The lively modern centre around Kawaramachi and the Kamo river — the Nishiki food market, covered shopping arcades, the best restaurants, and the atmospheric Pontocho and Kiyamachi nightlife lanes. Central, convenient and buzzing, walkable to Gion across the river; the best base for eating, drinking and getting everywhere.
A look around
What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.
€220–450
typical per night in Japan
You pay for the postcode
One of the pricier addresses in Kyoto.
Where it sits
The circle is Downtown and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.
How far is everything?
From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.
- Gion & the geisha district8 min walk707 m
- The Higashiyama lanes18 min walk1.5 km
- Kiyomizu-dera23 min walk1.9 km
- Nijo Castle25 min walk2.1 km
- Fushimi Inari Shrine13 min taxi4.2 km
- Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)16 min taxi5.2 km
- Tenryu-ji & its garden26 min taxi8.7 km
- The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove27 min taxi8.9 km
On your doorstep
What you’re living next to if you stay here.
- 6.Nishiki Market — 'Kyoto's Kitchen' — a narrow, roofed arcade five blocks long, packed with over a hundred stalls of pickles, tofu, sweets, seafood, tea and Kyoto specialities, many offering a taste. A brilliant, atmospheric food crawl in the heart of downtown; graze your way along, and try the skewers, soy-milk doughnuts and matcha treats.
- 11.Pontocho & Kiyamachi — Kyoto after dark — Pontocho, a narrow lantern-lit alley of exclusive restaurants and bars beside the Kamo river (with summer dining terraces over the water), and the buzzier Kiyamachi strip nearby. The city's most atmospheric place to eat and drink; stroll it in the evening and pick a spot by the river.
- 12.Kyoto cuisine & kaiseki — Kyoto is the home of Japan's most refined cooking — kaiseki, a seasonal, multi-course tasting of tiny, exquisite dishes, plus tofu cuisine, matcha sweets and yudofu by the temples. Splurge on a kaiseki dinner once, or sample the city's delicate flavours cheaper at Nishiki and the downtown restaurants.
When are you staying?
Booking.com & Airbnb open searched to Downtown; flights via Google Flights.