Fushimi Inari 3-day itinerary

Arrive at Fushimi Inari-Taisha by 6am — the shrine is free and open 24 hours. The main entrance romon gate and the densely packed senbon torii (ten thousand torii) tunnel are at their most atmospheric in the early morning half-light before the tour groups from Kyoto arrive. Walk through the lower tunnel to the first major junction at Okusha Hohaisho, a small shrine about 20 minutes in where the path splits and crowds thin dramatically.

The full hike to the summit of Mount Inari (233m) and back takes 2–2.5 hours along paths lined continuously with torii gates of all sizes. Most visitors turn back at the Yotsutsuji intersection halfway up — push beyond to the true summit, Ichinomine, where small sub-shrines and stone fox statues sit in near silence. Each torii gate was donated by a Japanese business, with the donor's name and date inscribed on the back of each orange pillar.

Descend to the shrine's Omotesando (approach street) for lunch at one of the teahouses — try kitsune udon (thick wheat noodles in hot dashi broth topped with sweetened fried tofu), a dish whose name means "fox noodles" and which is the traditional offering at Inari shrines. The Fushimi district below the shrine is a sake-brewing area — the Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum (¥300, includes a tasting) is 15 minutes by foot and offers good context on Japan's rice wine tradition.

Take the 5-minute JR train to Tofuku-ji, one of Kyoto's five great Zen temples and one of the least crowded despite its scale. The 14th-century Sanmon gate is Japan's oldest surviving Zen gate, and the temple's celebrated checkered garden (hōjō garden, ¥600) uses a modernist pattern of moss and stone squares that contrasts with the wild maple forest ravine below. In autumn, the ravine bridge is one of Kyoto's great seasonal sights — arrive before 8am to see it without crowds.

Take a 20-minute subway and bus ride to Daigo-ji temple — a sprawling UNESCO-listed complex spread across a forested mountain with over 70 listed buildings including Kyoto's oldest five-storey pagoda (built 951 AD). The Upper Daigo section requires a 1.5-hour mountain hike to reach the original summit shrine buildings — far fewer tourists make this effort and the views of the southern Kyoto basin are excellent. Entry to the main compound is ¥1,500.

Return to Fushimi Inari after 8pm when the day-trippers have gone and the lower torii tunnels are lit by stone lanterns — the orange gates glowing against the night sky are a completely different experience from the daytime crowds. Walk as far as Yotsutsuji in the dark (about 45 minutes up) and sit at the viewpoint over the lights of southern Kyoto and Osaka spreading to the horizon. The foxes carved in stone around the sub-shrines seem watchful and strange at night.

Take the train to central Kyoto and walk Nishiki Market — a narrow 400-metre covered arcade with 130 vendors selling pickled vegetables (tsukemono), fresh tofu, grilled skewers, matcha sweets, and Kyoto-specific specialties like yudofu (silken tofu in hot broth) and tamago dashimaki (Japanese rolled omelette). This is the best morning food walk in Kyoto and costs almost nothing — vendors offer small samples and portions start at ¥100–200.

Walk the Philosopher's Path — a 2km canal-side stone pathway in northeastern Kyoto lined with cherry trees, connecting Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion, ¥500) to Nanzen-ji. The path is named for the philosopher Nishida Kitaro who walked it daily during meditation. Nanzen-ji's 12th-century garden and the dramatic Roman-style aqueduct running through the temple grounds (a Meiji-era engineering feat) are both free to view. The temple's hojo garden (¥600) is one of Kyoto's finest dry landscapes.

Spend your final evening in Pontocho — a narrow lantern-lit alley running parallel to the Kamo River, lined with restaurants serving everything from gyoza and yakitori at street counters (¥500–800 per dish) to traditional kaiseki multi-course meals (from ¥8,000). Find a spot on one of the wooden decks (yuka) built over the river for outdoor dining from May to September. The geisha district of Gion is 5 minutes' walk east for a final evening stroll through the historic machiya townhouses.