# Kyoto without the postcard filter. What staying, getting around and sightseeing are really like

- Link: https://warsawtravelers.pl/en/asia/kyoto-without-the-postcard-filter/
- Published: 2026-10-18T22:00:38+02:00
- Author: Filip Chochół

Ten wpis jest również dostępny w języku:  [⌊Switch to Polski⌉Polski](https://warsawtravelers.pl/azja/kioto-bez-pocztowkowego-filtra/)

 Table of contents

## Hi! 👋

After Tokyo, it was time for the next stop on our first trip to Japan. Since we 
were already there, we wanted to see more than just the huge capital and find out
whether Kyoto really was the calmer contrast to Tokyo that people often describe.

On paper, it all adds up. Kyoto is much smaller, with around 1.43 million residents,
while Tokyo is on a completely different scale. So we were also expecting a slightly
slower pace, fewer people and a bit more breathing room after several days in Tokyo.

Well, a small spoiler here: **fewer residents does not mean fewer people on the 
streets**.

Kyoto is one of Japan’s most popular tourist destinations, and you really feel it
in many parts of the city. Around the temples, in Gion and along the routes to the
best-known places in particular, the crowds can be bigger than we expected. The 
city itself keeps detailed tourism statistics and has been dealing with visitor 
pressure on some neighbourhoods for years.

Even so, Kyoto felt completely different from Tokyo right from the start. Different
buildings, more walking, a different pace of getting around and a much bigger role
for buses. Then, of course, there is all the history, which you do not feel in quite
the same way in Tokyo.

This post is a natural continuation of our earlier articles from Japan. If you have
only just found us, [we have already written about our first stay in Tokyo](https://warsawtravelers.pl/en/asia/tokyo-for-the-first-time/),
[the places we actually visited there](https://warsawtravelers.pl/en/asia/tokyo-day-by-day-neighborhoods-places/)
and [getting around the city](https://warsawtravelers.pl/en/asia/public-transport-in-tokyo/).

Now it is time for Kyoto. How we got there, where we stayed, how we got around, 
whether the buses really are as much of a pain as people sometimes say, how much
our stay cost and, above all, whether we really found a bit of peace and quiet after
Tokyo.

 [ ⌊Tenryu-ji Temple in Kyoto, with a traditional hall, pond garden, and visitors⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-tenryuji-temple-001.jpeg)

## How did we get from Tokyo to Kyoto?

We did not spend long deciding how to travel between Tokyo and Kyoto. We wanted 
to ride the [Shinkansen](https://global.jr-central.co.jp/en/onlinebooking/contents/shinkansen/),
and for this distance it is also simply the most convenient option. We boarded at
[Tokyo Station](https://maps.app.goo.gl/vA3XmdqiMunfZJB38) and arrived at [Kyoto Station](https://global.jr-central.co.jp/en/onlinebooking/contents/kyoto/)
just over two hours later.

We chose a standard-class carriage with **reserved seats**, so there was no need
to look for somewhere to sit once we boarded. Three main types of train run on the
Tokaido Shinkansen: **[Nozomi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nozomi_(train)), [Hikari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikari_(train))
and [Kodama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodama_(train))**. They all go to Kyoto,
but differ in the number of stops. Nozomi makes the fewest stops and covers the 
Tokyo-Kyoto route in around 2 hours and 10 minutes. Hikari takes around 2 hours 
and 40 minutes, while Kodama stops practically everywhere and takes considerably
longer.

We bought our tickets online in advance, with seat reservations. Of course, you 
can use a ticket machine or ticket office at the station, but if you know the day
and approximate time you want to leave, we do not really see a reason to leave it
until the last minute 😄 The official [SmartEX](https://smart-ex.jp/en/index.php)
website lets you choose a specific train and seats from a carriage map, and you 
can change your reservation before departure. If your trip is completely spontaneous,
buying a ticket at the station obviously makes more sense.

