Christmas Eve Journey to Kyoto (December 24, 2019)

October 03, 2020

Christmas Eve Journey to Kyoto (December 24, 2019)

Today we will head to Kyoto via Shinkansen. We wanted to maximize our time in Kyoto so we decided to try to catch as early as possible train to Kyoto. We will ride the faster Nozomi line (2.5 hours from Tokyo to Kyoto). The Nozomi line cannot be used with the JR pass. Since we would not be taking a return trip back to Tokyo or ride to other locations via the Shinkansen, the JR pass was not worth it to us. We did not purchase advanced seating either because it would have been more expensive. We rose early well before 5:00 am and got ready to depart shortly after 5 am. We would start our day by first transiting to Tokyo Main Station from Shinjuku. We will then get our Ekiben at Tokyo Main Station before we get on the train. We will sit on the right side of the train to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji while we enjoy our Ekiben. Once we arrive in Kyoto we will find a way to transit to our Kyoto Oesen Ryokan Hotel. We plan to visit the Arashiyama region and then arrive back at our hotel for the evening Kaiseki dinner. It will be a full day.

Departing our hotel in Shinjuku, 5:22 am

Our Shinkansen Tickets

Decor at our hotel

Heading to Shinjuku Station

Ekibenya Matsuri, where we will get our fix

The choices are overwhelming

Action packed at 6:30 am

Got our fix, hopefully it's enough

Got situated on the Nozomi Line

Hopefully we got enough

Shortly after departing Tokyo around Kanagawa prefecture, Mount Fuji is in sight

Passing by Mount Fuji

Industrial Japan hard at work

Time to start the Ekiban before we arrive

Second set

A real treat

Time to dig in

Visual treat as well

Beef don

Dessert

Everything must go back to the trash bag

Disembarking at Kyoto

The N700, capable of 300 km/hr

The vibe of the city is completely different from Tokyo, it has a real refined feel to things

A second set of stomach is required

Exiting the Kyoto Station

Boarded the local bus to our Ryoken Hotel

Shortly before 10:00 am, we arrived at our Ryoken Hotel - Sakanoue located in the Geisha district of Gion

The inconspicuous entrance to our Ryoken

Friendly greeting from the hotel staff

View from the hotel, you can feel the Zen everywhere

Our home for the next two days

After setting our luggages down in the hotel and freshen up, we continued on with our plan to visit the Arashiyama area. We navigated ourselves on foot to downtown Kyoto and found the purple line to Arashiyama. It was a real cute line of a single cart and we would take this line all the way to terminal stop.

The petite purple line to Arashiyama

The single cart purple line

Get going to Arashiyama

Scenic ride on the purple line

Arriving at the Arashiyama Station, a real quaint area to take in the nature

Beautifully decorated shopping area across from the train station

After arriving at Arashiyama, our first order of business is to locate our lunch spot - Arashiyama Yoshimura.

Enjoying a cup of Matcha at Yoshimura

Lunch served

Soba feast

After refueling at Yoshimura, we were ready to explore Arashiyama. We headed to the bamboo forest area and explored the town more. We ate match dessert (bracken) and drank matcha mocha. After spending a few hours in Arashiyama we headed back to town to explore Gion a bit more before our Kaiseki dinner.

Ready to explore