Recommended trip to Kyoto

Introduction

Minasan,Konnichiwa!（hello everyone！)

I went on a trip to Kyoto this summer.It was my fifth trip to Kyoto, including a school excursion, and it was still a wonderful city.I would like to write a travel log about Kyoto several times from today.If you are planning a trip to Japan, please read it.

What kind of place is Kyoto for the Japanese?

When you think of Japan, many foreigners probably think of old-fashioned historical townscapes like Kyoto.However, even for Japanese people, Kyoto feels like a foreign country, a different world, an extraordinary city that is different from other Japanese cities.Therefore, it may be a little different to say, “I went to Kyoto and learned about or understood Japan.”The solemn atmosphere and sacred atmosphere that you feel in Kyoto are not modern Japan.What you can feel when you go to Kyoto is the history, traditions, and culture of Japan, not the real Japan of today.

Purpose of this trip to Kyoto

Now, I would like to write about this trip from here.First of all, I will write an overview of this trip so that it will be a reference when traveling.

The purpose of this trip is different for each family.
My goal was to relax and my husband wanted to revisit his school town. Pippi’s purpose is to experience Japan other than Tokyo. Charles is his first trip.We have chosen the itinerary of the trip so that the purpose of each trip can be achieved properly.

Also, since we have a baby and a child at home, I always make it a policy to travel without overdoing it.It’s tempting to pack up your schedule when traveling, but I don’t mind not getting where I want.

Especially in Kyoto, you can feel the exotic atmosphere just by taking a walk in the neighborhood, so you don’t have to make a detailed plan.

Nice inn in Kyoto　3 points for choosing a hotel for Japanese mothers

Kyoto is a tourist destination, so there are a lot of lodging facilities. This time, I chose Saka Hotel Kyoto from among many facilities. The selected points are as follows.

• Being a Ryokan, not a Hotel
• that the room has a bath.
• The room must have tatami mats.

In Japan, when it comes to accommodations, most people choose between hotels and ryokan. In the past, the legal definitions were different, but now they are unified and there is no difference.So what is the difference between a hotel and a ryokan?It is the difference in the way of hospitality.There is a proprietress at the ryokan, and you can receive very generous service.Therefore, if you want to receive warm hospitality, enjoy local cuisine, and relax in the hot springs, a ryokan is the right place for you.On the other hand, I think that a hotel is more suitable for people who feel restless or anxious about the waitresses preparing meals and futons in the guest room.

The hotel I chose this time was the “Saka Hotel”, an accommodation facility that combines the best of a ryokan and a hotel.It looks like a ryokan, but since meals are served in the ryokan’s restaurant, no one enters the room.In addition, the room has a cypress bath and you can enjoy the hot spring.By the way, the reason why I chose a room bath instead of a hot spring is that babies in diapers cannot enter the hot spring.

Also, there were tatami mats in the guest rooms of this inn.Perhaps people overseas do not feel the need for tatami mats.But it’s very comfortable, and it’s Japanese culture, so when you stay at a ryokan, try tatami mats.Highly recommended, especially for families with small children.Tatami mats are just the right amount of softness to lie on, and even if you fall on them, they won’t hurt like flooring, so they’re perfect for putting your baby to sleep for a short period of time.For that reason, the photos of the room I stayed in this time are like this.

Kyoto ryokan’s local cuisine

When it comes to ryokan, the second most important thing after the guest rooms is the food.Perhaps, there may be many people who care more about the food than the guest room.In my case, I was traveling with a child, so this time the request for the guest room was more important than the food.

There is another important reason why I chose a ryokan instead of a hotel on this trip.Breakfast is usually included in hotels, but in the case of ryokan, breakfast and dinner are often included.There are many restaurants in the city of Kyoto, so I think it would be a good idea for adult travelers to eat dinner at an outside restaurant.However, my children go to bed at 9 o’clock, so I thought it would be difficult to go to a restaurant outside with children, so I chose a ryokan with dinner.But this choice is the correct answer.There was one day of thunderstorms during the trip, so I was able to enjoy Kyoto in the rain at my leisure at a ryokan with dinner.The dinner you care about is like this.

Dinner was a kaiseki meal using seasonal pike conger.Conger eels are often seen in the grocery section of department stores during the summer in Japan, but not many people eat them at home these days.

Then, one of the pleasures of my trip is breakfast.Having a good breakfast makes me feel good for the day, so breakfast is especially important when traveling.The breakfast at the hotel in Saka was Japanese.

I’ve been living as a Japanese for about 40 years, but I rarely eat such a gorgeous Japanese breakfast.All the dishes are wonderfully delicious, but what surprised me the most as a Japanese person was the deliciousness of the white rice.Most Japanese households eat white rice, but it’s hard to cook such fluffy, glossy and delicious rice.When I asked about it, I heard that they put a lot of ingenuity into how they adjusted the heat and water.If you like Japanese food, I highly recommend you give it a try.

Kyoto trip log summary

How did you like it?In this article, we first introduced the basics of travel: lodging and meals. Next time, I would like to introduce sightseeing in Kyoto.thank you for reading it until the very end.