And yes, the Shinkansen is **punctual**. Not in the sense of “around that time”.
The train arrives, people get off, the staff prepare the train and a moment later
it carries on according to the timetable. After our experiences in Poland, we tend
to instinctively allow a bit of extra time for “what if something happens”, but 
we did not need it here.

On the way back, we took the Shinkansen with reserved seats again, but this time
we did not go all the way to Tokyo Station. **We got off at [Shinagawa](https://maps.app.goo.gl/RLS1GwoCjTLXn2b48)**,
because we were spending our last night near [Haneda](https://maps.app.goo.gl/1ixaLpMNFnZzbj2C8).
The next morning, we had our flight home from Haneda Airport via Beijing to Warsaw,
so rather than return to the centre and cross half of Tokyo again in the morning,
we went straight towards the airport. Our hotel was close enough to the terminal
that all we had to do in the morning was get ready and walk through a tunnel to 
the airport.

 [ ⌊Kyoto train station platform crowded with passengers boarding a train to Osaka⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-shinkansen-station.jpeg)

## First impressions after Tokyo

When we came out of Kyoto Station, we did not really feel much of a difference yet.
Lots of people, a huge station and a route to the subway full of passengers. If 
someone had asked us then where this supposedly “calmer Kyoto” was, the answer would
have been short: not here yet 😄

It was only when we started walking around the city that the differences became 
much more noticeable.

The first was the **scale of the buildings**. In Tokyo, you often walk between tall
buildings, multi-level stations, elevated roads and wide main streets. In Kyoto,
we were much more often surrounded by buildings just a few storeys high, small ground-
floor shops, houses standing right by the street and side streets barely wide enough
for a car.

This is not just a coincidence or a matter of “historic atmosphere”. Kyoto has long
kept a close eye on the city’s appearance. It has protected selected landscapes 
since 1930, and in 2007 it tightened building height restrictions. The city also
regulates the appearance of advertising and new buildings so that they do not dominate
the historic buildings and views.

That is why even an ordinary walk can feel different from one in Tokyo. You do not
have to be at a temple or on an old street in [Gion](https://maps.app.goo.gl/yBPM9k1gCxpgDS876).
In many parts of the centre, you can still see [**kyo-machiya**](https://kyomachiya.city.kyoto.lg.jp/en/english/),
the traditional narrow townhouses. Their distinctive feature is that they look modest
and narrow from the street, but extend far back into the plot. This layout is sometimes
called an “eel’s bed”.

The second thing we began to notice as we walked was the **street layout**. Central
Kyoto has a very regular grid. This is not a modern development. When [Heian-kyo](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heian-kyō),
the predecessor of today’s Kyoto, was founded in 794, the city was planned on the
model of China’s Chang’an. The streets ran parallel from east to west and north 
to south, and that layout is still very clear in today’s city centre.

It creates a slightly funny effect. On the one hand, the streets can be very narrow
and quiet, but on the other, it is easier than in Tokyo to work out where you actually
are, because much of the centre is built on a regular grid.

Then there are the **city’s surroundings**. Kyoto lies in a basin, with mountains
to the north, east and west. In Tokyo, it is easy to forget where one city ends 
and another begins, because the built-up area is almost continuous. In Kyoto, mountains
appear much more often at the end of a street or in the background. Visually, this
gives the city clearer boundaries.

## How many days did we spend in Kyoto, and was it enough?

We were in Kyoto from **25 to 28 April**, so we had three nights and, in practice,
around three days there. That worked out quite well for a first stay, as we managed
to see everything on our list and still set aside a whole day for a trip to [Nara](https://maps.app.goo.gl/EodURYYKRAbWh1Df8).

It also shows that you do not have to plan a whole week in Kyoto to get something
out of it. If you group places sensibly and do not try to travel from one end of
the city to the other every day, three days can be enough to see quite a lot.

