Kyoto: start in Higashiyama area with afternoon walk

Arrive at any time, and by 14:30 be ready for your afternoon welcome mini-tour - that starts in front of the biggest wooden gates in Japan at Chion-in Buddhist temple.

Together with your guide take a short walk from Chion-in Sanmon gates spotting plum blossoms along the way, to another smaller temple nearby, to see where in the old days retired emperors lived.

Explore local stores and sweets cafés to get an introduction to Kyoto food culture and daily life. Stay in the area after the tour ends at 17:30, or walk with your tour leader to Yasaka Shrine (the starting point of Shijo-dori, main shopping street of Kyoto city that crosses the city from east to west).

Kyoto: Shinto and Zen amidst plum blossoms, geisha by night

Be in the car by 9 am to move to northern part of the city enjoying the colors and fragrance of Japanese apricot, or plum blossoms. We take a walk in the plum grove next to over 1,000 year old shrine dedicated to Heian era aristocrat.
Walk through still-quiet geisha district, one of only 5 so called teahouses districts in Kyoto, with its own atmosphere and symbols.

Next is the Zen monastery, one of the biggest and oldest Buddhist temples. The serenity of its stone gardens inside massive verdant grounds provides a background for stories to understand how religion and history connects with gardens and Zen meditation. Plum blossoms are to be seen and smelled abound here.

Lunch will be one of the most enjoyable vegetarian gourmet experiences Japan has to offer. You will forget about meat or fish while savouring delectable tofu and yuba dishes, vegetables and seasonal herbs combined with rice, pickles and green tea, seated on floor mats at low tables.

Next is a picturesque, architecturally remarkable Shinto shrine. Visit its kitchen-turned-into-museum, where Shinto shrine priests prepare food offerings for gods and deities. The shrine precincts have a few plum blossoms spots that attract professional photographers and should delight you as well.

Weather and time permitting, walk in the neighbourhood discovering non-touristy spots such as a rich merchant’s former villa, or move closer to the city centre to visit a few carefully selected shops with museum-quality Kyoto traditional crafts. Should you wish to do so, you may opt to go back to the hotel and relax a bit before dinner, as long as you can make it to the restaurant by taxi on your own. The vehicle stays with the group.

By 7 o’clock those who booked dinner with geishas will arrive at an upscale restaurant in the Higashiyama area, ready for their multicourse kaiseki meal that lasts for at least 2 hours, including geisha entertainment for an hour or so (one geiko and one maiko accompanying our dinner). (all guests must be at the restaurant by a certain time, Kyoto chefs are very strict)

Kyoto: tea and art in and around Kyoto

Be ready to leave your hotel at 9 am (time tbc), and soon you are at the entrance of a traditional tea specialist store to learn about different types of green tea.

Next you will be visiting the store selling the best matcha ice cream in the world. The store offers a variety of matcha-infused freshly made and packaged sweets, matcha tea, sencha and gyokuro teas, while boasting the interior of a merchant house of times long gone.

Then we head to a tea ceramics museum with the option to visit an interesting art or craft gallery on the way, depending on what is open on that day in this area we visit.

Weather permitting, the tour leader takes you to the Arashiyama area to admire the famous panorama view of the Togetsukyo bridge across the river with mountains in the background, and take in the “borrowed scenery” from the Tenryuji temple garden. Your lunch will be at Arashiyama, or nearby at a casual Japanese restaurant of impeccable standing.

Depending on the weather and how sensitive most of the group participants are to the cold, we either continue to explore ancient temples’ architecture and temple gardens of Kyoto, or visit a temple festival, or attend a tea ceremony at some special location in Kyoto

OR

head to one of Kyoto’s art museums to catch one of the special winter openings of temple art objects.

At dusk we are exploring the picturesque Gion Shirakawa area, photo-hunting for plum blossoms, on the way to the tea quarters district of Miyagawa-cho, a less known geisha district compared to famous Gion.

Optional - Those who booked the optional tempura dinner for today will stay in the area, while the driver will bring the other guests back to their hotels.

Kyoto: landscape garden, kimono and saying goodbye to the city
Tour leader picks you up from your hotel shortly before 9 am and soon you are in a garden famous for its “borrowed landscape”.

Then we head for a kimono experience where elegant local ladies fit a kimono on you. After all participants (men or women – this is a unisex experience) are beautifully dressed-up, we take everyone around the picturesque Gion Shirakawa area and, weather permitting, to a nearby Shinto shrine and temple gardens with world-famous art of the Rinpa painting school.

In case of inclement weather, we will book a space where you can still take atmospheric photos with a traditional interior or Japanese garden in the background. Silk kimonos and undergarments that will be prepared for each participant are quite warm so no need to worry too much about cold weather. However, walking in kimono can be a little challenging without prior practice.

You can have your lunch wearing kimono, provided extra insurance coverage is taken. (tbc).
Our lunch is pre-booked at a traditional unagi eel restaurant, another experience with the unique Kyoto touch.

The tour finishes after lunch around the Gion area.