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Kyoto Temples, Shrines, Gardens and Traditional Streets

Kyoto Temples, Shrines, Gardens and Traditional Streets

Kyoto · Japan

14 stops25 km4 h 58 min
  • Audio guide
  • 4 languages
  • Offline

Walk through Kyoto’s richly varied cultural landscape, from temple precincts and places of worship to gardens, a market, a park and traditional streets. Along the way, pause at celebrated buildings and quieter green spaces, taking in the different moods of the city on foot. The route brings together sacred architecture, neighborhood atmosphere and everyday traditions in one continuous experience. Allow time to look around and enjoy the contrasts between each stop.

The walk

Stops 1–6 of 14. The rest are in the app.

  1. Kiyomizu-dera

    Kiyomizu-dera

    A temple rebuilt by fire and faith, with a no-nails stage projecting from the mountainside.

  2. Heian-jingū Shrine

    Heian-jingū Shrine

    Heian-jingū Shrine, a place of worship in Kyoto, Japan

  3. Gion Quarter

    Gion Quarter

    A shrine-side entertainment district that became Kyoto’s best-known geiko quarter.

  4. 8 more stops on this walk, in the app
  5. Yasaka Pagoda

    Yasaka Pagoda

    A five-story survivor of Hōkan-ji, rebuilt through centuries of fire, dispute, and changing allegiance.

  6. Kōdai-ji

    Kōdai-ji

    A memorial temple built by Nene for Hideyoshi, where power survives in lacquer, timber, and ritual.

  7. Higashi Hongan-ji

    Higashi Hongan-ji

    A headquarters born from a succession dispute, rebuilt repeatedly after fire, and crowned by vast wooden halls.

  8. Stop 7

  9. Stop 8

  10. Stop 9

  11. 8 more stops in the app

Data: OpenStreetMap contributors and Google Places

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How a walk works

8 more stops in the app

This page shows the first 6 of 14 stops. The rest of the walk, and the guide who narrates it, are in the app.

  1. Pick a walk

    Every stop is a real place, already in walking order.

  2. Pocket your phone

    Follow the line on the live map, or download the walk before you lose signal.

  3. Listen as you arrive

    On a narrated walk the story starts on its own at each stop, so your eyes stay on the place.

See the whole walk in the app

Free to install · Every city’s featured walk is free, start to finish.

  • A guide who talks

    Narration at every stop, starting on its own as you arrive — phone in your pocket.

  • The route, followed

    A live map with the turns called out, and a way back whenever you wander off it.

  • In four languages

    English, French, Spanish and Arabic — the words and the voice, not just the labels.

  • Or build your own

    Pick the places you actually want and the app works out the order to walk them in.

  • The unglamorous things

    Toilets, pharmacies, cash points and water, without leaving the walk.

  • No signal needed

    Download a walk before you go and it works under a souk roof or on a plane.

  • Picks up where you left off

    Stop for lunch, come back tomorrow, and the walk is exactly where you left it.