## How do you get around Kyoto?

After Tokyo, we expected transport in Kyoto to be simpler because the city itself
is much smaller. And in some ways it is, but it works differently. In Tokyo, we 
almost always had a train or subway station nearby. In Kyoto, you are much more 
likely to need a combination of **train, subway, bus and some walking**.

The biggest trap at the beginning is that, looking at a map, it is easy to assume
the bus is the best option because it takes you almost to the door of a particular
temple. But it shares the road with all the traffic, stops constantly and can get
really full around popular places. If there is a train or subway nearby, it is often
faster to cover most of the route by rail and only walk or take a bus for the final
stretch.

### Buses in Kyoto

In the centre, most regular **[Kyoto City Bus](https://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu/webguide/en/)
routes have a flat fare of JPY 230 per ride**. During our stay, we usually boarded
through the rear door and paid when getting off at the front. With an IC card, you
simply tap your Suica or another accepted card on the reader as you get off. On 
routes that go beyond the flat-fare zone, the process may be different: you also
tap your card when boarding so the system knows where you started your journey.

It helps to know this beforehand, because on Tokyo buses we had got used to paying
when boarding. In Kyoto, you might spend a moment wondering whether you have missed
something.

The stops are shown on a display inside the bus, so you do not need to know Japanese.
Press the STOP button before your stop, then pay as you get off.

**It is better not to board a bus with a large suitcase, though.** It is not formally
prohibited, but Kyoto’s buses are often full, and one large suitcase can take up
the space of several people. The problem has become significant enough for the city
to run a “Hands Free Kyoto” campaign, encouraging visitors to leave luggage in storage
or have it sent directly from Kyoto Station to their hotel.

If you arrive by Shinkansen with large bags, **the subway, a train or having your
suitcases delivered to your hotel** may make more sense than squeezing onto a crowded
City Bus with them. Kyoto Station has plenty of lockers and luggage storage facilities,
as well as same-day luggage delivery services to your accommodation.

 [ ⌊Inside a Kyoto bus with a few passengers seated and standing straps overhead⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-bus-inside.jpeg)

 [ ⌊A city bus in Kyoto on a street near the Shijo Kawaramachi shopping center⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-bus-on-road-scaled.jpeg)

### The subway, JR, Keihan, Hankyu and other railways

This is where things might initially look like a repeat of Tokyo: several operators
again 😄

**Kyoto’s subway has just two lines**. The Karasuma Line runs mainly north to south,
passing through Kyoto Station, Shijo and Karasuma Oike. The Tozai Line crosses the
city more from east to west, passing through Higashiyama, Sanjo Keihan and Nijo,
among other places. The two lines meet at Karasuma Oike.

So the subway is straightforward, but it will not get you everywhere on its own.
That is why other rail operators become useful when sightseeing.

[**JR**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JR_Kyōto_Line) is particularly convenient
if you are starting at Kyoto Station. The [JR Nara Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nara_Line_(JR_West))
goes directly to Inari, next to Fushimi Inari Taisha, while the [Sagano Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagano_Line)
is one of the simplest ways to reach the Arashiyama area. JR is also useful for 
a trip to Nara, of course.

[**Keihan**](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keihan) runs along the eastern side of
the city. It is a very useful line if you are staying in or exploring the areas 
around Gion, [Sanjo](https://maps.app.goo.gl/KwDhdgxpXduUeGuq6) or [Fushimi](https://maps.app.goo.gl/G6cXa63J3GvcFjFi7).
From Gion-Shijo, you can travel directly towards Fushimi Inari, and Keihan stations
are also conveniently placed for some of Higashiyama’s sights. 

[**Hankyu**](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hankyū) is mainly useful in the centre,
around [Kyoto-Kawaramachi](https://maps.app.goo.gl/5YCB8PPZQ6u15naRA) and Karasuma,
and lets you continue towards [Arashiyama](https://maps.app.goo.gl/z615LPPzWzYk3e7XA)
or Osaka. Kyoto-Kawaramachi is right in the middle of one of the city’s busiest 
areas, so it can be a much more convenient starting point than Kyoto Station.

