Kyoto citywide Map

The topography of Kyoto City is a basin surrounded by mountains on three sides except to the south.It is hot and humid in summer and cold at the bottom in winter.

In addition to the formal division of Kyoto City (Nakagyo-ku, Higashiyama-ku, etc.), the city is still divided into five traditional areas: Rakuchu（CentralArea）, Rakuto（EastArea）, Rakusai（WestArea）, Rakunan（SouthArea）, and Rakuhoku（NorthArea）.

The Kiyomizu area centering on Kiyomizudera Temple in the east and the Arashiyama area in the west are popular.

Streets in the center of Kyoto City are laid out in a grid pattern. It is easy to get a sense of the direction of east, west, south, north, and west. It is easy to get to your destination by checking street signs and using a map application.

For your first visit to Kyoto, we recommend that you make a sightseeing plan mainly for either the Kiyomizudera Temple area or the Arashiyama area, both of which are standard tourist destinations.

Basically, walking + public transportation is preferable for sightseeing in Kyoto. Especially during the tourist season when there are many tourists, you can avoid time loss due to traffic jams by taking mainly trains and walking.

Many shrines and temples have large grounds, and it may take some time to visit all of them. It is recommended that you plan your visit well in advance.

It is very crowded, especially during the spring and fall tourist seasons. If you must visit a place, we recommend that you go early in the morning.

A popular tourist spot in Kyoto.Kyoto is an international tourist city that attracts more than 50 million visitors each year.According to a Kyoto City survey, 62.0% of respondents visited more than 10 times, indicating that many of them are repeat visitors.

In 1994, 17 temples, shrines, and Buddhist temples in Kyoto, Uji City, and Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, were registered as World Heritage sites as "Cultural Properties of Ancient Kyoto.

The gardens range in size from tubo-niwa to several hundred thousand square meters, and in type from karesansui (dry landscape) gardens, pond garden, borrowed landscape gardens, and stone gardens.

The Kyoto District Meteorological Observatory declares the blooming of cherry blossoms in late March.Cherry blossoms bloom from late March to mid-April in Kyoto City, and are in full bloom from early April to mid-April, attracting many tourists.

In Kyoto, the autumn leaves begin to change color from late October in the early areas and can be enjoyed until early December.On November 23, the overall autumn foliage is at its best and the crowds are at their peak.

In recent years, high temperatures have delayed the fall foliage season, and the best time to view the leaves is generally from mid-November to the first week of December.

Okazaki Shrine is a photogenic spot lined with cute "bunny charms". Yasaka Koshindo is popular among women for its colorful "kukuri monkeys.

The Senbon-torii gate of Fushimi Inari Taisha and Nanzenjie Temple's Suijikaku are classic Instagram spots.

The Gion Festival at Yasaka Shrine is one of the three major festivals in Kyoto and takes place during the month of July.

Yoiyama (Saki Matsuri July 14 - 16), Yamaboko Junko(Saki Matsuri July 17), Yoiyama (Ato Matsuri July 21 - 23), and Yamaboko Junko(Ato Matsuri July 24) attract many visitors.