Cycling around Kyoto and sampling whiskies in the Suntory Distillery
Summary
Kyoto has been Japan’s Imperial capital for a thousand years and has . . . a thousand temples. If, like me, you can get a bit templed out, its quite easy to get tired walking from one temple to the next and, honestly, whilst I enjoyed the trip to Kyoto, I don’t remember any of the specific temples. So, my tips for a visit:
- Rent a bike to cycle around the temples, and generally around Kyoto. It adds a different angle to the day as you can see areas outside of the standard temples, including the large gardens, are not restricted by a driver, and Kyoto city centre is very safe to cycle, including being able to cycle along the canals
- Unless you are a Japanese history geek, one day is more than enough for the temples
- The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in the west of the city is definitely worth checking out as it’s super dense green bamboo forrest makes you think you’re in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
- I’d highly recommend taking a half day trip to the Suntory Whiskey Distillery just outside Kyoto. Even if you are not a whiskey fan, it’s a nice experience as they show you how the whiskey is made, tell the history and give you some free samplings at the end. Considering the standard of these whiskies and their recognition internationally (they won many of the world’s best awards), this is very generous. It’s only a 25min train ride (which is fun on its own) from Kyoto Station and has very pleasant surroundings nestled in a glen
- As with all things Japan, try and stay somewhere with an Onsen – coming back and relaxing in them at the end of the day really adds to the overall Japanese experience. You’ll find your blood pressure dropping quickly and even catch yourself dropping in a small bow to people in the lifts
- We stayed near the station, which was a perfect location
- For more details on how Kyoto can fit into a week itinerary for the highlights of central Japan, see the individual travel entry for – A week in Japan from Tokyo, to Mount Fuji and Kyoto
highlights
#1 Sampling the world-class whiskies and learning about how they're made in the superbly-set Suntory Whiskey Distillery just outside of Kyoto
#2 Cycling around both the temples and downtown Kyoto for a different way of seeing the place
#4 Wandering through the ornate gardens of Ancient Kyoto
#4 Walking through the super dense green Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
#5 Seeing the vast number of historic temples in the UNESCO world heritage listed Ancient Kyoto
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Alcohol Tasting Experiences
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone