Kyoto

Kyoto's temples and shrines are its glory, and a few are essential. Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, is the iconic image — a three-storey temple covered in gold leaf, mirrored in its reflecting pond and set in a classic stroll garden. Across the city, Fushimi Inari Taisha is unforgettable: a Shinto shrine where thousands of vermilion torii gates form tunnels winding up the wooded slopes of a sacred mountain, magical in the early morning before the crowds. The wooden temple of Kiyomizu-dera juts out on its great stilted veranda over a hillside of cherry and maple, with views across the city, approached up the atmospheric old lanes of Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka. For the spirit of zen, Ryoan-ji's austere rock garden — fifteen stones in raked gravel — is the most famous in Japan, and Ginkaku-ji (the Silver Pavilion) anchors a beautiful moss-and-sand garden. The vast hall of Sanjusangen-do holds 1,001 gilded Kannon statues, and Nijo Castle, with its 'nightingale' floors and painted screens, recalls the shogun. There are far more than any visit can hold — choosing a handful and savouring them is the art.

Kyoto preserves the world of the geisha as nowhere else, and its historic entertainment districts are among the city's most atmospheric places. Gion, the most famous, is a quarter of beautifully preserved wooden machiya townhouses and exclusive tea houses (ochaya), centred on the lantern-lit Hanamikoji street and the willow-lined Shirakawa canal, where in the early evening you may glimpse a geiko (Kyoto's geisha) or an apprentice maiko in full kimono and white make-up gliding to an engagement (always observed respectfully and at a distance — never blocking their path). Nearby, the narrow Pontocho alley runs beside the Kamo River, packed with traditional restaurants whose terraces (yuka) extend over the water in summer. Kyoto's traditional arts — the dance, music and seasonal geisha performances (such as the spring Miyako Odori) — and its tea-house culture give Gion a refined, theatrical beauty. Walking these lanes at dusk, when the lanterns glow and the wooden façades darken, is one of the most evocative experiences in Japan.

On Kyoto's western edge, Arashiyama is one of its loveliest districts — its soaring bamboo grove, where tall green stalks filter the light along a famous path, is among the most photographed places in Japan, beside the zen temple of Tenryu-ji and its borrowed-landscape garden, the moss temple of Gio-ji, the riverside scenery and the Iwatayama monkey park above. Kyoto is, above all, a city of gardens and seasons. Its temple gardens — raked gravel, moss, ponds and clipped pines — are masterpieces of design, and they transform through the year: the cherry blossom that lines the Philosopher's Path (a canal-side walk between temples) and fills the parks in late March and April, and the blazing red and gold maples (momiji) that set the temple grounds alight in November, are world-renowned, drawing crowds to the gardens at their most beautiful. Maruyama Park, the Imperial Palace grounds, the Botanical Garden and countless temple courtyards all reward the seasonal visitor. Experiencing Kyoto's gardens in cherry-blossom or autumn-leaf season is unforgettable — though it pays to rise early and seek quieter temples to escape the crowds.

Kyoto is the home of Japan's most refined food and craft traditions. Kaiseki, the elaborate multi-course haute cuisine of seasonal, beautifully presented dishes, was perfected here and is the city's great culinary experience; humbler Kyoto specialities include yudofu (simmered tofu) in the temple districts, obanzai home-style cooking, and matcha sweets everywhere. The covered Nishiki Market — 'Kyoto's Kitchen' — runs for blocks with stalls of pickles, tofu, seafood, sweets and kitchenware, a wonderful place to graze. Tea is central to the city: the bright, bitter matcha green tea, the tea ceremony (chado) that visitors can experience, and the tea houses of Uji nearby. And Kyoto's crafts are renowned — the kimono and the textiles of Nishijin, Kiyomizu pottery, lacquerware, fans, incense and dolls, sold in specialist shops and demonstrated in workshops. Add the option of staying in a traditional ryokan or machiya townhouse, and Kyoto offers an immersion in the aesthetics and rituals of traditional Japan found nowhere else.