Traveling: Kyoto

Showing posts with label Kyoto. Show all posts

Monday, 20 October 2025

Japan 2025 - Part 6

From Osaka To Kyoto

Thursday - October 9th 2025

Although we had tickets for Universal Studios Japan for today as well, we decided to skip the park and take an earlier train to Kyoto, because we did everything we wanted to do already yesterday. So we slept in and then we had breakfast at Starbucks and before we went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and to check out. We took the train from Universal City to Shin-Osaka station and from there the Shinkansen to Kyoto. It was just a short train ride, but we still had to get some snacks like potatoe chips and onigiri.

Breakfast

The Singulari Hotel

Universal CityWalk

Osaka

Osaka Station

Shinkansen

Snacks

Shinkansen

Around noon we arrived at Kyoto Station and from there it was just a short walk to our hotel. Like in 2018 we stayed at the Sakura Terrace The Gallery. The room wasn't ready upon arrival and so we just left our luggage at the hotel and headed into the city. Our first stop was the Nidec Kyoto Tower to check out the observation deck. Thanks to the beautiful weather we had a wonderful view over Kyoto from the top. Afterwards it was time for a coffee break and of course we got iced coffees at Starbucks.

Kyoto Station

Sakura Terrace The Gallery Hotel

Kyoto Tower

Starbucks

Later we walked to Higashi Hongan-ji a nearby temple we had seen from Kyoto Tower. This Buddhist temple complex is among the world's largest wooden buildings and it was indeed pretty impressive. Since we only had some onigiris throughout the day, we decided to get nachos and a couple of beers at the Hard Rock Cafe Kyoto. So we took the bus to Gion and crossed off another Hard Rock Cafe on our list. Afterwards we returned to the hotel and could finally check in. We were a little bit disappointed with our room, because compared to our last stay it was rather small and just not as inviting as we remembered it to be. The hotel still offered a free drink for its guests and of course we headed down to the bar to grab our drinks. Afterwards we went to Chabuton, a self-order ramen spot located inside the Yodabashi electronics store. We had already been there several times during our last visit and the ramen soups were still as good as we remembered. Then we just strolled through the huge store before getting donuts and returning to the hotel.

Kyoto

Kyoto Yodabashi

Higashi Hongan-ji Temple

Kyoto

Hard Rock Cafe

Nachos at Hard Rock Cafe

Welcome Drink

Sakura Terrace The Gallery Hotel

Our Room

Chabuton

Dinner at Chabuton

Sunday, 19 October 2025

Japan 2025 - Part 7

Nintendo Museum

Friday - October 10th 2025

Today another highlight of this Japan trip was upon us, but first it was time for breakfast at Starbucks. With iced coffees in our hands we were on our way to Shosei-en Garden, a beautiful park with teahouses, small temples and a picturesque pond dating back to the 17th century. When we arrived, the garden just opened and so we were the only ones walking around enjoying the warm waeather and the quietness of the park. We didn't have too much time, because we had to catch a train for our next stop.

Starbucks

Kyoto

Shosei-en Garden

The train left Kyoto Station and about half an hour later we arrived at Ogura Station in the south of Kyoto. The reason why we went there was to visit the Nintendo Museum. It's not so easy get tickets for the museum, because it's so popular and so Nintendo established a lottery in which visitors can win the right to buy an entry ticket. We were lucky and won and of course we very excited to go there. The museum is located in a former Nintendo factory that wasn't needed anymore. When we arrived we got to make some pictures with props from the famous Super Mario games. Then it was finally time to enter the exhibition halls where we learnt a lot about the history of Nintendo from the Nintende Entertainment System oder the Game Boy to the Switch. Claudia and I enjoyed our time there a lot, but after we had seen everything and bought some merchandise we decided to take the train back to Kyoto.

Nintendo Museum

Kyoto

Back in Kyoto we walked to a plant based restaurant called Mercy Vegan Factory. There we had a late lunch and ordered sushi, fried cauliflower and a plant based egg sandwich. The food was really good and soon we were on our way again. Near the restaurant was Nishi Hongan-Ji Temple and so we made a quick stop there. Later we returned to the hotel and rested a little bit. In the evening we got our daily free drink at the hotel bar before hading to Chabuton for dinner again. Then we just strolled around Yodabashi and Kyoto Station and got a couple of donuts from Dunkin Donuts. Back at the hotel we just spent a relaxing evening watching TV.