There is also [**Kintetsu**](https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintetsu), which serves
Nara among other destinations, and the small [**Randen**](https://www.japan-experience.com/plan-your-trip/to-know/traveling-japan/randen-tram)
railway, which you can use when exploring the western part of the city and Arashiyama.

 [ ⌊Passengers wait beside a maroon commuter train at a station, with an Osaka-Umeda destination sign visible⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-hankyu-car-on-station.jpeg)

 [ ⌊Inside a Hankyu train in Kyoto with seated passengers, many using phones⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-hankyu-inside-scaled.jpeg)

 [ ⌊Kyoto Line train stop map displayed inside a train, showing stations from Kyoto-Kawaramachi to Osaka-Umeda⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-hankyu-line-map.jpeg)

### Suica and IC cards

This part was easier for us, because we arrived from Tokyo with our Suica cards 
and simply kept using them.

You do not need to buy a separate “Kyoto card”. **[Suica](https://www.jreast.co.jp/en/multi/pass/suica.html)
works on the city’s subway and buses, as well as with many rail operators in the
Kansai region**. The same applies to other cards in the nationwide interoperability
system, including [ICOCA](https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/howto/icoca/) and [PASMO](https://www.pasmo.co.jp/en/).

On the subway, it works exactly as you would expect: tap your card at the gate when
entering and again when leaving. On buses, how you use it depends on the type of
route, but on regular city services we paid with Suica when getting off.

This is particularly convenient because you might use the subway, JR, Keihan and
a bus in a single day without having to work out which paper ticket to buy each 
time.

The one familiar issue remained the same as in Tokyo: **with a physical IC card,
it is best to keep an eye on the balance**. Subway top-up machines still take yen,
not a regular payment card. With [Suica in Apple Wallet](https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/wsmlp/),
we did not have to worry about that, because we could top it up on our phones.

## Can you explore Kyoto on foot?

Yes, and for us, **walking was the main way we explored Kyoto**. Our hotel was near
Omiya, so the location worked quite well for our plans. For many places in the centre,
we could simply head out in the morning and walk, without checking bus or subway
options every time.

Kyoto lends itself well to this, especially if you stick to one part of the city
on a given day. The centre is fairly compact, and you can comfortably walk between
Shijo, Nishiki Market, Kawaramachi, Gion and further into Higashiyama. We often 
chose to walk rather than take public transport for one or two stops, because there
was always something along the way that we would not have noticed from a bus. The
city itself also suggests walking as a sensible alternative for many popular places,
especially when buses are stuck in traffic.

Just make sure you look at the map beyond the city centre. Kyoto is spread out, 
and some places are definitely too far away for a reasonable walk. **Arashiyama 
and the [Bamboo Forest](https://maps.app.goo.gl/ATrhiBft236ATFme9)** are on the 
western side of the city. We used transport to get there, because walking well over
ten kilometres just to start the actual sightseeing would not have made much sense.
From the centre, you can take Hankyu, Randen or JR, then explore the whole area 
on foot from the station. 

It was a similar story with **Byodo-in**, which we had planned to visit but ultimately
did not reach. The temple is in Uji, outside Kyoto itself. A rapid service on the
JR Nara Line takes around 17 minutes from Kyoto Station to Uji, followed by roughly
a 10-minute walk.

 [ ⌊Ulica w Kyoto z samochodami, rowerzystami i gęstą zabudową miejską⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-street-in-city.jpeg)

## Crowds in Kyoto: when are they worst?

A lot depended on where we were. All it took was stepping away from the most popular
routes, and at times we could walk along almost empty side streets.

Our biggest encounter with the sheer number of tourists was **on the way to [Kiyomizu-dera](https://maps.app.goo.gl/XnowMa44MiBw988R7)**.
It was really packed there 😄 The closer we got to the temple, the more the street
became one continuous stream of people moving in both directions. Add shops, restaurants,
people stopping for photos and tour groups, and even a relatively short stretch 
can take a long time.

