Ireland day 1321. Sunday 11 May 2025- To Kyoto

Today’s summary	Took a train from Osaka to Kyoto and had a good look round the Nijo Castle and Imperial Palace. Checked into our Ryokan (Nazuno Kyoto Gosho) for the night and had dinner at the accommodation. All very authentic Japanese and extremely enjoyable
Today’s weather	Cloudy, warm and humid all day. Some light rain later in the evening. Mostly no wind. Appx 22c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Kyoto Nijo Castle and Imperial Palace

Commentary

The jet-lag time shift is slowly wearing off, with the consequence that we weren’t down to breakfast this morning until 7:30 am – a full hour later than lately. It was much busier in the restaurant and we both concluded that the quieter earlier hours were definitely worth making the effort to get up for.

Once we had battled the crowds and finished eating, we checked out of the hotel and hauled our luggage over to Osaka railway station. It was only a couple of hundred meters from our hotel but with lots of ups and downs and ins and outs along the way, making us doubly glad we only had light baggage to with us.

It took us a little while to find the right platform for the standard train to Kyoto – more by trial and error than by good judgement. We almost got on a rapid “Thunderbird” train by mistake – it sounded speedy and exciting, but would have attracted a ¥1000 supplement per person. As it was, the commuter train that we eventually got was accessible from our “Suica” cards and only cost ¥580. Interestingly, I noticed that all the trains – including the Thunderbird express, were narrow-gauge.

We eventually made it to Kyoto (actually it only took about half an hour) and took the Karasuma underground line a few stops north where it conveniently disgorged us only a couple of blocks away from our Ryokan: Nazuno Kyoto Gosho. Ryokans are traditional Japanese inns, and although ours looks pretty modest from the outside, inside it’s a real hidden treasure. Completely different to the Hilton, and very authentic Japanese, with sliding wood panels everywhere, and even a wooden bath!

We left our bags at the accommodation then headed off a few more blocks west to have a look round the nearby Nijo Castle. It was absolutely fascinating and with centuries more history that we needed to absorb. In a nutshell, it was the home of the Tokugawa shoguns, who were at the time the political leaders of Japan, from 1603 to 1867 after which power was ceded back to the Emperor. We took the tour through the castle buildings themselves, but there was so much to learn that in the end we effectively just gave up and tried to soak in the general Japanese atmosphere, and the culture of Kyoto. Surprisingly, perhaps, one of the highlights after the castle visit was the traditional light lunch we enjoyed in a tea room secluded away in one of the gardens in the grounds.

Eventually, we had seen all we wanted to, so walked a few blocks back east to get to the Kyoto Gyoen gardens and Imperial Palace. This is a vast green space, laid out with thousands of trees, and housing the former Imperial Palace, before the capital was transferred from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1869. It was a green oasis in a buzzing city, and we really enjoyed our time there. Especially the walk through the grounds and buildings of the Palace itself.

Surprise surprise, after the palace walk, we found another tea shop where we enjoyed iced coffees which really perked us up – and cooled me down. It’s been quite warm today but I’ve been wearing long jeans all day. I really wanted to change into shorts, but hardly anybody here – apart from a few very conspicuous Western tourists – seems to wear them. I didn’t want to stand out even more than I already do.

Eventually we finished our Castle-and-Palace tour of inspection, and walked back to our ryokan. We’re eating here tonight, but first we have to get washed in our wooden bath and change into pyjamas before going down to the restaurant. Well, we wanted an authentic Japanese experience and we’re certainly getting one!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The view from our train, as we sped along on the short journey from Osaka to Kyoto	At Mijo Castle, with the outer moat behind us (there is an inner moat inside the complex, too)

Lunch! A modest Japanese sweet delicacy and a cup of cold Matcha tea. A bit like drinking liquefied grass cuttings, but presumably very healthy. We found a tea-house in the grounds of the castle to enjoy our feast	All the carp in the moat were grey, except for this ginger one looking rather the odd one out. I could relate to his predicament

One of the main entrances to the inner courtyard of the Imperial Palace	In the decorative relaxation gardens of the Imperial Palace

*Our Ryokan* (Nazuno Kyoto Gosho) – unspectacular from the outside but very deluxe within**