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Voykit

Cluster · Kyoto

Arashiyama

Out by 07:30 or skip it: the bamboo grove is a 10-minute corridor that fills by 09:00; flat, bags painful.

Key facts

28″ bags
painful
Time budget
half
Rescue coverage
91% ≤7′
max p90 7′
Places
2
Arashiyama
ArashiyamaPhoto: Naokijp, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rules in force · 8Large suitcases on Kyoto city buses
  • East Asia ↗Every border in East Asia is a full international border, Hong Kong and Macau included: an entry permission for one never covers the next.
  • East Asia ↗Ferries between Korea, Japan and China cancel in rough seas and typhoons; keep a flight or a spare day behind every sea leg.
  • Japan ↗IC cards (ICOCA/Suica) are topped up with cash at station machines.
  • Japan ↗Smoking while walking is banned in most city centres; use designated areas.
  • Japan ↗Shinkansen bags 160–250 cm (L+W+H) need a seat reserved with the oversized-baggage area.
  • Kansai ↗ICOCA is the default IC card; Suica works too.
  • Kyoto ↗Large suitcases on Kyoto city buses: do not. Buses are crowded and oversized bags are refused or block aisles.
  • Kyoto ↗Kyoto accommodation tax is often collected in cash at the front desk.
More
Map to the centre
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Directions
From where I am

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Arashiyama
ArashiyamaPhoto: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Arashiyama
ArashiyamaPhoto: Ludovic Lubeigt from Taiwan, CC BY-SA 2.0

Walking weather, next 5 days

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Forecast: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), model data for this point.

Plan

How the ground walks, and what is here

Bound and physics

Togetsukyō bridge, Tenryū-ji and the bamboo grove — Sagano's outer temples are outside.

Slope
flat
Stairs
Few; Ōkōchi-sansō uphill
Shade
medium
Surface
paved
Sleep here or visit
visit

Eat and drink here

Arashiyama Yoshimura

Soba with a river view at the Togetsukyō bridge: go at opening or after 14:00; tables not tatami downstairs.

Shoraian

Tofu kaiseki in a villa above the river: reserve; a 10-minute riverside walk from the bridge, uneven path.

On the ground

Where to rest, how to leave, where to sleep nearby

Rescue anchors

4 places to rest · checked on a 40 m (130 ft) grid

A rescue anchor is a spot where you can stop and recover if the walk goes wrong: a bench, a café, a toilet. Every letter on the map is one anchor, and each has a card below. We check that any point in the cluster is within about 7 minutes’ walk of one, so you are never far from somewhere to sit down.

ABCD
Map © OpenStreetMap contributors. Lettered circles: rescue anchors (green works in any conditions, amber only on hot days). Dashed outline: the cluster. Red dots: spots more than 7 min from any anchor (none if you see no red). North is up; not for navigation.

Randen Arashiyama station (WC, footbath area)

Toilet · Shelter from rain · Place to sit · works in any conditions

Togetsukyō north bank: café seating

Place to sit · Food & drink · works in any conditions

Tenryū-ji north gate / bamboo grove south

Place to sit · Toilet · works in any conditions

JR Saga-Arashiyama station

Toilet · Shelter from rain · works in any conditions

91% of the cluster is within 7 min of an anchor in any conditions (slowest walker, worst cell 9.4 min) · 91% on hot days

Nodes in this cluster

  1. Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

    A 10-minute path, not a destination: be there before 08:00 or skip it; it is open at all hours and free.

  2. Tenryū-ji

    The garden is the visit: enter at opening, exit by the north gate into the bamboo grove; skip the halls if short on time.

Edges out

directed
ToHowp50Climb
GionHankyu or Randen + subway~45 minflat

Red lines here

  • Do not enter the bamboo beyond the fences.

Deep dive

Around this cluster

Straight-line distance; walk time adds 30% for streets.