Kyoto Japan

Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan and the location of the emperor’s residence, and is often considered to be the hub of the cultural heritage of Japan. Kyoto is a very large city, with a population of 1.5 million people, and it’s an incredibly modern city which is a juxtaposition against its historic traditions.

Kyoto is renowned for the many historical attractions including palaces, temples, shrines, gardens, and the Gion geisha culture. It also used to be known for being a serene place to absorb ancient traditions, yet that has fast changed. Many international tourists feel that a trip to Kyoto is a must-do for any Japan trip and overtourism is rife. Stories abound of maiko and geisha not willing to leave their okiya (geisha house) for fear of being mobbed by thousands of tourists wanting to take their photo. There is much debate about international overtourism in Kyoto and misbehaviour of boguns who have made Kyoto anything but zen, although the majority of tourists in Kyoto are of the domestic kind who are just day tripping from Tokyo.

At least when visiting Kyoto in winter, it’s a little less crazy than other parts of the year, so long as you avoid the New Year holidays. 

Where is Kyoto?

Kyoto is nestled in a valley amongst mountains in the Kansai region of western Honshu (the main island) of Japan. Located in Kyoto Prefecture, the city of Kyoto is 55km northeast of Osaka and 450km southwest of Tokyo.

Kyoto is very accessible considering it’s easy to get a shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto, or nearby Osaka has two airports. Kansai International Airport (KIX) has the Kansai Airport Station, so it is an easy connection to Kyoto via train. From Itami Airport there are regular limousine buses to Kyoto.

Travel around Kyoto is well supplemented via a network of trains, buses and taxis, or you may choose to use a bicycle to visit some of the attractions.

Ski Resorts Near Kyoto

There is far better skiing and snowboarding to the north in the prefectures of Nagano and Niigata, but if you’re only visiting the Kansai region there is some skiing near Kyoto.

Kyoto Hirogawara Ski Area is located in Kyoto City, yet its opening status has been in flux. Even if it was open, you’d have to be ridiculously keen to go skiing in Kyoto considering the ski area had one run and poor snow quality.

So scrap that idea and consider Biwako Valley, but only if you’re a beginner or lower-intermediate and are not too fussed about the snow quality. Biwako Valley is 35km northeast of Kyoto and just a 40 minute drive from the Kyoto East Interchange, and you can get there via train/bus or bus if you don’t have a car.

There are a few other ski resorts near Kyoto, and they are reasonable if you haven’t seen snow before and are not too fussed about powder. They are not at high elevation and are a long way south of the main ski resorts of Honshu that score decent snow.

Ski Resorts Near Kyoto - Stats
Ski Area	Top (m)	Base (m)	Vertical (m)	Runs	Lifts	Max Pitch °	Location *
Biwako Valley	1,174	950	224	8	6	30	35km NE
Hakodateyama	690	540	150	10	4	38	66km NE
Kutsuki	580	450	130	4	2	35	53km NE
Kunizakai Kogen (Ohana)	592	384	208	5	4	31	83km NE
Yogo Kogen (Yap)	740	540	200	5	3	33	129km NE

* distance relative to Kyoto train station

Kyoto Hotels

There are lots of Kyoto accommodation options that range from modern to historic, and you can choose from luxury branded hotels, business hotels, inexpensive minshuku, and ryokan if you’d like to experience the quintessential traditional stay. The city of Kyoto is large, so you’ll need to travel around to see the attractions regardless of which area you choose to stay in. See the Kyoto accommodation page for information on the different areas. 

Kyoto Hotel Listings

Kyoto Activities

Rather than just winging it, you will probably want to plan your itinerary in Kyoto so it makes geographic sense and to potentially avoid some of the really popular attractions in the middle of the day when it may feel like half of Tokyo is there. Kyoto has a ridiculous number of temples and shrines, so you may want to add in some of the lesser known temples to minimise the crowds too.

There may be some attractions that you can do a self-walking tour of, depending on your Kyoto accommodation zone, or possibly do a bicycle tour.

Here’s just some of Kyoto’s classic activities to put on your research list, either to include or to avoid!

The orangey red gateways at the Fushimi Inari shrine in Fushimi-ku seem to be very popular for an instagrammable reel or post, but good luck getting a photo without hundreds of other people in it!

The little laneways of Gion are pretty cool to see the traditional teahouses and okiya with the backdrop of the Yasaka Pagoda. You can explore in the hope that you spot a real geisha out for a stroll, but if you do, please be incredibly respectful. As an alternative to geisha chasing, there are touristy geisha shows and experiences such as tea ceremonies, and you can dress up in a kimono if you really want to get your touristy on and be like everyone else on Instagram. This makes for great people watching!

Kinkaku-ji Temple (Golden Pavilion) is potentially the most popular Kyoto temple and it has a lovely Japanese garden. Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion), even though it was not covered in silver, also has a lovely garden.

Walk through the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and see the giant bamboo which may be covered in frost, or snow if you’re really lucky.

Visit the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in February to see the plum blossoms, which are similar in appearance to the sakura (cherry blossoms) and look rather pretty. Sometimes January may also be appropriate timing for the pink blossoms.

Kifune/Kibune Shrine is a nice spot to head if it’s snowed, as the steps with the red lanterns are rather striking.

Also put on your do or don’t list, Kiyomizudera, Nijo-jo castle, Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka. Or you may want to eat your way around Kyoto and start your indulgence at Nishiki Market.

Kyoto also has lots of onsen, but if you’re in Japan to go skiing or snowboarding, you’re likely to have good access to plenty of other onsen experiences.

What’s an Alternative to Kyoto?

There are plenty of other towns and cities in Japan that provide historical cultural experiences, although not to the same scale as Kyoto, and they too are becoming very busy as domestic and international tourists seek an alternative to Kyoto. Even the little onsen town of Ginzan Onsen is really busy.

For destinations that aren’t too far away from good skiing and snowboarding, you could do the Three-Star Road. Mitsuboshi Kaido includes Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture with its impressive castle, Takayama, Shirakawa-go which has the thatched roof buildings that you’ve probably seen in photos, Gokayama, and Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture. This route showcases traditional Japan with world heritage sites, national treasures, onsen, snow covered mountains and plenty of Japanese cuisine.