Popular tourist attractions in Kyoto

Kyoto is a popular city in Japan; a tour to Japan is actually incomplete without visiting Kyoto. Given below are the popular tourist attractions in Kyoto.

The Zen Garden

The Zen Garden is located in northwestern Kyoto at Kitaoji-dori. It is a gathering of magnificent temples, which includes the Ninnaji, Kinkakuji, Daitokuji and Ryoanji Temples. Roaming through the entire complexes of these temples will take an entire day. The distance between two temples is around  20-30 mins.

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (commonly Kinkaku-ji)

This is one of the numerous popular tourist attractions in Kyoto; previously it was known as Rokuonji. This temple was constructed during the early twelfth century. In the beginning it was planned as the retirement villa of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. His son afterward converted that structure into this magnificent temple. Possessed with the temple’s pavilion, an immature monk burned the whole structure to the ground in the year 1950. Later that particular event encouraged the prominent novel “The
Temple of the Golden Pavilion” written by Yukio Mishima.

Ryoan-ji Temple

Ryoan-ji Temple is located within a short distance from the renowned Temple of the Golden Pavilion. This temple is an image of the dry landscaping. The most notable feature of Ryoan-ji Temple is a structure of 15 different rocks located over a bed of white colored gravel and bordered by low leveled walls. The image is outstanding since there is nothing other than the, here you will come across no trees, no ponds, no hills or any amount of water, this site has only rocks.

Nijo Castle

Nijo Castle is located within Central Kyoto. This castle is extremely popular among the locals and the overseas tourists. The Ninomaru complex has marvelously decorated reception rooms along with that are the self-styled nightingale floors, which are made out of timber. The layout of the entire castle is outstanding and you can have the best views of the nearby areas from the donjon that is located inside this castle.

The Imperial Castle and Park

The Imperial Castle and Park is located in the city center of Kyoto. It is a peaceful and delicately decorated park with more than 50,000 trees and houses the renowned Imperial Palace. Since Imperial Palace is open for the guided tours only, so be sure to book your tickets for this tour quite early at website of the Imperial Household Agency.

Gion District

If you are willing to spot a real-life geisha, in that case the Gion District is the place to be. They are a bit difficult to spot but one can get a glimpse of them when they move hurriedly between buildings or hopping into the waiting taxis. Also don’t be dissatisfied if you cannot see any geishas, since the Yasaka Shrine along with its neighboring area are particularly photogenic, so you can polish your photography skills here.