If Tokyo is Japan’s heart, Kyoto is its soul. Once the imperial capital, the city is home to 1,600 Buddhist temples, 400 shrines, and more than 200 gardens; a living repository of classical arts and crafts where traditions continue to thrive. But the best things to do in Kyoto represent not only a city of preservation—this has also long been a place of innovation: bamboo harvested here helped Thomas Edison fashion the filament for the first light bulb; Japan’s first streetcar rattled to life on Kyoto’s avenues; and Nintendo grew from a small playing-card company into a global powerhouse in its backstreets. Visitors often come chasing cherry blossoms and the golden shimmer of Kinkakuji Temple, but in recent years some of the most iconic sites here—Arashiyama’s bamboo grove, Pontocho Alley, and Kiyomizudera—have become magnets for overwhelming crowds, straining the neighborhoods around them. Here, we turn the lens elsewhere, toward quieter destinations that illuminate this city’s multifaceted spirit. These are the best things to do in Kyoto.
Read our full Kyoto travel guide here, which includes:
How we choose the best things to do in Kyoto
Every review on this list has been written by a Condé Nast Traveler journalist who knows the destination and has visited that activity. When choosing things to do, our editors consider landmarks and experiences that offer an insider’s view of a destination, keeping authenticity, location, service, and sustainability credentials top of mind.