Travel

Kyoto lies in Western Honshu, Japan’s main island. The imperial capital for over 1,000 years, Kyoto is widely considered Japan’s most beautiful city. Emerging from ultra-modern Kyoto Station, the city’s busy downtown area can come as a shock. Yet old Kyoto is never far away. Just to the east is Gion, where you’ll catch glimpses of the geisha, the very embodiment of old Kyoto. Further east, amid narrow alleyways like Ishibe Koji, you’ll find traditional Kyoto-style houses and some of the city’s finest Ryokan. Just a rickshaw ride away, are the traffic-free streets of Sannen-zaka and Ninen-zaka, where teahouses line the routes to nearby hilltop temples.