• Most take coins or up to a 1000 yen note
• Put in coins until the fare button lights up for the amount you’ll need
• Push the button, get your ticket and any change

Most cities also have a stored-value card system but we never used them, we just paid for fares in cash.

This video and this video illustrates a machine in Tokyo, but the idea is similar.

You could also get a 1-day or 2-day pass.

To ride the train, insert your ticket / pass into the machine both on entry and on exit.

Downtown Kyoto / Nishiki Market

From Sanjusangendo, we walked west a few blocks and got on the Keihan railway (the Shichijo stop).  We went 2 stops north to Gion Shijo.  Downtown is just across the bridge from the station.  Shijo Dori is the main drag for traditional retail, but branching off on the north side are shopping arcades.  These are narrow, pedestrian-only alleys lined with all kinds of booths.  The Nishiki Market focuses on food, while others have all kinds of random shops.  Definitely worth strolling thru.