Kyoto activities

I%26#39;m going to be in Kyoto April 7-9 this year, and I%26#39;m hoping to cram in as much activity in those two days as possible. I was wondering if anyone could give me feedback on the activities I%26#39;m interested in (like, are they worth it), and let me know what essential Kyoto experience I%26#39;m missing (apart from kaseki, as we%26#39;ve decided to save that money for a full Kobe beef experience a couple of days later). Unfortunately, we only have time for 1 or 2 temples (and preferably the most conveniently located--we%26#39;re staying in the center). So, any advice on which to choose is appreciated! Other than that...

-I%26#39;d like to take this Geisha tour: http://www.waraido.com/events/post_1/ -- Can anyone confirm it is still running (site is from 2007) and if it indeed runs on Wednesdays as listed on the site? Otherwise, are there any others like it?

-Is it better go to to Gion Corner for a show or to try to attend a miyako odori show, which is on at that time? (My boyfriend is particularly interested in the tea ceremony.)

-Nijo Jinya...worth it? (And worth the trouble of arranging a translator...btw, what is proper etiquette with these free guides? Offering them a drink/meal after?)

-Boat trip in/from Arashiyama? We%26#39;re a bit thrill seekers and understand this is a bit mild. Is it still worth it? Also, how doable is this as a day trip out of Osaka, if we wanted to save our Kyoto time. And, if so, are there other things worth doing there beyond the train and boat rides?

-Also, does anyone know if they have special edition sneakers at the Onitsuku Tiger flagship store in Kyoto? (I read something about shoes made with kimono silks.) Also, any other can%26#39;t-miss designers to see in Kyoto?

Thank you for any help in planning!

Kyoto activities

I can%26#39;t answer all your questions - though no doubt others on this forum can help - but if you only have time for one or two temples in Kyoto I%26#39;d definitely go for Kiyomizu which is not too far from the Gion area.

With the free guides, you pay the small entrance fees for anywhere you%26#39;ve chosen to go and pay for any transportation, but apart from that, the best way to show your appreciation is with a small gift from your own country - cookies and chocolate are always appreciated in Japan, or perhaps something typically Dutch.

The Arashiyama boat trip is very pleasant - it you are looking for thrills you might be very disappointed though! It is doable as a day trip from Osaka, but how long will you be in Osaka? There%26#39;s plenty to see there as well, or you may prefer to take a day trip to somewhere like Nara. Osaka, and particularly the Namba and Shinsaibashi areas, really come to life at night, so if you have the energy to cram lots in to your trip, there are several day trips you could do from Osaka, and you could then enjoy the city in the evenings.

Kyoto activities

Thank you for this advice! Great idea about bringing Dutch cookies...I know just the thing and will bring some extra in case we can lure any other locals into acquaintanceship while we%26#39;re there. :-)

We%26#39;re actually going to be spending 4 nights in Osaka (we found a hotel in Shinsaibashi for little more than 1/2 the price of what we%26#39;ll be paying in Kyoto, so decided to use that as a base for day trips. In Osaka, we%26#39;re planning on checking out the castle park and aquarium, and then we%26#39;re planning on 1/2 a day in Nara, a day in Kobe (fashion museum--any good?, Nada sake museums, beef dinner--prob at Wakkoqu unless anyone has any better recommendations), and a day in Himeji. So, we figure that gives us an extra day to do something. We considered Koyasan, but have heard that the real experience is to spend the night there and attend mass, which we won%26#39;t have a chance to do... We considered Universal Studios, but for the money spent, I%26#39;ve read a lot of mixed reviews (and I%26#39;ve been to the one in LA). We also wondered about visiting an onsen somewhere, but we%26#39;re having trouble finding something suitable, and the fact that we don%26#39;t have to split up to bathe and I have tattoos on my back complicates things. So, we thought maybe Arashiyama might be a nice alternative....

You may want to leave a day or an afternoon free just for wandering around Shinsaibashi and Namba. Not far away, and rarely visited by non-Japanese tourists, there is also the Tennoji area with an interesting temple complex and traditional Japanese garden:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenn%C5%8Dji-ku,_Osaka

The other thing going for Tennoji is Spa World, but your tattoos may prevent you from entering. A friend of mine with two small tatoos on his arm covered them up with large sticky bandaids, and that was fine, though I realise that with larger tatoos this may not be a practical solution!

Definitely give USJ a miss. It%26#39;s fine, but if you%26#39;ve already been to the one in LA, Osaka is not really worth it. All of the shows and the lead up to the attractions is in Japanese, which of course limits the enjoyment for non-Japanese speakers.

Yep, even with the extra day trip, we%26#39;ll leave at least a day and two halves free to explore Osaka, so I guess we%26#39;ll aim to work a walk around Namba into that, too, thanks. :-)

I did look into Spa World before because it looked very nice, but, bandaging tattoos aside, it%26#39;s also split by gender, and it%26#39;s not really worth it to my boyfriend and I do have the onsen experience if we can%26#39;t do it together. But, any recs for places where that is possible (without staying overnight) by anyone who knows would be appreicated!

I went to Nijo Jinya with a guide to translate and found it fascinating. It really brought the history of Kyoto to life for me. If you are interested in history I would recommend a visit. You do need to book in advance and we did this through the agency who organised our guide for the day.

With your extra day in mind, going back to Kyoto is actually a mighty good idea too. It is relatively easy to go from Osaka to Kyoto and the train fare is not terribly expensive ( 390 yen to 550 yen one way) depending on what you take. Just in case you want to go to Kyoto again.

Hi,

We also went to the Nijo Jinya with a free Kyoto guide called Toshi. We had a great day he took us to Nijo Jinya as well as some other places we wanted to visit. We had a great day and it was made easier by not having to worry about booking, buying tickets and how to get to places as he organised it all. We paid for Toshi%26#39;s entrances fees and bought him lunch. Nijo Jinya was well worth the visit.

Enjoy your time in Kyoto,

Kim