The layout of the place partly explains it. There are essentially two main approaches
to the Kiyomizu-dera grounds: via **Kiyomizu-zaka** or [**Chawan-zaka**](https://maps.app.goo.gl/xkLaP11gMPTMzjh4A).
A large share of visitors therefore end up on the same narrow streets leading to
the temple.

If the temple itself is your main priority, the solution is fairly simple: **Kiyomizu-
dera opens as early as 6:00 am**. We are not going to pretend we got up before dawn
every day just to get a photo without people in it (we would not even have felt 
like doing that xD). The temple normally stays open until 6:00 pm, with longer hours
for selected events and seasonal evening openings.

There is a trade-off, though. At six in the morning, you can see the temple in much
quieter conditions, but some shops and places to eat along the approach streets 
will still be closed. If you also want to explore the area, eat something and see
the streets going about their normal day, you have to accept that there will be 
more people.

There are also periods when you should be particularly prepared for crowds. Visitor
numbers are highest during **cherry blossom season from late March to early April**
and in autumn, roughly from mid-November to early December. Golden Week, at the 
end of April and beginning of May, is also particularly busy. During our stay in
late April, the city introduced additional crowd information and cameras specifically
because of the expected visitor numbers over this period.

## Gion is not a theme park

Gion is probably one of the places where the downside of Kyoto’s huge popularity
is most visible. For a tourist, it means old streets, traditional buildings, teahouses
and the chance of spotting a geiko or maiko along the way. But for residents, it
is still an ordinary neighbourhood, not an attraction arranged for photos.

So let us start with who **geiko and maiko** actually are, because outside Japan
you are more likely to hear the word “geisha”. In Kyoto, the term **geiko** is used.
They are professional artists trained in traditional dance, music, singing and hosting
gatherings at teahouses, among other skills. **A maiko is an apprentice training
to become a geiko**. It is usually maiko who stand out with more colourful kimono,
hair ornaments and distinctive makeup. In Kyoto, this culture is still an active
part of five traditional kagai districts, including Gion Kobu, Gion Higashi and 
Pontocho.

[And their popularity with tourists has been a problem for years.](https://www.businessinsider.com/tourist-banned-japan-kyoto-gion-geisha-rules-2024-3?IR=T)

People have stopped geiko and maiko in the street, followed them, taken photos from
very close up and even tried to touch them. Yet if you see a geiko or maiko walking
through Gion, she is usually **simply on her way to work or an appointment**, not
taking part in a performance for passers-by. In southern Gion, the rules are therefore
very clear: do not stop them, follow them or photograph them without permission.

The second issue is the streets themselves. Some look as though everything around
you is public space, but that is not the case. Gion has **private roads and properties**
that you cannot enter just because they look good in a photo. Photography is also
prohibited in some of these places.

Then there is simply blocking the streets. Hanamikoji and the side streets are not
huge pedestrian avenues. Cars use them, people come out of their homes and businesses,
and a group standing in the middle for several minutes to take one photo can make
it difficult for everyone else to get through. That is why visitors to Gion are 
also reminded not to step into the road for photos or obstruct traffic.

For us, this was a useful reminder of how easy it can be, when travelling, to slip
into thinking “everything here is for tourists”. That is definitely not the case
in Gion. You can walk around the neighbourhood and take photos where it is allowed.
But if you come across a geiko or maiko, the best thing to do is simply let her 
pass.

And if you actually want to see their dancing and learn more about this culture,
there are places specifically set up for that. One is **Gion Corner**, which hosts
performances of Kyoto’s traditional arts. There are also organised meetings and 
performances with geiko and maiko for which you can buy a ticket or make a reservation.

## Where did we stay in Kyoto?

We chose [**Hotel M’s Plus Shijo Omiya**](https://www.agoda.com/partners/partnersearch.aspx?pcs=1&cid=1933139&hid=1618153)
for three nights and paid **PLN 1,240 for two people** for the whole stay from 25
to 28 April.

