The Travelling Mama: cross hotel kyoto

Saturday, October 7, 2023

Day 7 ~ Arashiyama

Arashiyama is one of Kyoto's most visited attractions.

We took Bus No. 63 from Kawaramachi Sanjo bus stop (located just outside of our Kyoto hotel) and alighted at Kokedera Suzumusidera bus stop.

As expected, crowds of tourists and locals were already flocking the streets of Arashiyama. We decided to head fast to the Bamboo Groove before the crowd starts pouring in some more.

The Bamboo Groove (aka., Sagano Bamboo forest) gives out a dreamy vibe, but the volume of visitors ruins the moment. I would love to go back, with less tourists in sight to simply enjoy the moment.

Despite the crowd, still all that green is such a pleasure to our eyes!

From the Bamboo Groove we made way to Tenryu-Ji Temple which was built in the 1300s. The temple's status was elevated to a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

The temple looks out to a garden and a pond.

We had lunch at one of the restaurants lining the main street of Arashiyama before heading to the Monkey Park to see some Japanese Macaques.

Togetsu-kyo Bridge located in the center of Arashiyama. It is a wooden bridge with 400 years of history behind it. It crosses the Katsura River.

We crossed the bridge and started our ascend to the Monkey Park.

Note:

The entrance to the Monkey Park is near the bridge, but the ascend takes about 30-minutes and requires a bit of stamina and will power. The way up is not for the faint of heart and I would not recommend for senior adults as the steps are steep and there are slippery portions without many railings to hold onto.

Can you guess, which of my boys enjoyed this experience the most?

The workout going up was worth it. Though I don't think I would want to walk up again anytime soon.

We went back to base (at the Cross Hotel in Kyoto) to relax and refresh a bit before heading out again to watch a theatre show, "GEAR". It is a non-verbal show, so there were no issues not knowing how to speak Japanese. The Gear theater is about 3 mins walk from our hotel.

We had dinner first, before heading to the Gear Theater.

For more of the show, check out Gear's website by clicking this link: Gear

After the show, we grabbed sweets, before heading back to our hotel.

This ends Day 7 of our Nagoya-Kyoto adventure.

Planning a trip to Kyoto-Nagoya? Check our Day 1 to 6 itinerary, links below:

Day 1 and 2 ~ Nagoya, Takayama and Shirakawa-go

Day 3 ~ Nagoya City Tour

Day 4 ~ Inuyama Day Tour

Day 5 ~ Off to Kyoto (Part 1)

Day 5 ~ Kiyomizu dera

Day 6 ~ Fushi Inari and Toei Studio Theme park

DAY 5 ~ OFF TO KYOTO

Kyoto, I would say is where you should go if you want to experience the "real" traditional Japan.

We took an early Shinkansen from Nagoya to Kyoto (Booked via Smart -Ex website). We wanted to reach Kyoto early to maximize our vacation.

Tip: You can save a bit of cash by booking at least 2 weeks in advance and choose the Kodama trains (which offers discounted tickets by as much as Y500/pax on ordinary seats and Y2000/pax on green seats). The Kodama trains have more stops, compared to the other trains, "Hikari and Nozomi (but only by about 20 minutes Nagoya-Kyoto route)".

Riding the Kodama Train

From Kyoto Station, we used the Karasuma Line, alighted at Oike Station then transferred to Tozai Line going to Sanjo Keihan Station. Cross Hotel our home in Kyoto is about 400 meters walk from the station. It was a bit of walking, but this hotel is very convenient when taking the bus (which we will be using for the majority of our Kyoto adventure).

This stream is just outside our hotel...

We love Cross Hotel Kyoto. It is very near the Nishi Market for some serious shopping, Potoncho alley lined with restaurants and the beautiful Kamo river.

The peaceful Kamo River, you would want to jump in and wade through its clean-clean water.