Since my trip to Amanohashidate in May I wanted to come back to see the Hozukyo ravine between Kyoto and Toyooka. Luckily the historic train line that follows the river course has been maintained and a historic train operates on the line as a tourist attraction.
Kyoto is surrounded by mountains from three sides, one of them is Mt. Hiei. The mountain top is easily accessible by a combination of train, cable car and ropeway but it is also a popular hiking destination and it is
Himeji Castle is my favorite castle in Japan because it is one of the few original castles that were not lost to war and fire unlike many modern reconstructions.
After exploring parts of the East (Higashiyama) and the South (Toji, Inari, Uji) of Kyoto, I chose to pay the Northwestern area a visit next.
The city of Uji lies in the South of Kyoto and is famous for its green tea plantations. Over the weekend I visited visited two temples: Byōdō-in and Kōshō-ji.
On the last holiday of Golden week I traveled all the way to Shikoku, hopped on a ferry to see the islands of the Setouchi inland sea and watched the sunset from a beautiful viewpoint.
Kinosaki is a walkable and well-connected onsen town in the north of Kyoto prefecture. The appeal of Kinosaki is the possibility to enjoy many different baths in a day, even for day visitors. In most onsen towns I visited so far, the onsen are within the ryokan one stays at and there is maybe one public bath for day visitors.
On Greenery Day or midori no hi I went to the northern part of Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures to see the sea in Amanohashidate.
On May 3rd I visited Kurashiki and Okayama in the West of Kansai, halfway between Osaka and Hiroshima. I believe many have skipped these places during their Japan travels (so have I until now) but it is worth to come, even if it is just for half a day.
To-ji temple lies south of Kyoto station and is not only a well preserved temple from the 8th century, it also harbors the highest wooden pagoda of Japan.