The hotel is practically next to [**Omiya**](https://maps.app.goo.gl/fxQyjshwx8Wa51YN6)
station, around a two-minute walk from Hankyu Omiya and the Randen tram stop. The
location worked very well for us: we were close enough to the centre to explore 
much of the city on foot, and when we wanted to go further, public transport was
right on our doorstep.

The room itself was not large. After Tokyo, that was no longer much of a surprise,
as we had already become familiar with compact rooms in Japanese hotels. The smallest
rooms at M’s Plus are just 12 m², with other options measuring 15-16 m², so this
is not a hotel you choose for vast amounts of space. It was perfectly enough for
three nights, though, especially as we spent most of each day out of the hotel anyway.

Our booking was **without breakfast**, and we chose that deliberately. On a short
stay, we did not want to start every day at a hotel buffet when shops and places
to eat were just a few minutes away, and trying food around the city was one of 
the things we wanted to do while sightseeing.

## Food in Kyoto

It is hard to complain about the choice of food in Kyoto. Ramen, sushi and yakitori
are easy to find, but we also soon started coming across things that we either had
not noticed in Tokyo or had not previously associated specifically with Kyoto.

For us, the best place to see that variety in one spot was [**Nishiki Market**](https://maps.app.goo.gl/6Z8fvdXcdpPExSFu5).
Calling it simply street food would not really do it justice. It is a narrow, covered
market street around **390 metres long**, with more than a hundred shops and places
to eat. Trade here goes back several hundred years, and an official fish market 
was already operating in the early 17th century. There is a reason Nishiki earned
the nickname **“Kyoto’s kitchen”**.

You can buy fresh fish and seafood, vegetables from the Kyoto region, dried foods,
seasonings, pickles, tofu, sweets and ready-to-eat food. There are grilled skewers,
oysters, sushi, **dashimaki**, a Japanese omelette made with dashi, tempura and 
hamo, a fish closely associated with Kyoto cuisine. Other displays hold less familiar
things, such as **yuba**, the delicate layer that forms on the surface of heated
soy milk, or **nama-fu**, a wheat gluten product used in traditional cooking.

This is where you can get a slightly better sense of what makes the food associated
with Kyoto different. Tofu, yuba, vegetables, pickles and dashi all play a big role.
There is also **obanzai**, home-style dishes originating in the kitchens of Kyoto
residents, usually based on seasonal vegetables and simple ingredients. At the other
end is kaiseki, a much more formal, multi-course style of dining. One city, but 
quite a difference between those two ways of eating.

Nishiki does have one catch, though. With so much food practically right under your
nose, the instinct is to buy something and keep going, but **eating while walking
through the market is discouraged**. You eat what you buy at the stall or in a designated
area. In places, the street is little more than three metres wide, so when it is
busy, someone walking with food in one hand and a phone in the other soon starts
getting in everyone’s way.

 [ ⌊A meal at a restaurant in Kyoto: trays of Japanese dishes, rice, breaded cutlets, and drinks⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-foods-001-scaled.jpeg)

 [ ⌊Food at the Kyoto market: trays of seafood skewers and fried snacks⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-foods-002.jpeg)

 [ ⌊Kobe beef skewers and sushi for sale at a market stall in Kyoto, Japan⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-foods-003-scaled.jpeg)

## Payments, cash and ATMs

After Tokyo, we were not expecting anything radically different here, and that was
how it turned out. In Kyoto, we also **paid for most things by card**, and we think
we only withdrew cash once. What is more, we did not get through that cash particularly
quickly afterwards.

It shows just how much Japan has changed in this respect. You can still come across
places where cash is the only option, particularly at some temples, smaller places
to eat or for small purchases, but cards are very often accepted at hotels, larger
restaurants, shops and konbini. Kyoto’s official tourist information still recommends
carrying some yen, precisely because some temple admission fees are cash-only.

