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Oh Deer, a Day in Nara
After waking up at the Hyatt Place Kyoto, we took the train down to Nara to spend the day. We saw many of the ancient capital city’s very tame deer and visited Todai-ji and Kasuga Taisha. While there was some fall foliage to be seen, it wasn’t nearly as good as what we’ve seen in Kyoto on this trip.
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Temple Hopping in Arashiyama
After taking the bus from the Hyatt Place Kyoto to Arashiyama, we spent the day in the area visiting various temples, enjoying the fall colors, and of course walking through the famous bamboo forest.
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Kitano Tenmangu and To-ji
We headed out in the morning by bus from the Hyatt Place Kyoto to Kitano Tenmangu, a Shinto shrine in northwestern Kyoto. After spending the morning there, we had lunch and visited To-ji, a Buddhist temple near Kyoto Station. We ended the day at Kyoto Station where we did some shopping and had dinner.
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Higashiyama High and Low
We started out the morning by heading up to Shogunzuka Seiryuden from the Hyatt Place Kyoto where we have been staying. After enjoying the view and garden, we headed back down to have lunch at Sanjo, north of Gion. After an excellent meal, we visited Shoren-in and Chion-in before ending at Yasaka-jinja. We had a nice matcha snack in Gion before heading to dinner near Kyoto Station.
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Ginkaku-ji to Keage via the Philosopher’s Path
We left relatively early from the Hyatt Place Kyoto by bus to Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion, where we enjoyed the temple and a bit of fall color. We followed up by walking along the Philosopher’s Path which was unfortunately well past peak. We headed from the path’s south end to get lunch followed by a visit to nearby Eikando Zenrin-ji where the maples were plentiful and the colors were much better! We then walked to Nanzen-ji, which had some fall foliage. After walking around the area and the Keage Incline, which apparently is much better for cherry blossoms than fall foliage, we had a quick dinner and headed back to Eikando Zenrin-ji for the evening illumination event.
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Braving the Hordes at Tofuku-ji and Kiyomizu-dera
We headed out in the morning from the Hyatt Place Kyoto for quick walk through a tiny part of Kyoto Gyoen on the way to breakfast. After eating, we visited Tofuku-ji, one of Kyoto’s most well known fall foliage viewing sites. It was crazy! And because we didn’t quite get enough madness, we headed back to Kiyomizu-dera for the nighttime illumination which was absolutely ridiculous! But quite beautiful and absolutely worth the trouble!
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Daytime Kiyomizu-dera and Evening Kodai-ji
We ended up waking up early at the Hyatt Place Kyoto and headed out to Kiyomizu-dera, hoping to beat the crowds. We were successful but the morning light wasn’t great due to the proximity of the mountains. We ended up visiting three times throughout the day hoping for better light! Later, in the afternoon, we walked over to Kodai-ji and stayed for their nighttime fall illumination event.
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Koraku-en and the Meiji Jingu Inner Garden
After breakfast, we checked out of the Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo, dropped off our bags at Shinagawa Station, and headed to Koraku-en, a garden near Ueno. After walking through the garden, we had lunch nearby and then visited the Meiji Jingu‘s inner garden. We then had an afternoon snack in Omotesando before taking the Shinkansen to Kyoto where we checked into the Hyatt Place Kyoto.
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Tokyo Marunouchi at Night
After arriving at Haneda, we quickly passed through immigration and customs and checked in at the Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo by Shinagawa Station. We then took the Yamanote line up to Tokyo Station where we had a quick dinner. Afterwards, we walked around the Marunouchi area to the west of the station before heading back via Yurakucho.
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Domodossola and the Sacro Monte Calvario
We decided to spend our last full day in Switzerland in Italy! The easiest city to reach is Domodossola, partly thanks to a relatively early EuroCity Trenitalia train that makes minimal stops on the way. We headed up to the Sacro Monte Calvario, a UNESCO World Heritage site, along the Via Crucis. Afterwards, we had Italian food for lunch, walked around Domodossola a bit, and headed back to Montreux.
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