Kyoto is one of the most visited places in Japan, and for many travellers it is the natural counterpart to Tokyo. Where Tokyo is the city of dazzling neon lights, uber-modern inventions and architecture, explosive excitement and a bustling population, Kyoto feels like the exact opposite. It’s the perfect balance for any trip to Japan.

Kyoto is history. Its ancient Zen gardens are perfect for contemplation, its aged pathways for peaceful walks, its sacred temples for spiritual visits, and its streets for traditional creative arts and culture. Whereas Tokyo is a city designed around curated, Instagrammable spots, Kyoto is simply, naturally photogenic.

If you’re visiting Kyoto for only a short time and want to soak in the visual beauty of the city, these are my favourite places to hit up on a photographic journey through the old capital of Japan. For readers who love art, history and architecture, each stop comes with a story as well as a shot.

1. Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine

One of the most iconic images of Japan has to be the bright, vermilion-coloured torii gates of Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto. Many people arrive not knowing the scope of it. They see the images online and think it’s just a few small alleyways, but that is far from the whole picture. The main shrine sits at the base of Mount Inari, and behind it a path of thousands of torii gates leads visitors up the mountain, 233 metres above sea level, along about 4 kilometres of trail lined with sub-shrines, finally ending at the shrine at the summit.

To get the best shot without hundreds of people crowded inside the gates, be prepared for a long hike. When you first enter the torii trail, you’ll find it crammed with tourists, and the effect of the gates can seem a little distorted when they’re full of people. But as you continue to walk, more and more people drop off, having had their fill, and suddenly you find yourself the only one in this forest of bright orange gates. The hike really pays off: about halfway up, the Yotsutsuji intersection opens onto a breathtaking view over the city.

2. The Kimono Forest

A short train ride from the centre of the city is the district of Arashiyama. While this area is most famous for its incredible bamboo grove (also on this list), one of its lesser-known sights, and a dream for Instagrammers, is the Kimono Forest. At Randen Arashiyama Station, the terminus of the Keifuku tram line, you’ll find a forest created from a series of clear, cylinder-shaped pillars. Each one holds fabric dyed in the Kyo-yuzen style used for traditional Japanese kimonos. There are about 600 pillars showing 32 different patterns, so walk around and see if you can spot them all! The best time of day to see this exhibit is at dusk, when the pillars light up and form a glowing pathway.

3. Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is truly a place unlike anywhere else, set in a district that Japan has designated a National Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty. It’s a spot where you can escape yourself, as long as you manage to escape the throngs of tourists as well. Everyone wants a clear shot of the grove with no one in the way, and lots of people will tell you to come even before sunrise. That’s probably your best chance, but even those super early risers have been disappointed to find that hundreds of others had the same idea.

Advice on Touring the Forest

My advice is to take the crowds as they come and not stress about waking up super early on what’s supposed to be a relaxing vacation. I actually found that late in the afternoon there were the fewest people compared with the morning. It seemed like the tour buses were well on their way home as the sun began to set.

Even with tourists aplenty, there is still plenty to enjoy and ways to get those amazing shots. If one area becomes inundated with people, quickly pass through the crowd and you’ll see the path open up. The dense clusters tend to be formed by bus tours, all walking through together, so if you pass them quickly, you might find the space they just left is pretty empty. A lot of these tour buses also don’t spend much time in the forest: they enter at the beginning of the path but never make it to the end. I found that if you walk to the very end of the grove, you’ll sometimes have the place to yourself.

4. Nishiki Market

Nishiki Market now spans five covered street blocks, with about 130 shops and restaurants on either side. Because the market is a covered pedestrian walkway, this is a great place to come if it happens to be raining while you’re visiting. They call it “Kyoto’s Kitchen” because anything you need to prepare your meals is right here under one roof. The market’s history stretches back centuries: in 1615 the Edo shogunate officially recognized it as a fish wholesaler. Visually, this street is a wonder! The red, yellow and green arcade roof casts an incredible glow down on all the shops below, each with the most amazing visuals on display. Some are handicrafts, others are brightly coloured cakes, shiny fish scales glimmering in the lights, or even mochi makers pounding their delightfully green creations.

5. Kyoto Tower

Kyoto Tower, standing directly across from Kyoto’s central train station, is the tallest structure in the city at 131 metres, and an unmistakably modern one, opened in 1964. It really stands out, literally as well as figuratively. While it might seem out of place, the juxtaposition of the contemporary tower against an ancient skyline and the scenic mountains in the distance makes a wonderfully composed photo.

6. Traditional Fan Shops

A traditional Japanese folding fan is one of the most popular souvenirs visitors bring back from Japan, but unlike some touristy things, it still earns its keep, especially in Kyoto’s sweltering summers. Before air conditioning, these fans were the perfect way to keep cool on a hot day, and their design and the artists who make them have been highly regarded for hundreds of years. You can still visit a fan maker at Ogiya Hangesho, in the Shin-Miyagawa-cho area of Miyagawacho, one of Kyoto’s geisha districts, a short walk from Gion.

The shop occupies a former geisha house and sells maiko fans as well as dance fans, the kind used in the traditional dance that forms part of a geisha’s repertoire. Joining one of its fan-making workshops is a genuine experience, but simply looking at the fans on display is a feast for your eyes (and camera). Be sure to look up: the ceiling is covered in painted fans too!

