Kyoto - A City in Harmony Travel Tips - Packages/Deals & Travel Agents Near Me

Formerly the Imperial capital of Japan, Kyoto was the center of politics and culture for 1,100 years before the mid-19th century when the capital functions were transferred to Tokyo. This long and impressive history produced many magnificent temples and shrines and two spectacular World Cultural Heritage Sites, Kiyomizu-dera Temple and Nijo Castle, all balanced with a modern edge that makes Kyoto a must-experience for today’s traveler.

Naturally we had high expectations for the capital city of Tokyo on our trip to Japan, but what we didn’t expect was our highlight being Kyoto.  Click to read why.

These sites were awe-inspiring, but it was truly the little things that made our trip memorable. For instance, we walked the small streets of Gion to experience the setting of the film Memoirs of a Geisha (you still see geishas walking through the streets in full costume), enjoyed a traditional tea ceremony at Ryokan Yoshi-ima, and through our travel agent, took a cooking class to really appreciate the art of Japanese cuisine. Not the stereotypical mirror over the stove classroom, this was a private class in our instructor’s home. A part of the WAK program (Women’s Association of Kyoto), the cooking class was just one of many amazing opportunities. Our instructor helped us discover how to use just enough flour for tempura and how to roll really tasty sushi, all while making us experts with chopsticks. She now has us convinced we should have a sushi making party at home!

Despite the promise of our new skills, we discovered that to experience impeccable Japanese dining, the real treat was visiting a small out of the way temple for a quaint evening dinner at the Kanga-an. Previously, the temple was only open for prime VIP dinners (Jodie Foster, Brook Shields and Michael Douglas were past patrons), but this year it opened to the general public. The meals are entirely vegetarian (no food created from animals is even allowed on the grounds) and the ingredients are locally grown. We enjoyed a variety of 18 different dishes served with elegance and true style, all in immaculate surroundings that had a harmonious mix of traditional (rice paper shoji screens) and modern fixtures (black jade chandeliers). With a final drink at the bar (yes, there is a bar in the Temple) we left fulfilled in many ways.

Somehow, this city has held to its traditions and embraced the modern, all in perfect balance. We left Japan even more excited to come back than we were excited before we arrived! With competitive airfare equal to other international destinations, we will be planning another trip soon. In the meantime, we are enjoying our breathtaking pictures and showing off our new sushi skills to our friends!