Kyoto Seasons

Today, we follow two traditions Kyoto has spent centuries perfecting. Begin in Uji, where tea has shaped the landscape and everyday life for generations. Walk beside the river, step into Byōdō-in, then head beyond town into the surrounding tea country, where rows of green fields stretch across the hills.

Sit down together over matcha and gyokuro, before trading tea fields for the old brewery streets and willow-lined canals of Fushimi. Step inside a sake brewery, raise a glass together and taste another side of Kyoto — from morning tea to evening sake, with centuries of tradition in between.

Today, Kyoto begins to feel more like countryside than city. Head north into Ōhara, where vegetable fields, old farmhouses and forested mountains surround the moss-covered gardens of Sanzen-in. Follow a quiet country road deeper into the valley towards Jakko-in — the kind of little journey that makes you wonder how this can still be Kyoto.

Hours later, find yourself back beneath the ancient trees of Tadasu-no-Mori, before ending beside the Kamo River, shoes off and summer evening settling over the city. Somewhere between the mountain fields and the river, Kyoto starts feeling less like somewhere you’re visiting — and more like somewhere you’ve begun to know.

There are days when Kyoto feels almost impossibly beautiful. This is one of them. Start high in the cedar-covered mountains of Takao, where old temple halls hide among the trees and the clear Kiyotaki River runs through the valley below. At Jingo-ji, send a tiny clay kawarake sailing over the mountains — a centuries-old wish carried into the forest.

Later, Kyoto slowly becomes more familiar again: the quiet perfection of Ryōan-ji, old temple grounds and, finally, Kinkaku-ji shimmering gold across its pond. Forest paths, mountain air, Zen gardens and gold — the Kyoto you came dreaming about.

This is the kind of day that makes you fall for summer in Japan. Escape Kyoto’s heat for the forested mountains of Kibune, where lunch is served on a kawadoko platform directly above the cool, rushing river. Sit together beneath the trees, listening to the water below — summer in Kyoto suddenly feels like exactly where you should be.

Then cross Mount Kurama through cedar forests, old shrines and tangled tree-root paths. And waiting on the other side: Kurama Onsen, where you can sink into the warm water with green mountains around you. River lunch, sacred forests, a mountain crossed on foot and an onsen at the end — some days simply get Japan right.

Just when you think you understand Kyoto, we take you somewhere that barely feels like Kyoto at all. Travel north to the Sea of Japan, where the pine-covered sweep of Amanohashidate stretches across the water before continuing to Ine, a tiny fishing village where traditional funaya boathouses sit right at the water’s edge.

Then follow the coast deeper into the Tango Peninsula, where green hills give way to cliffs, islands and open sea. Standing above Tango Matsushima, with the coastline disappearing into the distance, comes the surprise: this wild, beautiful corner of Japan is Kyoto too.

After a week of discovering Kyoto, today brings you closer to the people and traditions that have kept it alive. Stand surrounded by the extraordinary 1,001 Kannon statues of Sanjūsangen-dō, then step into Nishijin, where generations of artisans have woven some of Japan’s most beautiful textiles.

Later, wander through Kamishichiken, Kyoto’s oldest geisha district, before dressing in kimono and sitting down for tea. Then comes a fitting final evening — watching a Geisha / Maiko perform just a few feet away, followed by dinner together and one last night in a city that hopefully feels a little more like yours now.

One last Kyoto morning. Go back for a favourite coffee, walk beside the river one more time, or pick up the tea, ceramics or little thing you’ve been thinking about all week.

Then, eventually, it’s time to say goodbye. Kyoto is especially close to us — it’s where the idea of Beyond Tokyo was born. We hope you leave having fallen for a little of the Kyoto we love too.

Or perhaps Japan isn’t quite finished with you yet — sacred forests in Nara, summer beside Lake Biwa, Osaka, or somewhere completely new.