We did not carry large amounts of cash “just in case”, though. A few thousand yen
in our wallets was enough as a reserve, and we paid for everything else by card 
or Suica.

ATMs are not a problem either. They are not on every corner, but it would be hard
to call them difficult to find in the city. Once again, [**Seven Bank ATMs**](https://www.sevenbank.co.jp/english/personal/atm/)
were the easiest option for us. You can find them in 7-Eleven stores, among other
places. They accept foreign cards and have menus in several languages.

Just pay attention to one thing when withdrawing cash. If the ATM asks whether you
want the transaction processed in Polish zloty or Japanese yen, we chose **JPY**.
The PLN option usually means that the ATM operator handles the conversion through
DCC, rather than leaving it to your bank or card provider. Seven Bank itself explains
both options for withdrawals with foreign cards.

## What did we see in Kyoto?

We did not want to make another list of sights here, because this post is more about**
what staying in Kyoto is actually like**. Knowing how transport works, where to 
stay and how much cash to carry is one thing; deciding which places you actually
want to see is another.

Over those few days, we visited **Kiyomizu-dera, Gion, Nishiki Market and the Bamboo
Forest**, among other places, and came across plenty more along the way that we 
did not treat as separate stops to “tick off”. We did not get through everything
we had written down before the trip.

And that was probably a good thing, because in Kyoto it is very easy to put together
a plan that has you rushing from one temple to the next from morning to night. After
a few places like that, the names start to blur together, and you end up paying 
more attention to the next bus than to where you actually are 😄

That is why we have put together a separate post about **the places we visited ourselves
in Kyoto**. We share our route, what actually impressed us, where the crowds became
tiring and which places we would happily visit again. Without adding sights just
because they appear on every “must-see” list.

If you are at the stage of marking places on a map, [**you can find our separate Kyoto sightseeing guide here**](https://warsawtravelers.pl/en/asia/the-kyoto-places-worth-a-detour/).

 [ ⌊Woman in sunglasses and a polka-dot dress standing on a path through a bamboo grove⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-bamboo-forest-001-scaled.jpeg)

 [ ⌊Kiyomizu street in Kyoto, crowded with tourists and locals on stone steps among traditional shops⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-kiyomizu-street.jpeg)

 [ ⌊Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto lit up at night with rows of glowing paper lanterns⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-yasaka-shrine-001.jpeg)

 [ ⌊Kyoto’s Uedacho street with a five-story pagoda and crowds of visitors⌉ ](https://warsawtravelers.pl/cdn-cgi/image/quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/japan-kyoto-uedacho-street-scaled.jpeg)

## How much did our stay in Kyoto cost?

Adding up our expenses, **our stay in Kyoto cost around PLN 3,263 for two people**.
That includes three nights of accommodation, the Shinkansen journey from Tokyo and
the return trip, plus our day-to-day spending there. We also spent one of the three
days on a trip to Nara.

The biggest part of the budget went on things paid for before we even started sightseeing.**
Accommodation cost PLN 1,240.02, and the return Shinkansen journeys cost PLN 1,264.62
for both of us.** Together, that is already around PLN 2,505, or more than three
quarters of the total.

For day-to-day spending from 25 to 27 April, we recorded around **PLN 758** in our
tracker. That includes restaurants, groceries, konbini, coffee, Suica top-ups and
other smaller expenses. It works out at roughly **PLN 253 a day for the two of us**,
excluding the hotel and travel between Tokyo and Kyoto.

We do not count ATM withdrawals as separate costs, because that would mean counting
the same money twice. For the same reason, we treat the PLN 758 as more of a guide
than an exact account down to the last grosz, since we later spent some of the yen
in cash.

In the end, that comes to around **PLN 1,630 per person** for three days in Kyoto,
including accommodation and the return Shinkansen journey. This makes it clear where
the money really went. Food, public transport and getting around the city were not
particularly expensive. It was mainly the high-speed train journey and accommodation
that pushed up the overall cost of the trip.