7. Kamo River Bridge

Near Gion, you’ll find the Kamo River and its main crossing, Shijo Ohashi. The best place to get a shot of the bridge is from just south of the main crossing. The Kamo River has long been of great importance to the people of Kyoto. According to one theory, the river was diverted to its present course when the Heian capital (now Kyoto) was established in 794.

The river was not only a source of relatively pure drinking water for locals but also a place where fabric makers came to dye their beautiful fabrics, part of the Kyo-yuzen craft that remains an iconic symbol of Kyoto craftsmanship. At night, the lights from the neighbouring streets glow on the trees that line the river’s edge and create a stunning picture. From the bridge, you can also see the famous Minamiza Kabuki Theatre at its eastern end, with Gion just beyond.

8. Geisha Spotting in Gion

Gion is Kyoto’s best-known geisha district. The streets seem to surge with history, but what makes this area so special is that working geisha (known in Kyoto as geiko) and their apprentices, maiko, still live and work here. Up and down these streets, you can keep your eyes open for one on her way to a teahouse, where exclusive guests enjoy an evening of traditional Japanese entertainment.

If you see a maiko or geiko in the street, be respectful. They are on their way to work, so they won’t stop to pose for photos or to chat, and they have no time to dillydally. Don’t chase, block or photograph them without their consent, and stay on public streets such as Hanamikoji: the private alleys branching off it are closed to photography, with fines of up to ¥10,000. Let them go on their way, and just allow yourself to be an observer of their grandiose presence. The best time to spot them is around dusk, roughly 5:30 to 6:30 pm, as they leave their homes for the teahouses.

9. Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Glowing orange against a sea of green trees on the slopes of Mount Otowa is Kiyomizu-dera Temple. It is one of the best places to visit in Kyoto to see traditional Japanese architecture. According to tradition, the temple was founded in 778, but most of the buildings you’ll see today were rebuilt in 1633. “Kiyomizu” literally means “pure water,” a reference to the Otowa waterfall that flows through the grounds. I love this temple so much; visiting it feels like uncovering levels of beauty as you approach.

The walk up the hill towards the temple is full of shops selling brightly coloured goods, then you reach a bright red gate guarded by incredible statues. Inside you’ll see the gorgeous vermilion three-storey pagoda and, finally, the ancient wooden main hall, a National Treasure. It was built without a single nail, and its veranda juts out from the hillside about 13 metres above the slope below, with one of the best views of the city anywhere.

10. Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion

In the north of the city, you’ll find Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Originally, this incredible complex was built as a retirement villa for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third Ashikaga shogun and one of the most influential statesmen of his day. After his death in 1408, it was converted into a Zen temple, as he had wished. The pavilion draws huge crowds, and one of the reasons is the sheer power this building holds. The top two storeys are covered in pure gold leaf! The pavilion you see today is a faithful reconstruction, completed in 1955 after an arson fire destroyed the original in 1950.

The juxtaposition of this gold, mirrored in its pond, against the simple and natural environment of the trees surrounding it feels like something out of a painting or Japanese woodcut print. While there are a lot of tourists who can take away from the zen-like experience, much like the Bamboo Grove, it’s all about finding your way away from the crowds and enjoying the precious quiet moments you manage to find here.

11. The Philosopher’s Path

The Philosopher’s Path is one of the loveliest places to wander in Kyoto. The path is located in the northern part of the Higashiyama district, at the base of Kyoto’s eastern mountains, and runs south towards Nanzen-ji. It is a place to wander, to find yourself, to embrace peace and quiet and to see what makes Kyoto so unique as a city. The path follows a canal fed by the Lake Biwa Canal for about two kilometres, and takes its name from Nishida Kitaro, the Kyoto University philosopher said to have walked it daily in contemplation. The trail is lined with cherry trees on either side. During cherry blossom season, in early to mid-April, this is one of the most popular spots to come and view the spectacle.

12. Nanzen-ji Temple & Hōjō Gardens

Nanzen-ji Temple was founded in 1291 by Emperor Kameyama on the site of his former palace. Its Hōjō, the abbot’s quarters, is a National Treasure, and its garden is one of the best examples of “karesansui” gardens in Japan. In a karesansui garden, stones and raked gravel suggest a landscape of mountains and flowing water. Unlike many European gardens, it relies on stone and gravel with little else. That might seem odd, even stark, at first, but the result is a marriage of the natural environment and the man-made arts. The garden is attributed to the tea master Kobori Enshu, and its stones are said to depict a tiger cub crossing a river of white gravel. Inside the Hōjō, you’ll find screen paintings by Kanō Tan’yū, including his famous tigers, which are designated Important Cultural Properties.

Where Tokyo dazzles with neon and curated backdrops, Kyoto is simply, naturally photogenic. These twelve stops show a city of vermilion gates climbing a mountain, a forest of glowing kimono fabric, temples that have been rebuilt over the centuries, and quiet canals lined with cherry trees. Whether you have a day or a long weekend in the old capital, let the art, history and architecture set your pace, keep your camera respectful and your eyes open, and Kyoto will do the rest.

Happy Travels, Adventurers