*POST UPDATED OCTOBER 2026.
Hello friends! Happy weekend! It is my absolute pleasure to be bringing you a brand new + sparkly city guide: Four Days in Kyoto, Japan! In case you missed it, Husband and I went on honeymoon to Japan in January and spent two glorious weeks slowly making our way around the country! We hit Tokyo first, kickstarting the trip with four days in Shinjuku and a morning in Asakusa, followed by four days in Kyoto, another four days in Osaka, and then one final day back in Tokyo, this time in Shibuya. As the title above might have hinted at, this post will deal with all things Kyoto, and I am so excited to share some of the city’s magic with you!
Firstly, let’s get this out in the open: Kyoto was our favourite city in Japan. We loved everything about it. The calmness of the city, the people, the beautiful temples on every street corner, the food, every! single! thing! On our first night, after checking into our gorgeous hotel and stepping out for a wander, I’d say it took us a whole 2-minutes to fall head-over-heels IN LOVE with the place. There’s such a mesmerizing feeling of magic and beauty in the air
Also, just to prepare you: this is different to every travel guide I’ve ever written. Normally I’d share a complete overview, covering everything from hotels to foodie spots to the best places to tourist etc. However, not today! Today’s post will deal exclusively with everywhere we tourist-ed in Kyoto, while a separate food + drink guide will follow shortly. To be honest, I just had too many recommendations for one post and didn’t want to overwhelm you! Hopefully this method of divvying up the two is the solution 🙂
kyoto fun facts
Everybody’s favourite section! Read, memorize, and go wow people with your newfound cultural smarts!
way back when – like waaaaay back, from 794 to 1868 AD(!) – Kyoto was the capital of Japan! Tokyo, which was then known as Edo, nabbed the title when it became a major trading hub with the west.
related: the word Kyoto literally translates to “capital city”. Before it was named Kyoto, it was known as Heian-kyō, which apparently translates to “capital of peace and tranquility”. For me, the former name definitely captures the spirit of the city; there was something so overwhelmingly calming in the air!
Kyoto’s nickname is the City of Ten Thousand Shrines. While that’s a sliiiight exaggeration – the real number rests in and around 3,000 – there sure are a whole load of shrines and temples in the city.
originally, Kyoto was one of the intended cities for the USA’s atomic bomb drops. Thankfully, the city was spared that horrific fate – but the reason why is disputed. According to some, US Secretary of War Henry Stimson, who honeymooned in Kyoto(!), asked President Truman himself to remove it from the target lists due to his great admiration of the city. However, others argue that it was archaeologist and art historian Langdon Warner that went to Truman, citing the cultural assets of Kyoto as the reason to spare it. As an archaeology & art historian major myself, I’m definitely leaning towards the latter.
Kyoto has 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites! Rather than being listed separately, the spots are listed together as ‘Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji, and Otsu Cities)’. For a more detailed breakdown of the list, click here.
PS, don’t worry! There are a few more location-specific fun facts littered throughout the rest of this post 😉