Palace Side Hotel, Kyoto

Advantages: Enormous temples, exciting centre & good wooded walks.
Disadvantages: Disappointment if you let the guidebooks build it up too much & expensive.

...let them pass or march ahead to get a passage on your own to give the floor a proper chance to impress you. The numerous halls and chambers of the palaces are decorated with wonderful gilt and pine tree paintings, but they're a little too gloomy to really rival that superb floor. Photography is not permitted within the palace. This is yet another UNESCO heritage site, easy to walk to, with good eating opportunities just to the west. There’s a post office to the east, behind the International Hotel and ANA Hotel Kyoto both of which look incredibly well-appointed and expensive. Kyoto Station Kyoto station is a good counterpoint to all the old and ancient for which the city is famous. Since 1997 this new look glass and steel shrine to the Shinkansen has been provoking praise and pilgrimage from some and petulant... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great location
Disadvantages: Cannot think of any

...I just got back from Kyoto and I stayed one night in Hotel Alpha Kyoto. My Japanese friend booked this hotel for me from a japanese discount website and it costs us 9450 Yen for two people (which is about £45). This is considered an expensive rate for this hotel because if you stay during off-peak season, you can even get a room for two without breakfast for 7000 Yen. However, I stayed here during Obon festival (peak peak period). I have checked the hotel website and the price is almost the same so that means you can book directly with the hotel to get discounted rate. Location: Only 1 minute away from Kyotoshiyakushomae Station (this is on the subway Tozai line) or 3 minutes away from Keihan Sanjo station. If you are coming from Osaka and you did not take the shinkansen or JR train, you are definitely on Keihan line that takes you... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: It is a fascinating city which presents many of the contrasts of Japan
Disadvantages: This review is very long - but there is so much to Kyoto that I've only given you the main sites

...an hour to an hour by train) from Kyoto, making it the best possible location to view many of the country's prime sites. Boasting more than 2000 shrines and temples, a number of palaces, gardens and museums you would need quite some time to feel like you have seen everything in Kyoto. To see the most major sites three days intensive sight-seeing will probably suffice - be warned though, you'll probably come away with plenty of blisters and tired feet and legs. Investing in a very comfortable pair of shoes or sandals is a must! GETTING THERE There are two real options when flying into Japan. The most convenient if you are just intending on visiting Kyoto is Kansai International Airport. This is located in Osaka, which can be reached most cheaply by JR train (costing 540yen and taking approximately 30 minutes) and quicker still... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful